Aside from Employers’ Liability, there are a number of different liability insurance products designed to protect a business. These include:

• Public Liability Insurance
• Product Liability Insurance
• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Directors and Officers Insurance
• Environmental Liability Insurance
• Legal Expenses Insurance

Public Liability Insurance covers the financial cost of compensation to members of the public (anyone who isn’t your employee) for death, injury or damage to their property that occurs as a result of your or your employees’ negligence.  This involves members of the public who visit your business, take part in your activities or watch activities you have organised.

Product Liability Insurance covers the cost of compensation to anyone who is injured, or whose property is damaged, as a result of a fault in a product you design, manufacture or supply.

Professional Indemnity Insurance covers the cost of compensation to clients if your professional advice has caused them to lose money. This is type of insurance is particularly advisable for professionals such as solicitors, accountants, financial advisers, architects and surveyors.

Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance covers you for the cost of compensation in instances where a claim is made by a customer against one of your business directors, or other member of staff.

Environmental Liability Insurance is recommended if your business causes damage to water, land, protected plants and animals, or protected plant and animal habitats, as it covers the cost of bringing about adequate repairs.

Legal Expenses Insurance covers the cost of legal action taken in defending your business in instances where legal action is not covered by your liability insurance e.g. an employment tribunal.

Employer Liability Insurance is a legal requirement if your business has employees. This insurance provides financial cover for employee’s injured at work or who become ill as a result of the work they do for you. This insurance covers the cost of compensation to a claimant and legal fees.

This type of insurance policy needs to cover not only all conventional staff, but also contract, casual, seasonal and temporary staff.

Legally you are required to have at least £5m cover in place, otherwise you could be fined up to £2,500 for each day you fail to have appropriate insurance in place.

Buildings Insurance covers damage to your business buildings. This damage might occur because of fire, floods, water damage, lightening strikes and earthquakes.

The amount of buildings insurance taken out should cover the cost of rebuilding your business premises and include professional fees and the cost of clearing the site.

Contents Insurance covers the contents of your building including damage to and/or theft of any stock or business equipment.

Stock should be covered for cost price (the price without profit) and may needs to account for stock fluctuation at certain times of the year. For example, more stock being present on site just before Christmas.

Business equipment can be insured on ‘indemnity’ (where wear and tear is taken into account when settling claims), or ‘replacement’ (where stolen, damaged or irreparable items are replaced with a new one).

Liability Insurance protects you against risk of compensation claims and legal action from your customers and the general public, when you or your employees have done something wrong, failed to do something you should have, or broken the law.

Buildings and Contents Insurance provides financial protection for your property, stock and business equipment from events such as burglary, fire or flooding.

Business Interruption Insurance is a further level of protection which provides financial assistance for the period when you are unable to conduct business as normal because of this damage. E.g. cafes, hotels or shops that have to close whilst repairs are undertaken as a result of a flood.

By law a business is required to have:

• Employer’s Liability Insurance
• Third Party Motor Insurance

Employer’s Liability Insurance

If your business has employees, you are legally required to have Employer’s Liability Insurance

Employer’s Liability Insurance covers you if an employee is injured at work, or becomes ill as a consequence of the work they do for you. By law your insurance must cover at least £5m.

Motor Insurance

A business uses motor vehicles it is legally required to have Third Party Motor insurance. This type of insurance covers damage to persons and property as a result of a collision caused by either you or your employee. This insurance must cover at least £1m for damage to property and an unlimited amount for personal injury.

Specific policies are recommended where a motor vehicle forms a core part of your business, for example taxis, coaches, farm or construction vehicles.

Every business needs insurance to protect itself from a wide range of risks it faces every day. Insurance allows you to put in place system to control these risks and stop them from becoming serious setbacks.

If and when problems do arise, by having insurance in place you have the financial assistance to continue doing business and get back up an running again through replacement, repair or reinstatement.

There are a number of ways in which to bring down the cost of your contents insurance.

No claims discount

If you haven’t made a claim in the last few years, then your insurance providers will lower your premiums

Combined covers

Most insurers will give you a discount on your home insurance premiums if you combine your buildings and contents cover

Neighbourhood Watch

Having a neighbourhood watch running shows your insurers that your home has increased protection against burglary. This provides incentive for giving you a discount. .

