In the fast-paced world of running a start-up, insurance takes care of the things you’re not expecting so you can get on with building your business. While you’re planning the future and setting out your strategy, it’s good to know you’re well protected against insured events.
There’s a story behind every business. A big idea. A spark of inspiration that ignited a big ambition. It takes courage to start a business, and we know that every new venture is unique.
Whatever your profession - self-employed cleaner, caterer, tradesperson, florist, photographer, web developer, personal trainer, caterer or dog walker - and whether you work from home or on the move - you want bespoke start-up business insurance tailored to your need. That's what we can provide.
Why you need business insurance for your start-up
Being your own boss is as rewarding as it is challenging, but if anything goes wrong, the buck stops with you. When you're juggling lots of different responsibilities, insurance isn't always the first thing on your mind, but starting a new venture without having proper cover in place is an extremely risky move.
Growing a successful business from nothing takes hard work, organisation and planning, but it’s a steep learning curve and unexpected losses can arrive along the way. We offer tailored business start-up insurance policies that provides start-ups with a platform to help address any issues that a quickly developing business might face.
What does business start-up insurance cover?
Even if your business is small, you will still face many of the same risks as established companies, but without the stable client base and profit margin to support you if things go wrong. Furthermore, if you're starting a company, insurance is often required by prospective clients, so it's important to have fast, effective cover in place.
We have access to a suite of products specifically designed to cover the risks faced by start-up organisations and businesses, combining a wide range of essential covers companies need into a single package.
Technical and data problems
If your computer systems go down, everything stops until you can get them up and running again. While that’s going on, deadlines are being pushed back and you risk losing time and money. Having business insurance in place means we’ll cover the costs of data recovery and equipment repairs or replacements so you can get back on track
Expenses and legal claims
Mistakes are an opportunity for learning, but they shouldn’t mean you lose earnings. While you’re finding your feet, errors can cost your customers money and cause damage to their reputation. Even if the mistake isn’t your fault, we’ll cover you for expenses and legal claims, so you can get on with building the business, not worrying about paying costs.
Business premises and contents
A local power outage, fires, floods, break-ins – they all have the potential to put your office out of action and when you’re not working, you’re not earning. We’ll cover the cost of replacing or repairing your office contents, while you focus on your customers.
There are also other key business covers you can include within a start-up insurance package, including the below.
Public liability cover with start-up insurance
Claims can come out of anywhere. Say you are visiting a client and you scratch or spill something on furnishings during a visit, or someone trips over tools or equipment you’ve left lying about – you could be faced with a costly compensation claim for property damage or personal injury.
Employers' liability cover with start-up insurance
Your new venture has really taken off, and it looks like you’ll need to take on employees. That may include employees, freelancers or volunteers – so you’ll need to have at least £5 million employers' liability cover as a legal requirement.
If someone you’re directly responsible for is injured as a result of working for you, you need to make sure they are properly looked after – and ensure your business isn’t harmed either. Our policies commonly include £10m cover as standard.
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity cover is there to help you preserve your good name and deal with any disagreements with clients. It helps you to manage and pay your legal costs and deal with claims for compensation if you or someone in your business, even a part-time worker or volunteer, makes a mistake (or a client believes you’ve done something wrong). If a client makes a claim because their reputation is damaged or they lose money, we’ll cover you for expenses and settlements.
Cyber and data insurance
Cyber and data insurance offers specialist coverage for your computer systems and the important records they hold. As a start-up, insuring your business against cybercrime and fraud is essential, for you and your clients. If you suffer a data breach or attack and your systems are compromised, cyber and data will cover you for any loss of income if your computers become unavailable, as well as the costs of recovering data.
Tradesperson insurance
Sometimes things don’t go to plan and an unhappy customer, accidental damage to property, or an injury to you or an employee can mean you can’t work until things are put right.
Tradesperson insurance is a specialist type of business cover that provides protection for the risks which professionals in skilled trade industries face. A tailored policy can be built to include various different covers, including public liability, employers’ liability, legal fees, tools and more.
Office insurance
With all of the day-to-day concerns of running your business you may not give much thought to your premises, it’s easy to take them for granted, until something goes wrong with them. If your work location is out of action, office insurance covers the cost of resuming your operations. We can help protect buildings, contents and equipment, keeping you on track while you put things right and minimising the potential fallout from interruptions to trading.
Commercial vehicle insurance
If your business has vehicles that are driven by different drivers, we can provide company car, van and specialist fleet insurance to suits your needs. The types of vehicles you can cover as part of a mini fleet policy include tippers, skip transporters, HGVs, trucks, company-owned cars, vans and other vehicles.
Start-up insurance FAQs
Can my policy be adapted as my business grows?
Yes. The nature of running a start-up means you're going to need a lot of flexibility from your policy — maybe you're working from your home at the moment but have plans to move into a dedicated office space when you become more established. Perhaps you're waiting for profits to increase before you order some fancy new equipment or hire staff. We understand that change is inevitable and will support and advise you along the way.
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