Business equipment insurance

Q: Does homeowners insurance cover business equipment?

It’s unlikely your home insurance would cover your business equipment in the event it was lost, stolen or damaged. This is because it’s being used commercially. You’ll probably need business equipment insurance to make sure all the things you use to do your job on a daily basis have the right level of protection.

Q: Can you insure a computer for work?

Yes, if you use a computer in your day-to-day activities it can be covered by business equipment insurance. This will help to cover replacement costs if it’s lost, damaged, or stolen.

Q: What insurance do you need when running a business?

Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for independent and small business owners – it’s designed to protect you if someone is injured or gets sick, or their property is damaged, because of your business. Do you employ any staff? If so, you’re usually required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance, even if it’s for a contractor team member, or casual and seasonal staff. You’ll face fines of up to £2,500 a day for anyone you haven’t covered correctly. Professional indemnity insurance is another popular cover, providing protection against compensation claims for an error or oversight which ends up costing a third party money to fix, or causes a financial loss. From there, you can pick and choose from other specific protection for your stock and equipment, plus legal expenses for things like employee disputes and personal accident cover for the slip-ups that can delay business as usual. Our business insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.

Q: Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 0146 683. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.

Q: Does public liability insurance cover my business for the actions of my employees?

This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance. If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance. There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a "family business" as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild, or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

Join over nearly a million customers like you – we offer public liability cover from £4.95*

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10% of customers pay the equivalent of £4.95 a month*

Why is equipment insurance important?

Specific insurance for business equipment is a key part of operations for thousands of UK professionals. It can help cover damage or loss of your essential items, often making the difference between closure and business as normal. So if there’s a risk that your laptop could get stolen, for example, or your shop’s appliances could get damaged, business equipment insurance is there to keep you running.

shop, office, and portable equipment insurance, UK contact and claims team
cover for break-ins, flood, fire, and accidents, for peace of mind while you work
rated 4.8/5 based on 39.9K public liability customer reviews

Insurance for business equipment – what’s covered?

Business equipment insurance covers the replacement costs of equipment you use in your day-to-day activities, such as a blow dryer if you’re a hairdresser or a portable card machine if you’re a market stall trader. If your business equipment is lost, damaged, or stolen, this cover can help you to keep on working.

If you’re a tradesperson and you need cover for tools such as an electric saw, you can get the protection you need with tools insurance.

Fire
Theft
Flood
Loss
Accidental damage

Fire

What does this cover?
- damage, destruction, and loss caused by fire
- cover for your business equipment, up to the insurance level you’ve selected
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, a fire in your beauty salon destroys the equipment you rely on for day-to-day trading
Theft

What does this cover?
- theft of items like your business laptop or phone
- cover for your business equipment, up to the insurance level you’ve selected
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, someone breaks into your office and steals your laptop
Flood

What does this cover?
- damage, destruction, and loss caused by flooding
- cover for your business equipment, up to the insurance level you’ve selected
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, a pipe bursts in your bakery, flooding the premises and destroying your baking equipment
Loss

What does this cover?
- loss of items like your laptop or trade equipment
- cover for your business equipment, up to the insurance level you’ve selected
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, you leave your bag on the train and lose the laptop and drawing equipment you need to run your architecture business
Accidental damage

What does this cover?
- accidental damage to items like your work phone or trade equipment
- cover for your business equipment, up to the insurance level you’ve selected
When would I need to make a claim?
- for example, while styling a client’s hair in your salon, you drop and break your straighteners

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions

How much does business equipment insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £4.95 per month

Get tailored quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

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The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £59.34 or less annually between 1st Feb – 30th April 2025. Equivalent to £4.95 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 82% of customers have a £1 million limit and 18% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example business equipment insurance quotes, real prices

£10.40 /month

£83.95 /year

A small software development company working on apps for smartphones

1-2 years’ experience
Sole trader
No employees
Based in Edinburgh

Public liability

Not included

Contents & business equipment

£5,000

Professional indemnity

£50,000

£64.16 /month

£570.31 /year

A large coffee shop situated on a busy high street

5+ years’ experience
Limited company
2 employees
Based in Belfast

Public liability

£5,000,000

Contents & business equipment

£15,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 14/09/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover	Lowest excess	Highest excess
Public liability	£100	£2500
Employers’ liability	No excess	No excess
Tools	£60	£500
Stock	£100	£500
Business and office equipment	£50	£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

Looking for something else?

Depending on your set-up, clients and business type, these expert covers might be helpful too:

Is your profession not listed? When you run a quote you can select your trade from over 1,000 options.

How it works

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Only pay for what you need

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Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm

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0333 043 8527

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Contact us on our website whenever suits you

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Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

76% of claims were settled in 2024.

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. “Settled” covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 26/02/2025.

Example claim

Having business equipment insurance through Simply Business has saved UK small business owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Ella saved more than £4,300

Ella (not her real name) called our claims team to report a break-in at her office premises and theft of two company laptops. The optional insurance for equipment added to Ella’s business policy helped cover her replacement costs.

Insurance payout

£4,300.79

Covering the cost of theft

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of theft

Chosen by nearly one million small business and landlord customers

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly a million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Rated 4.6/5

Based on 39.9K Feefo reviews

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Equipment insurance FAQ

Whether you’re new to buying insurance or you’ve been operating your business for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about insurance for equipment.

You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

Does homeowners insurance cover business equipment?

Can you insure a computer for work?

What insurance do you need when running a business?

Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for independent and small business owners – it’s designed to protect you if someone is injured or gets sick, or their property is damaged, because of your business.

Do you employ any staff? If so, you’re usually required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance, even if it’s for a contractor team member, or casual and seasonal staff. You’ll face fines of up to £2,500 a day for anyone you haven’t covered correctly.

Professional indemnity insurance is another popular cover, providing protection against compensation claims for an error or oversight which ends up costing a third party money to fix, or causes a financial loss.

From there, you can pick and choose from other specific protection for your stock and equipment, plus legal expenses for things like employee disputes and personal accident cover for the slip-ups that can delay business as usual. Our business insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.

Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

Does public liability insurance cover my business for the actions of my employees?

This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild, or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Business equipment insurance

Why is equipment insurance important?

Insurance for business equipment – what’s covered?

Fire

Theft

Flood

Loss

Accidental damage

How much does business equipment insurance cost?

Prices start from £4.95 per month

Example business equipment insurance quotes, real prices

What kind of excess should I expect?

Looking for something else?

How it works

Pick what goes into your policy

Get prices from a range of insurers

Buy online in minutes

Talk to an expert

Online

Phone

FAQs

How do claims work?

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

Example claim

Ella saved more than £4,300

Compare and buy in minutes

Rated 4.6/5

Here to help

24/7 claims

Equipment insurance FAQ