|  | | Ian Jones | Small businesses and the self-employed are by and large not well served by the insurance industry. Household-name insurers are increasingly geared to mass markets or to large corporate clients, with ‘one size fits all’ policies handled by call-centres.
The small business customer is caught between the two - standard business insurance policies are largely unsuitable and expensive for this sector, whilst the attention and advice needed by small firms makes them time-consuming and unprofitable for big insurers. If you’re running a business from home, or freelancing with home as your base, don’t assume that your normal household insurance will meet your business needs – the chances are it almost certainly won’t. Even so-called ‘home with business cover policies’ will leave you exposed in a number of key areas. Or if you’re renting office premises, don’t assume that the landlord’s insurance will cover your business – again, it’s not likely. In any event, it makes good sense to keep your business covers separate from any other arrangements – it will make claiming easier should you have to, and as business insurance premiums are tax-deductible, having stand-alone business policies make it easier to account and claim for them. Whatever insurance cover you have got, check it in detail to see that it matches what you need. Even today, some insurance companies still treat portable business equipment like laptops and mobile phones with great suspicion and won’t cover them at all – never mind that for most of us believe they’re now essential everyday business tools! And if they do cover them, they’ll sometimes exclude cover for Accidental Damage – the most common claim for this type of equipment. Even more importantly, there are some key areas that ordinary policies simply won’t include, like Business Interruption. A standard household policy will pay for the costs of temporarily re-housing you if something awful like a fire or flood devastates your home. But what about your business?
Can you really operate from a hotel room or temporary rented accommodation that you’re sharing with the family? If you can’t, who’s going to pay for suitable business accommodation and all its related costs like heat, light, rates and so on? Unless you’ve got proper Business Interruption cover, you are. Any business, no matter how small, needs to consider Liability insurance. Designed to cover the cost of compensation awarded to people who become ill or injured in connection with your business, Liability is a business insurance fundamental.
For example, the minute you hire someone, even if it’s a part-time, cash in hand, the law says you must have Employer’s Liability cover – without it you’re exposed to both break... | 