Home security

Further protection by an insurance approved alarm or security system will give you a discounted premium. For information on security systems that are approved, contact your insurance provider.

Indemnity policies

Most policies offer new for old cover, where the full cost of repairing damaged items, or replacing old items with new is covered by the insurer. Idemnity policies deduct an amount for wear and tear when you make a claim. Whilst these policies offer savings, they can leave you out of pocket particularly when making a large claim.

Policy excess

The more excess you agree to pay up front in the event of a claim, the lower premium will be.

There is no set cost for contents insurance, as many factors unique to your circumstances can change how much you pay for your policy. As an example, just some of the variables that can alter premiums include:

• Where you live. Your postcode will help your policy holder determine your premiums based on such things as whether your home is in a flood risk area, or one with high crime rates.

• The age of your home

• The type of house you live in. Those that attract higher premiums include those built with a timber frame or thatched roof, or if it’s a listed property or located in a conservation area.

• The policy itself – not all cover is the same!

Contents insurance can either be calculated on a bedroom rated basis or on a sum insured basis.

If you opt for a sum insured basis, you need to work out how much cover you need to make sure all the contents in your house are adequately covered under your policy.

The best way to work out how much cover you need for your contents is to walk around your house logging all of your possessions. By going room to room and assigning a value to all of your possessions, you can get a definitive value for your contents.

A point to note here is that an amount of inflation should be added to the total value to achieve a replacement as new cost. Remember to check and update your contents regularly to ensure you are not under-insured.

To get a complete understanding of your contents insurance, make sure you have annual contact with your insurer to add or take away any items that you have bought or lost over the year. Also make that you understand your insurance documents completely, including how much you are covered for.

Holiday homes are a luxury item known to remain empty for much of the year. For this reason they make an easy target for thieves. Because of this higher risk of being burgled, holiday homes are not insured in the same way as normal homes, and must be specified as such when you are buying the insurance.

If you have a holiday home and do not specify that it is not always occupied at the time of purchasing the insurance, then your insurance company may void a claim in the event of damage or burglary.

The amount of buildings insurance you need must be sufficient to cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

An important point to note is that the cost of rebuilding your home is not the same as the price you would receive should you sell your property (the market price). It is generally lower and covers the cost of totally rebuilding the property. The amount covered should also include the cost for demolition, site clearance, builders and architects fees.

Assessing the cost correctly is important to avoid paying too much for unnecessary cover, or not having sufficient cover that leaves you with a hefty bill to cover any shortfall.

If you extend, rebuild or renovate your home it’s recommended that you review your buildings insurance policy to ensure sufficient cover is provided.

Most standard buildings and contents insurance policies will cover loss or damage caused by:

• Fire, aircraft, lightning, explosion or earthquake
• Theft (or attempted theft)
• Riots or vandalism
• Storms or flooding
• Subsidence, heave and landslip
• Falling trees
• Impact e.g. a car colliding with your house
• Escaping or leaking water or oil
• Your liability as occupier of the house

Damage caused by wear and tear, acts of war or terrorism are not normally covered by Buildings Insurance. Your policy may also be invalidated if your property is left unoccupied for more than 30 days during the year.

You may also add additional cover to your policy to cover such things as accidental damage and legal expenses. These normally incur an additional premium.

Whether you live in a one bedroom maisonette or a seven bedroom house, your home might suffer damage to as a result of a fire, flood, storm, subsidence, burst pipes or act of burglary.

To provide adequate financial protection to bring about remedial repairs to the structure of your home and replace damaged or stolen contents you should protect yourself with two types of insurance:

Buildings Insurance

This provides cover to bring about repairs to the structure of your home including:

• Walls, ceiling and roofs
• Permanent fixtures, fittings and decoration within the house such as a fitted kitchen or bathroom suite
• Gates, fences and footpaths within your property boundaries
• Pipes and cables

Contents Insurance

This covers repair and replacement costs for moveable contents such as:

• Household goods such as cookers, fridges, washing machines and dishwashers
• Electronic items such as TV’s and music systems
• Furniture and furnishings such as beds, sofas, carpets, rugs and curtains
• Valuables including jewellery, art and antiques
• Personal items such as clothes and shoes

A contents policy may also include cover for replacing keys and locks, freezer contents, money, replacement glass, outbuilding contents, TV aerials and satellite dishes, as well as the cost of alternative accommodation should you need to move out whilst repairs take place.