The UK has seen a huge growth in the number of small businesses in the last few years. The motivation to start a new business and go it alone may stem from a variety of reasons from\u00a0fulfilling a dream, accommodating a change in family circumstances, a desire to take charge of the future or redundancy. Easy access to the internet and the growing popularity of doing business online has further driven growth in a variety of sectors.<\/p>\n
Each new venture may or may not require external financial investment however, along with a good business plan, making sure you have the right level of business insurance is imperative.<\/p>\n
Every business has inherent risks, and business insurance plays a key role in risk management.\u00a0 Contrary to what many believe, business insurance is not the sole preserve of\u00a0 large corporations. From running a home internet business, to making clothes alterations, gardening or paranormal investigations, if you enter a commercial relationship with a third party, your legal status is equal to the Microsoft\u2019s and L\u2019Oreal\u2019s of this world.<\/p>\n
Get insurance quotes for your small business now.<\/p>\n
Smaller businesses are particularly vulnerable to a wide range of risks and the costs of dealing with these\u00a0unforeseen problems can quickly cripple a small operation.<\/p>\n
If an employee is injured while at work, or a member of the public slips and falls on your premises, or if you simply make a mistake when providing a client with advice, the resulting bill for damages and legal costs could be more than enough to sink a business.<\/p>\n
Many\u00a0small business owners plough their life\u2019s savings into their new venture and for this reason alone would benefit from the security that business insurance can bring. It is worth remembering that in the majority of instances, personal and home insurance policies will not cover your business activities.<\/p>\n
There other reasons why insuring your small business properly makes a lot of commercial sense:<\/p>\n
There are a range of business insurance policies to cover all of these types of events and many more, so what does your business need? There are three business insurance policies that are a must for most small businesses:<\/p>\n
Below is a simple insurance guide to each of these types of cover from\u00a0MCM\u00a0Insurance.<\/p>\n
If your customers, clients or members of the public visit your business premises, including a home office, then it is well worth considering public liability insurance. This type of policy will protect your business should you be sued by a third party for a personal injury or damage to their property, incurred as a result of your business activities.\u00a0 The policy will cover the costs of damages awarded against you as well as the legal costs of defending the claim.<\/p>\n
The amount of cover you need will depend on the nature and size of your business, and the scope of your activities, but most small businesses will have at least \u00a31m of cover.\u00a0 This may sound a lot, but premiums are not high and it is easy to underestimate the amount of cover you require.\u00a0 Litigation rates are on the rise, and if you suddenly have several claims against you, the costs can mount up.
\nPublic liability insurance is not compulsory however you may find that clients or customers\u00a0 ask for proof of such insurance prior to engaging your services.<\/p>\n
Employers Liability insurance became a legal\u00a0requirement in 1972 as a direct result of the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. If you are visited by the Health and Safety Executive they will request your certificate of Employers Liability Insurance. If you are unable to produce a certificate for them they can fine you\u00a0\u00a31000\u00a0and they can fine your business\u00a0\u00a32,500 for every day you are without suitable insurance.<\/p>\n
The health and safety of employees whilst at work is the responsibility of each and every employer. There is a chance that your employees may be injured at work, or that they, or your former employees, may become ill as a result of their work while in your employment. As a result of this, your current or past employees might try to claim compensation from you if they believe you are responsible.\u00a0 Over the past decade there has been a huge increase in litigation and record-breaking court awards and an Employers\u2019 liability insurance policy will enable you to meet the cost of such claims.<\/p>\n
Employers in the UK must be insured for at least \u00a35m however each employer should carefully review their circumstances and assess whether they need to increase this limit of cover to \u00a310m. Again, this sounds a lot, but the premiums are relatively cheap.<\/p>\n
Once you have bought an Employers Liability\u00a0policy, your insurer will issue you with a certificate which clearly states your minimum level of cover and the full name of the company or companies insured. It is a legal requirement for employers to display this certificate where employees can have reasonable access to it. Since 1st\u00a0October 2008, the law allows employers to display this certificate electronically.<\/p>\n
If your business activities involve the sale of your skills or knowledge, especially in the form of advice, you should consider buying Professional Indemnity insurance. Even the most respectable companies can find themselves in dispute with a client over a mistake. In the event that a claim is made against you, this type of policy will cover legal costs and compensation. Some policies will even help you to rectify a mistake before it comes to the attention of your client thus protecting your reputation and avoiding litigation.<\/p>\n
When deciding on the amount of Professional Indemnity cover to have you should consider the value of the work you are doing for your clients and the potential financial impact on them should it go wrong.\u00a0 Other than that, it\u2019s advisable to buy as much cover as you can afford.<\/p>\n
You may find that your client requires you to have cover in place before you can work with them. Many UK government departments\u00a0will, for example, require their contractors and consultants to have at least \u00a35 million of cover.<\/p>\n
It is also worth considering taking \u2018retroactive\u2019 cover for work that you\u2019ve done previously. This means that your Professional Indemnity insurance policy will cover you for any claims arising out of work you completed in the past. You will be given the option of taking out retroactive cover when you get your professional indemnity insurance quote.<\/p>\n
Professional Indemnity insurance is favoured by the majority of professionals ranging from architects to consultants, from advertising to PR executives. Professional Indemnity insurance for accountants, lawyers and financial advisers is however mandatory.<\/p>\n
Arranging your small business insurance should be quick and simple, giving you the confidence and freedom to focus on what matters most \u2013 your business activities.\u00a0Users of the MCM\u00a0Insurance website service can compare prices from the UK\u2019s leading insurance providers. Simply enter your details, specifying your trade and individual requirements, and MCM\u00a0then does the rest, searching the market for the\u00a0 cheapest quotes within seconds.<\/p>\n
Get a range of quotes for your small business\u00a0now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK has seen a huge growth in the number of small businesses in the last few years. The motivation to start a new business and go it alone may stem from a variety of reasons from fulfilling a dream, accommodating a change in family circumstances, a desire to take charge of the future or redundancy.","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6,5,4],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homeworker-insurance","tag-insurance-for-self-employed","tag-small-business-insurance"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1717,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/1717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.networkportfolio.co.uk\/mcmgroup.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}