Start-up Business Insurance
Insurance for new Business Start-up’s
Starting your business can not only be a daunting time but one of excitement to, your dreams of starting the business have finally become reality, the business plan in place, financing sorted, business machinery ordered. Start-up business insurance could be one of those last things that you have thought about, however, it should be one of the first, once you start your new business insurance is there to protect you and the exposures that your new business might have.
At Real we are used to dealing with new start-up businesses, we are not an insurer and neither are we a call centre either, we don’t leave you to figure out what insurance your new business might need either, we can help you along the way explaining things as you progress. We can provide insurance for your business that is both comprehensive for your new venture as well as being scalable as your new business grows.
Does a new start up business need insurance?
For new start-ups insurance is important from day one, it is there to protect your business against such exposures as fire, storm damage as well as flood. Importantly it also provides essential liability insurance cover should someone such as a member of the public allege that you have caused loss, damage or injury to them or their property.
Insurance for any business is essential, whether you are just starting in business or one that has been trading for some time,
Sometimes your requirements for insurance is essential way before you open your doors to the world, the risks and exposures you have don’t just start the day your business opens.
As an example, you might require specialist machinery, your new premises might not be to your standard meaning a few weeks of renovation or redecorating, even installing the machinery can take time.
As an example you have signed your lease, you have moved in but you are not open for business just yet, once you have signed, or if you bought the premises completed your risk can start there.
As a tenant you may be responsible for insurance, such things as glass in the building is a typical example, you may have people that are helping you, even for free who could be termed employees, and of course, you could very well be responsible for any injury that occurs at the premises. All those deliveries mean that you might have people in and out of your premises throughout the day, one ill-placed piece of machinery, that pile of boxes the delivery driver doesn’t see, the result could be that they become injured and quite possibly it could be your fault.
It doesn’t matter what your business is, whether you are manufacturing, distributing or you are a service business or a new technology start-up insurance is something that you need to investigate way before you start trading.
What type of Business Insurance does a new start-up require?
There are many insurance products available, they can protect your Property, your Business Contents even continue to pay he reduction in Gross Prifit should there be an interruption to the business due to a peril at the business premises.
As a start-up business insurance can be something of a minefield, for many their only knowledge of insurance is with their car or home insurance covers, business insurance can seem very complex, lots of big words, complex terminology, insurance lingo that means very little.
We understand this and are happy to help along the way for you to understand what insurance cover you need and what it does. Depending on your business type will determine what type of insurance is needed, after all some types of insurance might be the minimum requirement for one type of business but completely useless to another.
Does a new start-up business need Public Liability Insurance?
Public liability for any type of business is essential; in fact, it could be considered the cornerstone of any business insurance protection.
If someone alleges that you have been negligent in some way, Public Liability Insurance will protect you against these allegations; it will provide you not only legal defence but will also pay compensation should you have been found responsible up to the “indemnity limit” on the policy, and this could happen even before your business opens its doors.
An indemnity limit is the amount of coverage that you choose, these limits usually start at £1million, progress through £2m, £5m and higher although £2m and £5m are standard.
How do I choose what Public Liability Level I need for my new Business?
The limit of indemnity for Public & Products Liability Insurance depends on your business type and what you are doing, a Retail Insurance Policy, for instance, might come with a standard limit, if you are providing a service your customers might be demanding that you have certain limits in place before they allow you on their site, some large companies or local government can request £10million or higher.
This can be quite confusing for a new business, and it doesn’t always follow that the lower the limit the cheaper the policy, and anyway in our opinion premium is secondary over cover, speak to us about what limit of indemnity that might best suit your business.
Do the products I make need to be covered if they cause injury or damage to the user?
As a new start-up Product Liability insurance is an essential protection, Product liability insurance protects you and your business should one of the products you are making or selling causes loss, damage or injury to a user, this could be the actual product itself or a component part into a larger piece of machinery.
Luckily both Public & Product Liability come packaged together in most circumstances so you don’t have to look for separate covers.
Do I need to cover my employees if they are injured?
As your business develops you require more help, this might be to operate machinery, drive vehicles for deliveries or carry out work on-site. As soon as you engage labour then you must have, in most circumstances Employers Liability Insurance, it’s a statutory requirement meaning that you must have it by law. Employers Liability will provide legal defence and pay compensation due to employee injury.
Do I need to insure my business premises?
As a start-up business, you may be lucky enough to own your business premises, if you do then you must have full coverage to protect them against such risks as fire and storm damage as well as theft damage or terrorism. There is no legal requirement to cover your business premises but you have huge financial exposure if you don’t.
