Office insurance

Office insurance can offer financial protection for your business if something unexpected happens. This could include cover for the loss of, or damage to, your equipment in the event of a fire, flood or theft at the premises.

Office insurance could also protect your business against the cost of any legal claims made by your employees or the public.

Your business may need a combination of insurance policies to ensure full protection. For example, you can get commercial insurance to cover your premises and equipment, staff, reputation, and finances.

You can also get insurance to cover your office building and contents. Your business size and industry will affect the cost of premiums, as will any add-ons you require.

There are four main areas that an office insurance policy could cover:

Your premises and equipment

These will be covered by buildings and contents insurance, so there’s no need for specialised office equipment insurance.

People

If your business has one employee or more, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance (ELI).

ELI could cover you if one of your employees became ill or was injured as a result of working for you. It might not be legally required if you only employ immediate family members (though you might still want it for them, of course).

If you have customers or clients on your premises, it’s a good idea to consider public liability insurance. This could cover you for compensation costs if someone is injured at your office or their property gets damaged. It could also cover your legal costs if you’re taken to court.

Your reputation

If you provide advice or professional services to clients – as accountants, architects and lawyers do, for example – you might want to consider professional indemnity insurance. This could protect you if you’re sued for a perceived mistake in your work.

Your finances

If a crisis strikes and your business is unable to operate for a period, business interruption insurance could cover any financial losses during that time.

Whether you’ll need office buildings insurance or contents insurance – or both – depends on whether you own the premises or rent your office space.

Office buildings insurance

If you own your office premises, you’ll need to protect your property with office buildings insurance. If the building were damaged by bad weather or a fire, you could then claim for repairs or even the total cost of rebuilding.

Permanent fixtures such as kitchen units, toilets, built-in cupboards and display cases would also likely be covered.

Commercial property insurance typically covers your office building against the following risks:

• Fire – whether accidental or arson

• Flooding and storms

• Falling trees

• Subsidence

• Burst pipes

• Riots.

If you rent your office, you should check that your landlord has buildings insurance in place.

At Compare the Market, we don’t compare complete office insurance packages. However, the business insurance products we compare may cover parts of your office and/or its contents.

Office contents insurance

Office contents insurance covers your office equipment against theft or damage – essentially, anything you’d take with you if you moved premises. For example:

• Office furniture – desks, tables, chairs etc

• Vending machines

• Printers and scanners

• Stationery

• Computers.

Make sure you calculate the value of your contents accurately, so you have enough cover in place. Don’t forget any specialist equipment your business uses or artwork that you’ve chosen to brighten up the space.

It’s also worth checking whether your policy includes:

• Accidental damage cover – including damage to glass or signage

• Cover for the personal property of employees or visitors to your premises

• Portable equipment cover – for example, mobile phones and laptops that are taken away from the office.

If you keep stock on the premises, check if you may need to cover this with a separate policy.

The amount you’ll pay for your business office insurance depends on a number of factors. While cost is a key consideration, it’s also important to make sure you get the protection your business actually needs.

The cost of your office cover could depend on:

• The size of your business – this can refer to how many employees you have, the size of your commercial office and the total value of your assets

• Type of business – if you run a high-risk business in an area such as investments, property management or financial services, you may need specialist cover. This could be more expensive

• Level of cover – typically, the higher the level of cover you choose, the more expensive your premiums will be. However, if you’re willing to pay a higher excess, it could help to bring the cost down

• Add-ons – do you need extra cover for portable equipment or insurance against cybercrime? While these might be necessary for your business, add-ons will bump up the price of insurance premiums.

When looking at insurance for your office, there are a few more options you might want to think about, including:

• Insurance for cash: If your business deals in cash, you can choose whether this covers loss of money at the business or in transit during office hours. You may also want to cover cash left locked up in an office safe overnight.

• Business interruption insurance provides funds to keep you going if your company can’t trade for a variety of unexpected reasons.

• Legal cover allows you to claim for the cost of legal action against another party. It could be helpful in situations such as employment tribunals, tax investigations, legal disputes with customers or suppliers, and debt recovery.

• Computer insurance: Extra cover for computer breakdowns and data recovery, though this might also be covered under business interruption insurance.

If you run your business from home, your home insurance may not be sufficient to cover equipment, such as computers and any stock. And it won’t offer cover should a customer or colleague have an accident while in your home. For that, you’d need public liability insurance.

If you take out dedicated office insurance, it may include cover for equipment used in an employee’s home. For example, if they use a business laptop for work-at-home days. But always check your policy to be sure.

If you work from home it’s important to tell your home insurance provider, to check your level of cover and make sure you don’t invalidate your policy.

No two offices are the same and the type of insurance you’ll need depends on:

• What your business does

• Your turnover

• Number of staff

• Whether you have customers on the premises

• What kind of equipment and furniture you use in your office.

Just answer a few questions about:

• Your business

• Your employees

• The type of cover you want.

We’ll show you a range of office insurance quotes so you can compare and choose the right option for you.