Home business insurance
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Business from home insurance
Whether it’s a side hustle or your full-time job, every business faces specific day-to-day risks. If someone was to get injured on your property, or you made a professional mistake, is there a possibility you’d receive a claim for compensation? Your business set-up brings these risks closer to home, so a tailored insurance policy can provide a backstop.
Remember, home and business insurance are two different things. Our policies can provide cover for your business activities, but you’ll usually need separate home insurance for your personal property and activities.
- home business insurance, UK-based customer service and claims team
- rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
- cover for what you need, like your products, stock, and equipment
Home-based business insurance – what’s covered?
Typically, we start with public and product liability insurance for home businesses, covering you against accidents and damage to third parties and their property – for example, if a client has an appointment at your home and slips on your wet hallway floor. From there, you can add stock and equipment insurance, professional indemnity cover, plus employers’ liability cover for anyone working for you.
Public liability insurance for home businesses
In case your home business and products cause injuries or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your home business.
Professional indemnity insurance for home businesses
In case there’s a claim for loss-causing errors or issues with your work.
Tools insurance
In case something happens to your home business kit.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the products and materials you rely on.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you face legal costs in connection with your home business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
Public liability insurance for home businesses
In case your home business and products cause injuries or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, because of your home-based business
- an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
- accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees
For example:
- your dog chews through a client’s shoe while they’re in an appointment with you
- one of your products causes food poisoning in three families who buy from you
If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your home business.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)
**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.**
For example:
- you’re running a baking business and your employee slips on your kitchen floor, injuring her lower back
- a trainee you’ve hired catches his hand in a broken window frame in your home, and needs hospital treatment
Professional indemnity insurance for home businesses
In case there’s a claim for loss-causing errors or issues with your work.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance?
Claims against your home business for professional negligence or a loss-causing breach of contract. This can include:
- advice which turns out to be incorrect
- mistakes in your work that cost others money to fix
For example:
- a client claims you’ve made a mistake, causing them to delay a deadline and incur losses
- your employee sends an email containing sensitive data attachments to the wrong client, and you receive a claim for compensation
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Tools insurance
In case something happens to your home business kit.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- the specialist tools you use for work, like handheld or portable electronic equipment
- loss, damage, or theft
For example:
- one of your children drops a set of tools you use for your home-based upholstery business, and you need to repair or replace them
- you’re running an ironing and laundry service from home, and your kit gets damaged in a flood in your utility space
Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the products and materials you rely on.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- loss, damage, or theft of essential stock items, like ingredients or spare parts
For example:
- the stock of beauty and hair treatment products you use to run your home business are stolen from your garage
- a fire destroys the stock of wool, silk, and other materials you use to operate your home alterations business
Read more about stock insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you face legal costs in connection with your home business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your home business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis support to help you protect your professional reputation
For example:
- a neighbour raises a nuisance claim against your home business, and you need to pay for legal advice
- you need to recover legal costs after an employee sues you for unfair dismissal
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you suffer a head injury while on holiday and require three weeks off work for recovery
- one of your employees, who you’ve covered on the policy, traps their hand in your home office door, requiring emergency surgery and four weeks off work
Read more about personal accident insurance
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 home business 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 £3.19 per month
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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.
Example home business insurance quotes, real prices
£11.52 /month
£95.2 /month
A start-up graphic designer who has just completed their degree
- Less than 1 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Sale
Professional indemnity
£50,000
Contents & business equipment
£2,500
£7.00 /month
£49.99 /month
A part time masseuse working with clients at her own home
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 3 employees
- Based in Southend-on-Sea
Public liability
£2,000,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 17/08/2021). 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.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Does home business insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Can I just cover my most expensive tools?
Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.
You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.
Does home business insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider home baking insurance or online retailer insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
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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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. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
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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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
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Business from home insurance FAQ
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about home business insurance in the UK. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
There’s no legal requirement in the UK to have specific home business insurance in place. However, even if it’s a side hustle and you’re only working with a few clients or orders, your home business carries risks – to you and your customers, as well as suppliers and employees, if you have any, and anyone visiting you at home.
Public liability insurance, as well as product liability, can cover you if someone makes a claim against you for injury or damage. For example, a client might slip on your wet hallway floor, causing a back injury. Or maybe you’re running a small catering service and someone gets ill after eating your products.
You can also add professional indemnity insurance for loss-causing errors in your work, stock and tools insurance for your essential kit and supplies, plus employers’ liability cover, which is usually a legal requirement if anyone is directly working for you.
We’ve put a bit more detail in the first FAQ, but like most home businesses, cake decorators may find insurance handy. It can cover you for risks like a product causing injury, or something happening to your stock and equipment.
Remember, if you employ anyone, even from home, employers’ liability insurance is usually a legal requirement.
Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a plumber, you may also do building work on certain jobs – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 043 8527 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.
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:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
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.
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 043 8527. 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.
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.