Guide to contractor insurance cover

It is important to make sure that you have the right insurance policy with a suitable level of cover for your business needs.

Hiscox offers a range of business insurance products that are flexible so that you can create one single, comprehensive insurance package.

To help you understand what you may need Hiscox have provided a summary of each product.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Hiscox Professional Indemnity insurance can help protect you if a claim is brought against you by a client due to problems with work that you have carried out.

It is important to understand the risks that you may face when buying a professional indemnity policy. At Hiscox, their policy is built by underwriters that have specialist knowledge of your industry. The policy covers risks such as negligence, intellectual property, defamation, loss of professional data and dishonesty.

It is critical that you have the right amount of cover for your business. Therefore when buying a professional indemnity policy you may want to consider the following;

• The size of the contract and client
• The potential sum of your defence costs
• The maximum compensation that could be awarded against you.

Liability insurance

There are two types of liability insurance: Public and Employers’.

Public liability insurance can provide essential protection to your business if you deal with the public, have clients visiting your office or if you or an employee needs to visit other premises. If you do not have any visitors to your business premises you may still suffer a public liability claim; for example if you accidentally damage a client’s property at their office.

Public liability insurance can be bought as a standalone policy or it can be purchased with a range of other Hiscox business products.

If you have employees, it is a legal requirement in the UK to have Employer’s liability cover of at least £5 million. This insurance policy could pay your legal and compensation costs if you are sued by an employee if they believe their work has caused them injury or illness. It will cover any person working for your business even if they are volunteers or are self employed.

Employer’s liability can be added to a Hiscox public liability policy.

Office Insurance

Hiscox Office insurance has been built based on the specific needs of those that work at home or run office-based small businesses.

The policy covers contents as standard but an additional range of specialist products can be added to protect your buildings and your day to day activities. These include; portable equipment, business interruption, legal expenses and buildings.

Personal Accident

If you or a key member of staff suffers an injury from an accident that has left them unable to work, personal accident insurance cover may pay your business a weekly amount. In the case that the injury results in permanent disability or death, your business could receive a lump sum payment.

You may need personal accident insurance if you have concerns as to how the business would continue if you were unable to work, want to protect your business income or need to your business commitments should the worst happen.

E-Risks

Small businesses increasingly rely on email and the internet to run their businesses.

E-risks insurance can protect your business against many cyber-related dangers such as damage caused by viruses, hackers or electronic ID theft.

You may need e-risks cover if you have a dependence on computer equipment for running your business, send or receive information by email or regularly download documents.

Business HR

Hiscox provide a Business HR advice service which can be added to any of their business insurance policies.

BusinessHR are specialists in providing employment advice to small businesses. They manage a dedicated website which can offer;

• Access to the employee contracts, policies and letters you need to effectively manage your staff
• A wide range of HR and Health and Safety guides that are available to download
• Online human resources and Health and Safety risk assessments which are free
• Monthly newsletters to keep you up to date on all employment issues.

Policies are underwritten by Hiscox Underwriting Ltd on behalf of Hiscox Insurance Company Ltd, both of which are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.  This promotion has been authorised by Hiscox Underwriting Ltd.