Commercial building insurance

Public liability insurance

In case someone is injured while visiting your premises.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

• accidental injury or damage to a third party and/or their possessions

If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

For example:

• a customer visits your business and trips over a raised carpet, falling and injuring their arm

What isn’t covered?

• deliberate acts
• asbestos-related claims
• loss or damage of data

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

Required by law for most employers, covering employee injuries and illness

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

• an employee, including a contractor or casual labourer, suing you after falling ill because of working for you, or
• making a claim for an injury they’ve had while working for you

For example:

• an employee in your shop slips on a wet floor, injuring their lower back

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

Contents insurance

In case the specific contents you use at your business premises, such as furniture or appliances, are damaged or stolen

What’s typically covered by contents insurance?

• your contents and office equipment
• some insurers limit cover to the address stated on your policy details – your ‘insured address’ – and others will cover items away from your address, while inside the UK

For example:

• your business laptop is stolen during a break-in at your commercial premises

What isn’t covered?

• incidents where there are no signs of forceable entry or exit
• defects
• deliberate damage caused by the policyholder

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Fixtures and fittings insurance

Cover for fitted contents like your sinks and toilets. Including buildings cover will include fixtures and fittings as standard. 

What’s typically covered by fixtures and fittings insurance?

• escape of water, flood, storm, and fire
• in some cases, malicious damage

For example:

• your bathroom and kitchen fittings are damaged during a fire on your business premises, and you need to close for repair works

What isn’t covered?

• the cost of resolving the issue – this cover applies only to the damage caused
• deliberate damage caused by the policyholder

Flood

What does this cover?

• damage and destruction caused by flooding
• cover for your building and fixtures and fittings, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

When would I need to make a claim for flooding?

• for example, a heavy storm causes your kitchen area to flood, and you need to replace damaged contents, like kitchen units

Fire

What does this cover?

• damage and destruction caused by fire
• cover for your buildings, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

When would I need to make a claim for fire?

• for example, a serious fire breaks out in your office, meaning it needs to be fully refurbished

Storm

What does this cover?

• damage and destruction caused by a storm
• cover for your buildings, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

When would I need to make a claim for a storm?

• for example, strong gales cause several roof tiles to become dislodged and you need to pay to repair them

Escape of water

What does this cover?

• damage and destruction caused by an escape of water
• cover for your buildings, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

When would I need to make a claim for escape of water?

• for example, a burst pipe floods your storage room, and you need to replace a damaged part of your buildings such as shower and kitchen units

Subsidence

What does this cover?

• damage and destruction caused by subsidence
• cover for your buildings, up to the insurance level you’ve selected

When would I need to make a claim for subsidence?

• for example, a wall at your premises collapses due to subsidence and it needs urgent repair work to make it safe