What business insurance do I need?

Describe the work before deciding which insurance names to look for. Include occasional tasks and planned activities, not just the main job title.

Describe your business using five questions:

• What work do you do? List all services, goods and responsibilities.
• How do you do it? Describe methods, equipment and any specialist work.
• Where do you work? Include premises, home use, client sites and relevant countries.
• Who are your customers? Identify customer types, client sectors and contract requirements.
• Who does the work? Include staff, associates, agency workers and subcontractors where relevant.

A sole trader can employ people. A home-based business can receive customers or work at other sites. These facts can matter more than the label used for the business.

If work changes, ask whether the existing policy can cover it before relying on that protection. Use the provider’s actual change and reporting requirements, rather than waiting for the next renewal.

Consider public liability if your activities could cause injury, illness or damage affecting other people or businesses, including customers and clients. These are often called third parties.

Consider visitors, customer sites, shared areas and property you handle or work near. Could an incident affect people or property beyond the immediate task? Face-to-face contact is not the only source of risk.

Check the activities insured and restrictions for property being worked on, treated or controlled. Do not assume every accident or breakage is covered. The public liability insurance guide explains the cover and restrictions to check.

List everyone who works for your business and explain their working arrangements. Most employers must arrange employers’ liability, subject to applicable circumstances, jurisdiction and exemptions.

Tell the provider about:

• employees and casual or temporary help;
• apprentices and work placements;
• agency workers;
• working family members and directors;
• subcontractors and associates; and
• volunteers where relevant.

These groups can have different legal and insurance treatment. A job label, invoice or tax status alone does not establish whether someone is an employee for compulsory insurance or included under a policy.

An employee claiming for their own work-related injury or illness is different from a customer claiming that the employee injured them or damaged their property. Do not treat employers’ liability as cover for every incident involving a worker. Read about employers’ liability insurance and the checks for employees and subcontractors.

Ask about professional indemnity if an alleged error in your professional work could cause a client loss. Include advice and reports, design and specifications, and any certification or implementation work, even within a larger contract.

Describe what you deliver, how clients use it and any promises in your contract. Check whether the proposed insurance covers those services and responsibilities. A dissatisfied client, delay, unpaid invoice or breach of contract does not automatically establish an insured claim.

Include previous work in the discussion. Professional indemnity is commonly claims-made, so claim dates, reporting requirements and cover for earlier work matter. A policy held when work was done will not necessarily respond to a later claim, and new cover does not automatically protect every historic project. The professional indemnity guide explains previous-work and policy checks.

Goods can introduce liability questions as well as risks to stock and items in your possession. Tell the provider what you supply, where it comes from, who receives it and whether you import, repair or alter it.

Ask how products liability is addressed and whether it is selected within the proposed cover. Do not assume it is always included with public liability or that a supplier’s insurance protects your own business.

Separate injury or damage allegedly caused by goods from the cost of replacing a defective product, recalling goods, or protecting your stock in storage and transit. Check each type of loss separately. Check the activities, markets and responsibilities accepted.

The product liability insurance guide explains the goods, roles and policy checks.

List the premises, tools, equipment and stock your business relies on, including items you do not own.

Owned, leased, borrowed and hired property

Record premises, contents, tools, equipment and stock, including items belonging to someone else. Check ownership, lease or hire agreements and who must insure each item.

Ask:

• Which items and events are covered?
• Where does cover apply?
• How are insured values and claim payments established?
• Which storage or transport conditions apply?

Do not assume new-for-old replacement, breakdown or unattended-vehicle losses are covered simply because equipment insurance is named.

Working from home

Tell the home insurer about relevant business use and check how its policy treats your services, business equipment, stock and visitors. Include work undertaken elsewhere too.

Ask the home insurer what business use is covered and whether additional cover is needed.

What if an insured event disrupts trading?

Consider how your business would operate if essential premises or equipment were unavailable, and how long the disruption could last. If considering business interruption insurance, check what event must cause the interruption, which losses are insured and for what period.

It is not automatic protection against every closure, reduced demand or loss of customers. Property damage cover and interruption cover answer different parts of the problem.

Motor insurance is required to drive a vehicle on UK roads. Check that the policy permits the actual business use, drivers and vehicles involved, including relevant deliveries or customer-site travel. A personal policy should not be assumed to permit every task.

