Professional indemnity insurance

In case you’ve made a mistake in your recruiting processes or provided a service that didn’t meet the expected standards.

What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for a recruitment agency?

Legal expenses and court payouts relating to claims against your business for:

• professional negligence that causes your customer or client to suffer financial loss
• advice you’ve given that turns out to be incorrect
• errors in your work that cost you money to fix

For example:

• you recommend a candidate but you fail to thoroughly check one of their references, and it turns out to be false, so the client is suing you
• your client believes you’ve misrepresented a candidate’s experience – even if you disagree and feel you’ve done things by the book, you could face expensive legal fees to fight the claim

Read more about professional indemnity insurance

Public liability insurance

In case someone suffers injury or property damage as a result of your recruitment business.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for a recruitment agency?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental damage caused by you to someone else’s property over the course of your recruitment work
• injury caused by you to someone else over the course of your recruitment work
• your employee causing damage or injury (remember, if you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance)

For example:

• a client sits on a faulty chair at your recruitment agency’s office and it collapses beneath them, leaving them with a broken wrist
• you’re at a coffee shop to meet a potential client and you accidentally spill your coffee over their laptop, so they’ve asked you to pay for a replacement
• while your receptionist is making a cup of tea, someone smashes a window at the entrance to your office and steals a client’s designer leather jacket from the coat hooks

What you’ll need additional cover for

• accidental damage or injury caused by a candidate you’ve placed in a role

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for your recruitment agency.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• illness suffered by your employees (including temporary staff) as a consequence of being employed by you
• injuries to your employees as a consequence of being employed by you

**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:

• your personal assistant gets a bad back because you haven’t supplied them with an appropriate computer screen, keyboard, and desk and chair setup
• your apprentice fractures their tailbone by slipping over on a wet patch where the office floor was recently mopped

Business and office equipment insurance

In case your business and office equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• the operational equipment you use in the running of your recruitment agency, while stored at your business premises or out and about
• theft of your equipment
• flood, fire, or accidental damage to your equipment

For example:

• you’re meeting a potential client in a cafe when you realise someone has stolen your backpack containing your laptop and phone
• a flood at your office causes water damage to your recruitment agency’s desktop computers, so you have to buy replacements

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you need to pay legal costs in the running of your recruitment agency.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• the cost of solving tax and compliance problems you may face as the owner of your recruitment company
• the cost of dealing with disputes with your employees
• legal claims and associated expenses resulting from property damage, nuisance, or trespass
• helplines offering quick and reliable access to tax advice, 24/7 confidential legal advice, and crisis communications guidance

For example:

• you’ve let a trainee recruiter go on the grounds of poor performance, but they’re alleging unfair dismissal, so you need to get help from a lawyer
• your recruitment agency’s tax affairs are being looked into, either as a formal investigation or a random audit, and you need an accountant to work with you on HMRC’s enquiries

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• claims due to injury or death (outside of work as well as at work) for any person you’ve chosen to name in your policy
• lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you’re taking team headshot photos for your agency’s new website and you trip over the tripod and dislocate your knee
• you’re heading out to a recruitment industry conference and you shut your hand in the car door, breaking a finger
• your employee fractures their elbow in a football game over the weekend

Read more about personal accident insurance

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.

Does recruitment 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 nurse insurance or carers insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Employment agency insurance
• Hr consultant insurance
• Health and safety insurance
• Recruitment industry insurance
• Life style insurance
• Business consultant insurance

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Consultant 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.