If you run a small business, you can probably vouch for many of the benefits of doing so. You are at the helm of a lean, flexible piece of corporate machinery, so to say – and you might have more than a few ideas of where you would like to take the company as 2019 increasingly unfolds.
However, a smaller business can also be more financially vulnerable to hiccups – and that’s why you should probably consider implementing insurance. Which types? For UK firms, we would suggest…
Employers’ liability insurance
If you are a one-person outfit, you aren’t technically employing anybody and, therefore, don’t need employers’ liability insurance. However, as soon as you start reaching for your first recruit, you need to have a finger in the employers’ liability insurance pie as well… except in specific circumstances.
Bytestart.co.uk outlines various situations where, in the UK, employers’ liability cover is or isn’t legally necessary. Forgoing that cover – if you legally require it – could cost you up to £2,500 from incurring daily fines, so holding this type of insurance is likely to be particularly important.
Public liability insurance
Unlike with employers’ liability, the UK Government doesn’t enforce any legal necessity of public liability insurance. However, your cast-iron need for it could arise from another source…
For example, if you intend to set up a market stand or sell products or services at a fair, the organisers may insist on you having public liability cover before you are permitted to attend. With this cover, you can financially protect yourself from damages claimed against you by the public.
Product liability insurance
Does your small business sell products? If any of those products inflict illness or injury upon a customer who has bought the item, that customer could claim compensation.
Instances where product liability cover can come to your rescue include a customer picking up food poisoning from eating at your restaurant or a child being injured by a toy which the parents had bought from you. The insurance can meet both legal costs and compensation payments.
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance
As a small company, you could heavily rely on a steady stream of business from various corporate titans; this could be the case if you are a contractor, consultant or freelancer, for example. Therefore, it is in your interest not to disgruntle your big clients – but slip-ups can still happen.
When they do, professional indemnity insurance can enable you to make financial amends. Many firms will be unwilling even to hire you if you don’t hold PI cover, so act in advance.
The Federation of Small Businesses recommends that you consider PI cover if you deliver a professional service, like marketing or architecture, or issue advice, as in the instances of a health consultant or financial advisor.
By phoning the UK broker Be Wiser Business Insurance on 0333 999 0802, you can source cost-effective quotes in PI insurance, plus the other insurances previously mentioned, under the broad banner of small business insurance.