For most business start-ups though requiring premises to work from they are usually rented, these might be retail premises, an office an industrial unit or workshop for instance if you are manufacturing or it involves machinery. The difference is that you may be paying for the insurance to your landlord or you may be asked to arrange cover on their behalf of the owner.
Speak to us about insuring your business premises, we can help you find the best cover at the best prices, we can help you with obtaining the correct amount to insure for to avoid underinsurance.
How do I insure my business contents?
Business Contents insurance can consist of anything that you are using to produce your service, a Pizza Takeaway will have the core machinery such as the oven, but will also have the preparation equipment, point of sale technology and perhaps seating area for waiting customers. On the other hand a manufacturer will have specialist machinery for producing their products, may have computers as part of the process as well as office contents.
For a new business your business contents could already have arrived or on their way to you, as soon as they land then you will need to be covering them for anything that might happen to them even before those doors are open for the first time.
There are of course many types of insurance policy available for business, whether that is a package or one that is more bespoke to your needs, most are usually very scalable and grow as your business develops.
Does a new start-up business need Business Interruption Insurance?
Business interruption insurance covers you for loss of income if due to a loss at your business premises means you cannot continue trading, a fire or flood for instance.
When you started your business not being able to trade because of an interruption to your business probably was never a thought, you probably never factored that eventuality into your business plans, but why would you?
Business Interruption Insurance whether for a start-up business or an established one means that should the worst happen the insurance company will keep you in business whilst you rebuild, or replace essential machinery, getting your business back in business as soon as possible.
What other insurance do I need for my new start-up business?
When you are just starting out in business money can be tight, you need to concentrate on getting the business coming in and the money flowing. At any point your new business could be ground to a swift halt by many unknown factors, that is the key reason you buy insurance.
We fully understand you need to keep the spend to the minimum but maximize value for money in what you do spend, however, to keep you in business at these early critical times having other covers in place might seem like an extravagance but in fact, they are insurance covers that could save your business.
For some businesses the advice that you provide could be wrong, you didn’t set out to give wrongful advice but being human this sometimes happens.
Professional Indemnity Insurance covers you for wrongful advice that you may give putting your client in a financial disadvantage, inevitably they are going to be looking to you for compensation. Professional Indemnity insurance will pay for legal defence costs as well as any compensation that may become payable.
Professional Indemnity cover is designed for businesses that give advice for a fee, a surveyor, an architect or building designer are typical examples. As a new start-up, you could be exposed!
Who would have thought that a simple email could bring your new business to its knees? If your business uses email, has a website, holds employee or personal information belonging to someone else than a Cyber Insurance policy is a good idea to have every business should have this type of cover and whilst there is always a cost, its prudent to protect your business, Cyber-attacks continue to increase, and it’s not a case of If you will be attacked, it’s likely to be a case of when.
As a fledgeling new start-up business wouldn’t it be great to have your own legal department on hand advising you about employees, help if you have a dispute with HMRC or you get into trouble with your landlord or that contract you though would be plain sailing suddenly starts to turn a little sour. Commercial Legal Expenses Insurance is very competitively priced, in fact with many policies it comes as standard giving your new business venture someone to call for legal advice.
Just getting from A to B or even delivering to your customers means you need slightly different insurance whether that is for a Car or a Commercial Vehicle such as a Van. Whichever method you use then either Car or Commercial Vehicle insurance is required giving you business use.
Is it difficult to insure Start-up Businesses?
Insurance for business start-ups sometimes can be difficult to obtain, there are many factors that an insurer can look at but it does depend on the type of venture you are starting. Certain trades such as those involving the repair of vehicles can sometimes present a challenge, working from premises made of timber, manufacturing from home, many of these can at times prove difficult.
Speak to us about what you are doing, we will tell you straight away what the requirements might be, previous experience, previous management experience in a similar business or where you have already run a business are factors that will help the process.
Why obtain your start-up business insurance from Real?
Real Insurance Group are specialist commercial brokers, we only deal with businesses, we are not an insurer or a call centre either. We are happy to help you along your new business start-up insurance journey making it as simple as possible and assisting you along the way, after all, we know what types of insurance your business needs.
When you speak to us, you will deal with one person, not multiple staff members who have to read your file every time you contact us. You will deal with knowledgeable and experienced commercial insurance people who have been in this industry for many years, many with twenty to thirty years each.
Call us today on 0330 058 0260
