When starting a business there are many things to take into consideration so it can be quite tempting to ignore investing into office insurance. However, some aspects of office insurance are required by UK law dependent upon your business. Let’s take employer liability insurance as an example – you are legally required to obtain this cover if you employ anyone outside of your immediate family. This will provide financial cover in the event of an employee making a claim against you for an accident at work or the home office.
Office insurance is made up from several insurance policies, and is usually customised to your needs, rather than a standard policy. You can save money on the cost of your annual premium by not taking out additional policies within your office insurance, however, it is important to remember that if something unexpected were to happen, you could easily end up out of pocket.
For office owners, contents insurance is usually one of the types of insurance which is often overlooked as unnecessary, but have you considered your computers, mobile phones, files, stationary, desks etc. all this can add up to a great cost if do not have adequate insurance cover. Other types of insurance which you must consider adding to your office insurance policy are Loss of Revenue which will cover you in the event that you are unable to trade, public and product liability insurance, buildings cover, and professional indemnity insurance.
It is essential that you discuss your requirements with an experienced insurance provider who can offer you the level of cover you require. As you can imagine, a home-based office with a couple of employees would not need the same type of policy as a multinational corporation employing thousands of people. However, some of the risks are the same no matter how big your business is – having a small office does not make you exempt. How would you cope financially if your office was completely flooded or set on fire, ruining all of your equipment and meaning that you would be unable to trade for a number of weeks? Would your business be able to survive?
It is always highly recommended that every office has some sort of office insurance policy in place but the level of cover will depend on your budget and type of business. Ensure that your business won’t end up going out of business through a lack of office insurance.