Posted: 18th July 2019 | Back to news feed

If you have recently taken the steps to start your own business, congratulations on this exciting move! Working for yourself can have some amazing benefits, choosing more flexible hours, working with people who inspire you and avoiding those long commutes to an office. We imagine your head will be swimming with lists of things that need to get done but whilst you are busy getting the actual ‘work’ done don’t forget you should be making sure all your hard work is not going unprotected. 

Whether you run a small business from home, have an online shop or own a huge retail space with a number of employees, business insurance is something that is worth thinking about and the sooner the better. 

Taking the ‘it won’t happen to me’ approach is not a viable attitude when it comes to business, so by making sure every aspect of your business is secure you can have the peace of mind that in any eventuality your livelihood is in safe hands 

Working from home 

Many smaller businesses and start ups find themselves working from home – it is a great way to avoid the daily commute and avoid paying larger overheads for office space. But just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you are automatically protected. A household insurance policy can go some way to covering your business equipment but not all. It won’t cover the more-high tech audiovisual items for example, or anyone visiting your home for business purposes, or any employees you may have. 

Why cover your business? 

By getting yourself a specific business insurance policy you can ensure that your expensive business equipment is covered as well as personal accident insurance, especially important if your income would suffer if you would be unable to work. Weekly benefits can cover up to 80% of weekly income and there is also illness cover to consider. Have you really ever stopped to think what would happen if you were taken ill? 

Public liability 

Alongside the above, public liability should be considered if you have people visiting your home for business reasons. If you have staff working for you, whether they are packing or working administratively, you are legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. And in the event that you are offering professional advice in terms of supporting your customers you may wish to include professional indemnity insurance as well. 

Product liability 

Something you will definitely need to consider is product liability. Product liability covers you for the cost of compensating someone should a faulty product that you have sold to them cause injury. For example, if you sell equipment that could break and cause an accident you could be liable. Product liability will protect you against such incidences. You will need to ensure that you have ‘rights of recourse’ against any manufacturer or supplier in this case.   

Cyber liability 

Another thing in this day and age to consider is Cyber Liability. This means that you can insure against business interruption should you be hacked, or a virus upsets your work. Something that is becoming a far bigger issue in today’s business world. 

It also means that you can be covered if you subsequently infect third party computers, which in turn disrupt third party business. If you are holding client data, including names, phone numbers and/or credit card information if the data is lost or stolen you will have the cost of reinstating the information, investigations as to how this happened, as well as the potential fall out of having to inform your clients – this could significantly tarnish a reputation. Cyber Liability would pick up the resulted cost of this. 

Find your policy 

Your business is individual to you and therefore your policy should act in the same way. Not all businesses need the same protection so you need to identify the areas you want protecting and ensure these are covered as comprehensively as possible. Business insurance is considerably different to insuring a car, it is your livelihood, and at the end of the day it is essential that it is protected on the correct basis. 

This means speaking to a company who can help you cover all the areas and understand your business needs. Shearwater Insurance have years of experience insuring businesses especially within the equine sector. Their knowledge makes them well placed to help you find the best policy for your business. 

For more information and to receive a no obligation quote, or to view the comprehensive range of policies available from Shearwater Insurance, visit www.shearwater-insurance.co.uk or call 01992 718666 

The Equestrian Index newsfeed is compiled from articles submitted by advertising members and expresses the opinions of those members. Watsons Directories Ltd shall not be held liable for any inaccuracies or mis-statements therein.

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