Top Tips -
if you mainly work away or on site
Save time and money on commercial insurance if you work away or on site. Skip now to tips on
Finding out what cover you need
Insurance while you're on site
Impact on your home insurance
Impact on your car insurance
Need new commercial insurance?
1. What commercial insurance cover do you need?
Check that you have all the forms of commercial insurance that you could need.
Find out more about commercial insurance - and what you should be insuring against
2. Check the amounts that are insured
- Property needs to be insured for the full cost of replacing it. Even if the figure selected was realistic once, it needs to be regularly reviewed – ideally automatically by the insurer so that the amount insured keeps pace with inflation - but you still need to start off with an adequate figure, and you need to increase the current figure if you acquire any additional property.
- Public Liability insurance covers your legal liability (except as mentioned below) for injury caused to other people or for damage to other people’s property. The insurance is subject to a monetary limit any one event (e.g. £1,000,000) – so it is important to make sure this limit is high enough to cater for the most serious accident that you can envisage.
- Employers' Liability insurance covers your legal liability to the people who work for you that arise as a result of their employment. The insurance is subject to a monetary limit any one incident. This is generally £10,000,000, but if the most serious incident you can envisage would amount to more than this, you should ask for a higher limit.
- Products Liability insurance covers your legal liability to other people for injuries or disease caused by goods that your business has supplied. The insurance is subject to a monetary limit (e.g. £1,000,000) that applies to both any one incident and to the total of all incidents during any one year of insurance.
More info on how much commercial insurance you need . . .
3. Check any excesses . . .
. . . that your insurance may be subject to. In the event of a claim, are you sure you could afford to pay for the excess?
Or would you be able to pay for a higher excess? This is worth thinking about because business insurers often allow a discount off the premium in return for a higher excess.
4. Check your commercial insurance policy
Check your insurance policy, in particular to see if it is subject to any conditions that you cannot comply with. If you find there is a condition that you are not currently complying with, raise this with your broker or insurer. Otherwise there is a risk that your insurance may be invalidated.
5. Insurance while you work away from your premises, or on site
While you're working at other people's premises, there's always a danger that something you do in the course of your work will cause an accident. So you need to make sure you have Public Liability insurance that will cover your legal liability for
- personal injury to third parties and
- damage caused to their property.
6. How can I insure my tools on site or when I work away from my premises?
If you take your plant or tools to any site where you may be working, they need to be insured anywhere in the country. You may need cover in vehicles overnight, so check that your policy covers this risk.
7. Impact on your car insurance
If you use your private car for any business purposes – however infrequently you do it – you must inform your car insurer. Your cover can then be changed to include business use. If your insurer is unaware of the position, you run the risk that your car insurance could be invalidated.
8. Do you need to take out new commercial insurance?
If you have mislaid your policy or lost touch with your broker or insurer, we can send you a list of contacts who can help you take out new Business Insurance. Just complete the form in the top right corner of this screen and we'll do the rest.
9. Maintain an audit trail
Keep copies of all your correspondence about insurance, and make notes of any conversations and meetings. This may prove very useful if you need to make a claim, or if a dispute arises about what’s been agreed.
What next . . .
Renewing or amending your commercial insurance - the steps you need to take
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