Business insurance

What is business insurance?

Business insurance is a policy that protects your business from claims of various kinds - everything from accidentally injury, contents and property damage, or employee injury and illness. It protects businesses against losses by safeguarding your work, your people, your reputation, and ultimately, your future.

Typically, a business insurance policy is made up of a combination of different covers. These covers are:

• Public liability insurance
• Employers' liability insurance
• Professional indemnity insurance
• Contents insurance

With AXA, you can tailor your business insurance policy to get the right combination of covers that suit your needs. Not every business will need every type of cover, so make sure you choose the ones that work best for you to protect yourself from unexpected claims.

Who does our business insurance cover?

When you’re running a business, you’ve got a lot to keep on top of. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been your own boss for years – we‘ve got the cover you need. We cover a variety of different business types and sizes. Currently, we can offer cover to:

• Micro businesses (0-12 employees)
• Sole traders
• Self-employed people

What does business insurance cover?

There are four main types of cover we offer. Each of our covers protect you from different things - from slips, trips and falls to money lost from bad advice and services. Below, you can find out what each type of cover protects you from, as well as their cover limits.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance protects you if a third party makes a claim against you because they were accidentally injured, or their property was damaged. Most policies cover you whether the injury or damage happened at your premises or off-site.

Although it’s not a legal requirement, most local and public authorities (such as local councils, schools etc) may also ask that you have it in place as part of a business agreement.

Our cover ranges from a minimum cover level of £1 million, and a maximum cover level of £5 million. Please note, some clients (such as local authorities) might have a level of cover they require you to have before they'll work woth you.

Employers’ liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance is a cover that is a legal requirement for any business that has people working for it. This includes:

• Full-time and part-time employees
• Self-employed contractors you hire
• Temporary staff, apprentices and volunteers
• People taking part in work experience or training schemes

It protects your employees if they get accidentally injured, or fall ill, as while working for. You must have this cover if you're not working alone - and if you don't, you face being fined £2500 by HMRC for every day you're uninsured.

By law, you must have at least £5 million cover. But with AXA, we’ll give you £10 million as standard.

Professional indemnity insurance

Professional indemnity insurance covers you if a client of yours loses money as a result of following your advice or because you've provided negligent services. Like public liability, professional indemnity is also not a legal requirement, however it is highly recommended, particularly if you regularly handle client accounts and give financial advice. We also have specialist policies available for professions like accountants.

Our policies start off at a standard level of £1 million, though you can increase this level anywhere up to £5 million of cover. As with public liability, some clients may require you to have a certain level of cover.

Contents cover

With contents insurance, you're able to insure the things that make your business yours. This covers a wide array of things - such as the fixtures and fittings (salon chairs, mirrors, washing stations etc) in a hairdressers’, the toys and equipment you might need as a childminder, or even the stock you have ready to sell.

The level of cover you need will depend on what you are covering, and the value of the contents being insured. So, make sure you’re always accurately estimating the value of the items you want to cover, as underinsurance will result in a compensation figure lower than you might need.

How much does business insurance cost?

There is no universal price for business insurance. This is because the cost of your policy will depend on several factors, such as what your business does, the size of your business and what you do.

However, AXA customers expect to pay prices from £6.81* a month for business insurance.

The quickest and easiest way to find out exactly what your policy will cost is to get a quote online. It’s quick, easy, and you’ll get a price tailored to the exact policy you need.

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 Not sure what type of cover your need?

What factors affect the cost of my cover?

• Your occupation can affect the cost of your insurance, because trades that use lots of equipment in their day-to-day operations or use dangerous machinery are consider higher risk.
• Where you complete your work can affect your premium because business that are in areas with heavy footfall, or who interact more consistently with members of the pubic, are at higher risk of accidents occurring.
• How many staff you have will affect your premium as more employees opens to up to more possibilities of claims resulting in negligence or accidental injury.

Is business insurance a legal requirement?

In some cases, it can be. For example, if your business has staff – even if they’re volunteers, apprentices, contractors or temporary – then employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement under the Employers’ Liability Act 1969. The law doesn’t apply if you only employ family members - but even then, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

On the other hand, public liability isn't a legal requirement, but it is one that will be a requirement for several types of businesses that work with, or require approval from, a local authority. For example, when working with schools or local councils, or running a business the requires permission from local authorities, such as childminding.

Similarly, many professional regulatory bodies will require you to have professional indemnity insurance to join. We’ll ask you to tell us if you’re a member of a professional body when you get a quote, if it’s relevant to what your business does. Then we’ll provide you with the right proof in your documentation.

Do I need Business Insurance if I work from home?

Yes, all businesses will benefit from insurance, even those working from him. The main difference you’ll find when working from home is that you might not need contents insurance (if you don’t sell things) or buildings insurance (since you don’t have a shop or premises).

Do I need Business Insurance as a sole trader?

Yes, sole traders still need insurance. The main difference is that you won’t need any employers’ liability insurance since you’re working for and by yourself. But, if you interact with the public, have a store, or give advice to clients you’ll still need other forms of business insurance.

Find out which ones with our Business Insurance Wizard tool.

Can I get business insurance before registering my business?

Yes, you can. You can get business insurance before you’ve started trading – and before you have even registered your business with HMRC and/or Companies House.

We don’t need your company registration number or any business registration information. All we need are details on your business address, trade type and your actual/projected turnover.

^*10% of our customers paid from £6.81 for ten months between July and September 2024 after an initial deposit. Interest applicable. For more details see our terms & conditions.

¹ Based on the number of businesses insured by AXA across the UK and Ireland as of February 15th 2024.

² Rated 4.6/5 based on 16,854 total reviews. Figure accurate as of 25/01/2024.

Underwritten by AXA Insurance UK plc. Terms, conditions, limitations, eligibility and exclusions apply.