Online business insurance

The only insurance you’re required to have by law is employers’ liability insurance. And you only need that if you employ someone.

Although other types of insurance aren’t a legal requirement, it’s important to consider unexpected events and their consequences.

There are different types of ecommerce business insurance that you may want to consider, including:

• public and product liability insurance
• employers’ liability insurance
• stock insurance
• business interruption insurance

You shouldn’t need separate insurance to cover your products while they’re being transported. As long as you’re responsible for transporting the goods (and not a third party) then they should be covered by your stock insurance.

You should be aware that the maximum amount you’re covered for varies when your goods are in transit – so make sure you check this when you buy your insurance.

If you sell products through your online business, ecommerce insurance can help to keep you protected. To help make sure you have the right cover, you can chat with our expert team and let them know what you sell, where you sell it, and who you sell it to.

Our online shop insurance covers you as long as your annual turnover is below £3m – so your cover can grow and evolve with your business.

Running an online business doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sell from your own online store. Many small business owners choose to sell through online platforms such as Amazon or Etsy.

While it’s not a legal requirement to have business insurance to sell on these platforms, it can help protect your business. If your items get damaged or accidentally injure a customer, insurance can help you cover the costs.

However, if you’re selling on an online platform with the help of employees, you’ll need to have employers’ liability insurance, which is a legal requirement.

Whether you’re selling online or in person, you’re still responsible for replacing or refunding faulty products. In general, online business insurance won’t cover this.

If you do want to be covered, adding product liability insurance to your cover can help to cover things like legal fees that may arise if injuries or damages occur.

Your home insurance probably won’t cover any business you run from your home. So if you’re running an online business and need to cover your stock or any equipment you use, you’ll need additional online business insurance.

If you change your business’s legal structure from sole trader to limited company half 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 a cover that protects your new company structure.

It’s worth noting that your insurer and premium amount might change.

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.