Join over 900,000 UK customers with PL cover from £3.19 per month*
From leaking pipes to electrical faults, everyday building risks can be devastating for a small business. Commercial property insurance is designed to help cover repair or rebuild costs, if your business buildings are damaged during an event like a storm, or if it’s been vandalised. You can add this cover on to your business insurance policy, combining it with other popular options like contents insurance.
Office-based businesses often have automatic cover provided by the owner of the building or management company, but if you own your premises or need protection for equipment, contents, and fittings, a tailored quote featuring office contents insurance and buildings cover can be a key support.
Public liability insurance
In case someone is injured while visiting your premises.
Employers’ liability insurance
Required by law for most employers, covering employee injuries and illness
Contents insurance
In case the specific contents you use at your business premises, such as furniture or appliances, are damaged or stolen
Fixtures and fittings insurance
Cover for fitted contents like your sinks and toilets
Flood
Fire
Storm
Escape of water
Subsidence
In case someone is injured while visiting your premises.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
For example:
What isn’t covered?
Read more about public liability insurance
Required by law for most employers, covering employee injuries and illness
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
For example:
**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.**
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?
For example:
What isn’t covered?
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Cover for fitted contents like your sinks and toilets
What’s typically covered by fixtures and fittings insurance?
For example:
What isn’t covered?
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
What does this cover?
When would I need to make a claim for flooding?
What does this cover?
When would I need to make a claim for fire?
What does this cover?
When would I need to make a claim for a storm?
What does this cover?
When would I need to make a claim for escape of water?
What does this cover?
When would I need to make a claim for subsidence?
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
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.
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10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
£52.23 /month
£464.24 /year
An owner-run clothes shop located in a small retail space
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Buildings
£150,000
£94.39 /month
£839.05 /year
A large sandwich shop located on a busy high street, operating a 5 litre deep fat fryer and ATM machine
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Buildings
£225,000
How we work out building insurance example quotes. These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 07/03/2023). 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 property. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
Depending on your set-up, clients and business type, these expert covers might be helpful too:
When you run a quote you can select from a range of covers.
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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.
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
Having business property insurance through Simply Business has saved UK SME owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Subsidence caused a wall at Liz’s (not her real name) shop to collapse. The optional business buildings insurance added to Liz’s business policy helped cover emergency repair work.
£22,938.00
Covering the cost of subsidence
£100
The excess amount stated in Liz’s policy terms
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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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 commercial building insurance.
You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
If you own a business premises, there are lots of risks you’ll face on a daily basis which could cause serious problems for you or your tenants. Commercial buildings insurance can protect your contents, fittings, and equipment, paying for repair or replacement costs if they’re damaged by an event like a flood or vandalised.
In most cases, the owner of the commercial premises (i.e. the landlord) is responsible for the buildings insurance. If you own your business premises outright, then it’s likely you’ll need buildings cover. Sometimes, the tenant may be responsible for buildings insurance, so if you rent a commercial space make sure you check your tenancy agreement and speak to your landlord to make sure you have the right cover in place.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 0146 683 to update your policy before you take on this new work.
If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
We provide a range of cover options for specific business types, including:
Is your profession not listed? When you run a quote you can select your trade from over 1,000 options.
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
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