insurance guide
A Guide to Employers' Liability Insurance
Whether you have one employee or an expanding workforce, employers’ liability insurance is a vital part of your liability insurance for your business.
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Protect your small or medium enterprise (SME) with our business insurance, which can include property damage and business interruption; professional indemnity; and public, product, employers' liability cover.
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Our business insurance for SMEs can be tailored to suit your business. We cover sole traders, contractors, limited companies and limited liability partnerships. The level and type of cover will depend on the risks that your business faces. We are flexible and will build your policy around your specific needs, including workplace injuries, digital threats and compensation for legal defence costs. Our core business insurance products include public liability, employers’ liability, professional indemnity and property insurance.
Third-party public liability cover with £1m, £2m, £5m or £10m limits is available, so you choose the how much you need to protect your SME. We can advise the amount of public liability insurance you need you require, depending on the nature of your operations an your interaction with the public.
We have a range of professional indemnity insurance options to suit your SME's needs, with variable policy limits from £1 million to £10 million. This protects against the cost of compensation claims running into millions of pounds, and includes legal costs and a 24 hour legal advice helpline.
Our SME insurance can be tailored to offer a range of liability covers in a single package, including protection for stock and contents, buildings and equipment.
In the event of a claim please give us a call and we will talk through your claim and help guide you through your next steps in the process.
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Get tips and advice from our industry experts to ensure you get the best out of your limited company insurance.
insurance guide
Whether you have one employee or an expanding workforce, employers’ liability insurance is a vital part of your liability insurance for your business.
View insurance guide
insurance guide
Learn how to protect yourself and your small business with our comprehensive guide to professional indemnity insurance, also known as professional liability insurance.
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insurance guide
Public liability insurance could be the most important cover you have. Not only does it pay out for claims that could otherwise topple a successful business but in many cases not having it would put customers and partners off using your services. Our simple guide looks at the main features and pitfalls.
Liability cover for your SME is available in just one call, so you can start trading quickly. We can quote by phone following a full review of your requirements. This means your SME insurance will be valid instantly, with documentation emailed the same day and paper versions within 24 hours.
Yes. If the amount of stock you possess fluctuates substantially in different seasons, we can allow your ‘sums insured’ amount to be increased by an agreed percentage for your busy times of the year. Typically we can cover for periods over bank holidays such as Easter and Christmas. We recognise that not all SMEs are the same and can tailor your cover to meet your needs. Just let your adviser know if you wish to add this into your SME insurance package.
Yes, we can add cover for holding money in your SME's premises during and outside of business hours, as well as while you are carrying it to or from your bank. The cover available will depend on the amounts involved, your security and type/model of your safe, should you have one. Please ask your adviser for details.
While professional indemnity insurance is not a legal requirement, most businesses giving a design or advice service need it, as having a compensation claim raised against you can be very costly. Our business indemnity insurance, if it includes professional indemnity cover, will not only cover the cost of a successful claim against you, but also pay for legal and defence costs where allegations of negligence for wrongful advice have been made.
Whether you need any ongoing cover after this really depends upon your circumstances.
If you have stopped trading, have you actually shut up shop and closed your business completely down, or do you still have assets such as stock, goods and contents owned by you whilst you are winding down? Unforeseen property damage claims can still occur, so you shouldn’t cancel your cover until you have closed down and moved out completely.
If you are a professional giving advice for a fee – such as an accountant, surveyor or management consultant - claims for wrongful advice can still occur at any time in the future. This will include after you have shut up office, closed your doors, ceased trading or retired. An unhappy customer won’t be concerned as to your personal situation. If they allege wrongful advice against you, all they will want is for their wrongs to be compensated. If you have cancelled or lapsed your professional indemnity (PI) insurance, then you will not have any cover in place, should new circumstances giving rise to a claim be alleged.
Forewarned is forearmed, and PI protection is available in these circumstances, called ‘run off’ cover. This is highly recommended, as professional indemnity cover is generally arranged on a ‘claims made’ basis, meaning that any claims for breach of professional duty should be claimed off your PI policy in force at the time the claim is first made against you.
It is important to understand that your past PI cover, which may have been effective at the time when an error occurred, will not cover you for a claim made once that cover has finished. Once a PI policy period of insurance has expired, its effectively closed to any new claims that may arise.
For this reason, if you are considering ceasing to practice, you should have discussions with your colleagues to see if anyone is aware of any circumstances that could give rise to a potential claim. If yes, report it: not doing so is the wrong thing to do, and you will not have any protection if the matter escalates in the future.
Professional bodies will often require chartered accountants and surveyors to arrange PI run-off cover for periods up to six years after you have closed your practice.
Towergate can offer public liability insurance policies with cover from £1 million up to £10 million or higher. The amount you need will depend on several aspects:
When you are contracting with companies, please check with them to find out if there is a minimum amount of public liability insurance required.
The cost of your public liability insurance will depend on a number of aspects including:
Public liability insurance is not usually a legal requirement like employer’s liability insurance. However, this doesn’t mean that accidents won’t happen, and all businesses large and small are potentially open to allegations of negligence.
While risk management is very important in all businesses to reduce risks and chance of accidents happening, it won’t stop the unforeseen happening. No matter how many processes and precautions are implemented accidents can and will happen. Being vulnerable to a lawsuit can spell disaster for a growing business.
Public liability insurance can cover up to £10 million or even higher on request, the importance of having this protection is clear. Customers and reputable firms will only work with likeminded individuals, firms or organisations and it is very common for such businesses and local authorities to insist on proof of your public liability insurance before appointing, sub-contracting or working with you.
While public liability insurance is therefore not required by law, it is likely to be necessary for your business to operate successfully.
Yes, public liability insurance is a UK legal requirement if you employ staff.
Yes, public liability insurance is tax deductible when calculating taxable profit, as an 'allowable expense' (an expense you can deduct when calculating taxable profit for your tax return). It is included in HMRC’s definition of allowable expenses.
When you buy your public liability insurance, be sure to keep your receipt and your policy documents safe so that you can show your tax calculations if your business is checked by HMRC. Also, if you have an accountant that does your tax return, you will need these documents to show them the cost of your cover so they can calculate it correctly and ensure your public liability insurance is tax deductible.
While public liability insurance provides cover against claims from members of the public for accidental personal injury or damage to their property, employers' liability insurance protects you against claims from employees alleging accidental bodily injury, illness or disease whilst work for you. Employers’ liability is a legal requirement and businesses will typically have both insurance covers.
If you employ staff, you're are legally required to take out employers' liability insurance but if you fail to do so you may be fined up to £2,500 for any day which you are without suitable cover. This is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive. If you do not display the certificate of insurance or refuse to make it available to HSE inspectors when they ask, you can be fined up to £1000.
When you take out or renew a policy, including employers' liability insurance, with us we will provide you with a certificate of employers' liability insurance that will state the companies covered by the policy. This must be displayed where your employees can read it. You may display your certificate electronically but if you choose to do so you must ensure that your employees know how and where to find it and have reasonable access.
As soon as you become aware of a claim or potential claim being made against you for injury or damage:
We recommend that you:
If you accept liability before referral to your insurers then you could prejudice your and your insurers' ability to deal with any claim made against you.
To help you spread the cost of your premiums, we offer a quick and easy direct debit scheme for spreading payment over ten months. Please visit our dedicated Direct Debit page to find out more.