Ask separately about tools, stock and other goods in transit, including goods you do not own. Vehicle insurance does not itself establish cover for everything transported in it.

Identify essential systems and information, including customer data and outsourced services. Consider what an incident could affect, then ask which costs and liabilities are covered.

Cyber cover is not automatically included with professional indemnity or equipment insurance. A data-related allegation cannot be allocated to a policy solely from its label; check the event, responsibilities and actual clauses.

Separate compulsory obligations from other risks worth considering. Establish the source of each requirement so you can check the right business, activity and terms.

Source	What to establish
Law, regulation or licensing	Which work, locations and working arrangements the rule applies to.
Professional body or scheme	Current membership or registration conditions and who they apply to.
Client, venue or contract	Insurance types, business to be insured, limits, terms and duration requested.

Check the requirement for your actual circumstances, including the relevant territory and any exemption.

A client’s minimum is not legislation or proof that every risk is addressed. Consider the risks as well as compulsory requirements when deciding what to discuss with the provider. Use the legally required business insurance guide to check obligations separately from the wider risk discussion.

The following six hypothetical examples show how questions differ by work. They are not recommended packages, guaranteed activity acceptance or claim outcomes.

Example business	Questions to investigate	Further guidance
Electrician	Describe installation, inspection/testing and any design; which activities are insured?	Electrician insurance
Plumber	Describe heat or gas work; how do resulting damage and defect correction differ?	Plumber insurance
Builder	Describe structural/subcontracted work; what covers work in progress and existing property?	Builder insurance
Consultant	Describe advice and contract promises; how is previous work treated?	Consultant insurance
Cleaner	Describe staff and access arrangements; how are cleaned items and surrounding property treated?	Cleaner insurance
IT contractor	Describe services and client systems; how do professional-service and cyber provisions differ?	IT contractor insurance

Use the occupation guide to prepare questions about your work, not to assume every business with that job title needs identical cover.

Record facts you know separately from questions needing provider confirmation. Complete these fields in your own records; they do not calculate a package or identify every possible risk.

Use “not known; clarify” for missing information. Record the question, responsible contact and answer reference. Record only a reference and status for claims or known problems. Keep sensitive incident details separately.

Business facts

Area	Facts to record
Business and work	[business names, services, occasional and planned tasks]
Locations	[premises, home use, sites, countries and relevant courts]
People	[workers, arrangements, subcontractors and associates]
Professional services	[advice, design, delivery and client use]
Goods	[products supplied, imported or repaired]
Assets	[items, values, ownership and responsibility]
Vehicles	[vehicles, drivers, actual use and goods carried]
Systems	[essential systems, data and trading dependencies]

Requirements and existing cover

Area	Facts or documents to record	Question to resolve
Requirements	[contracts, professional rules and applicable law]	What cover, limit and period are required, and where is that confirmed?
Existing policies	[businesses, selected cover, restrictions, dates and limits]	What gaps, overlaps or business-use questions remain?
Previous work and history	[projects and requested history references]	Which claim dates, known matters or reporting requirements need checking?

Questions for the provider

Question	Responsible contact	Answer and document reference
Is the actual work correctly described and insured?
Which workers must you tell the provider about?
Which property, responsibilities or systems need separate checks?
What else needs clarification before relying on an offer?

If a category does not describe your activities properly, ask how to record them. Resolve unclear descriptions and keep written answers with the relevant documents.

When arranging non-consumer business insurance, the duty of fair presentation can require more than answering application questions. Disclose material information your business knows or ought to know. Ask the insurer or broker if you are unsure what to provide; the checklist is not a complete statement of the duty.

Use the product and occupation guides above for the questions you identified. Ask the responsible provider to clarify uncertain work, relationships or existing protection before relying on an offer.

Keep the next decisions separate:

• Choose cover limits: use the guides to public liability cover levels and professional indemnity cover levels where relevant.
• Plan your budget: read about business insurance costs.
• Compare written quotes: use how to compare business insurance quotes.

Check which types of cover the comparison service offers for your business and which activities the quote covers.

A quotation is not confirmation that insurance has started. Confirm acceptance, the agreed start date and time, and any outstanding conditions before relying on cover.

If replacing existing insurance, check the transition before cancelling it.