Start up business insurance | PolicyBee (2024)

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Do I need insurance as a start up business?

We recommend it, yes.

Even small mishaps can quickly stack up into sky high legal costs. We’re talking many tens of thousands of pounds for legal defence alone… and that’s before the compensation bill from your client rolls in.

Fighting a claim also takes time and energy – things often in short supply when you’re busy putting 110% into launching your start up.

Having start up business insurance means all your claims are handled quickly and by an expert. You get all the legal advice you need, plus your court costs and compensation are covered too.

With your time, resources and finances ring-fenced, you can get on with turning your start up into a success, knowing your business is protected if anything does go wrong.

How much will insurance cost for my start up?

How much you pay for start up business insurance depends on the types of cover you buy and how much. It goes without saying that the more insurance you buy, the higher your premium will be.

We’d suggest getting professional indemnity, public liability and contents & portables insurance. That way you’re covered for any mistakes you make, any unexpected accidents, and any losses or damage to your kit.

With professional indemnity, it's worth thinking about your worst-case scenario and how much it could cost you. For contents, you just need to make sure you buy enough cover for all your kit – from your tiniest pen to your most expensive piece of tech.

There’s other start up insurance you could go for, including cyber insurance to protect you if you store your clients’ data electronically.

What insurance do I need for my start up?

You can read up on the different types of business insurance for start ups here.

As a bare minimum though, we’d say you shouldn’t be without:

• Professional indemnity insurance, which covers clients’ financial losses caused by your business’s negligence. Also, breach of care, confidentiality, or dishonesty.
• Public liability insurance, which covers ‘slip and trip’ claims for physical and property damage both at your regular premises and if you visit clients elsewhere.
• , which covers your equipment for damage, loss and theft, including office kit and anything you take out and about with you.

You might want to bolt on business interruption insurance as well, to help you carry on trading following a surprise event like a fire or flood.

Cyber insurance is also advisable for any business that runs its own website, uses email or stores customer details electronically.

And remember, if you employ staff, whether that’s a small team of people or a few temps to help out occasionally, then you’re legally obliged to have employers’ liability insurance as well.

What type of start up businesses do you cover?

We cover start ups in all different shapes and sizes – from office-based ones to mobile operators, from business and technology consultants to trades (cleaners, gardeners etc), beauty therapists and hairdressers.

Generally, business insurance for start ups doesn’t vary too much in cost. But if you’re worried about certain risks, or would like a more personalised quote, you can always talk things through with us.

There’s no big call centre or phone menu here, so you’ll get straight through to a friendly expert who can help.

Why should I buy my insurance through you?

We’re professional insurance experts. So, we know exactly what start up business insurance you need to protect yourself.

We only use top insurers and we make buying a policy super easy. You can get everything you need online in just a couple of minutes, with documents delivered straight to your inbox.

We don’t charge admin fees, which means there’s nothing extra to pay. And we give you free stuff, like an ‘I’m insured badge’ for your website. Oh, and a cash bonus each time you recommend us.

But it’s customer feedback that really counts. We reckon ours speaks for itself.

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