Join over 113,000 businesses with legal cover from £3.19 per month*
From employment tribunals to tax investigations, legal issues typically cost thousands. On top of the money, they’re a drain on your time and attention, and can take over a year to resolve. Business legal expenses insurance is designed to help cover the costs, and provide expert support on areas like employment and contract disputes, debt recovery, data protection, tax, and more.
Legal insurance is designed to help cover your legal representation costs and expenses, if a claim is made against you. Expertise is power, so we’ll always provide access to a 24/7 legal advice helpline, plus crisis PR support, giving you a solid first point of contact. Contract and employment disputes, debt recovery, data protection, tax protection, and corporate identity theft are all areas typically covered by legal protection insurance.
Contract disputes and debt recovery
You might claim for this if a contract disagreement prevents you being paid.
Employment disputes and compensation
You might claim for this if an employee (including a volunteer) raises a claim against you.
Data protection
You might claim for this if you’re handling personal data, in any form.
Tax protection
You might claim for this if a tax enquiry is made against you.
Corporate identity theft protection
You might claim for this if someone uses your company’s identity illegally.
You might claim for this if a contract disagreement prevents you being paid.
What's covered?
Debts owed must exceed £200, and you’ll need to make your legal business insurance claim within 90 days of the debt being due or payable.
For example:
What isn’t covered?
You might claim for this if an employee (including a volunteer) raises a claim against you.
What's covered?
For example:
You might claim for this if you’re handling personal data, in any form.
What's covered?
For example:
What isn’t covered?
You might claim for this if a tax enquiry is made against you.
What's covered?
For example:
You might claim for this if someone uses your company’s identity illegally.
What's covered and included?
For example:
What isn’t covered?
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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How we work out example prices: Prices are based on payment over 12 months as of 17/11/2022 and are inclusive of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). If you pay in a lump sum or by Direct Debit, extra fees may apply.
£50.64 /month
£450.09 /year
A self-employed plumber working mainly in local residential properties
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Legal expenses
£100,000
£142.58 /month
£1267.40 /year
A freelance architect that specialises in residential property conversions
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Legal expenses
£100,000
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.
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.
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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
Call our team
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 2021
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 legal insurance through Simply Business has saved small business owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Steph (not her real name) called our team to make a claim for legal fees she needed to pay, in connection with a client contract dispute. The optional commercial legal expenses insurance added to Steph’s architecture business policy helped cover her legal costs.
£3,150.00
Covering the cost of contract dispute
£100
The excess amount stated in Steph’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 legal expenses insurance for business.
You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
It’s unlikely a standard business insurance policy would cover you for legal costs in the event of a contract dispute or identity theft. That’s why it’s important to add business legal cover to your policy to make sure you have the right level of protection.
Commercial legal cover is another way of saying ‘business legal insurance’. It’s typically built to help provide cover for legal costs and expenses, often when you need legal representation in connection with your business. Our cover also supports you with a 24/7 expert legal advice helpline, plus crisis PR support.
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.
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 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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© Copyright 2023 Simply Business. All Rights Reserved. Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Registration No: 313348). Xbridge Limited (No: 3967717) has its registered office at 6th Floor, 99 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NG.