Sponsored post
Leaving behind the world of working for other people in exchange for a self employed life can feel wonderfully rewarding. However, it can also have various repercussions for which, if you aren’t careful, you could fail to sufficiently account – many of which relating to insurance.
Becoming your own boss effectively means running your own business – and, for that reason, business insurance has to be closer to the forefront of your mind than it may have previously been. Consider each of the below types of insurance to assess which of them you particularly need.
Home sweet home-based business
As part of the shift to self employment, you might start working at home rather than the kind of office or other corporate building to which you had previously been accustomed. Indeed, 58% of self-employed people do at least some work at their home, The Guardian reports. So, your home may include various pieces of business equipment – like your computer – that you would like insured.
Seeking insurance for all of this equipment would be sensible, given how vital it could be to your work. Indeed, it would be risky to simply assume that your existing home insurance will cover work equipment. Nine out of ten home insurance policies will, the Money Advice Service reassures; however, it adds that you should still closely inspect your own policy’s terms to make sure.
Be careful if you are seeking to expand the business
It might not be too long before you feel that the workload is rather getting on top of you and so it would be ideal for you to shift some of your corporate responsibilities to at least one other person. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it would have insurance implications that you should heed.
Employing someone else – unless they are an immediate member of your family – would legally require you to take out employers’ liability insurance, bytestart.co.uk cautions. This would be the case even if you just occasionally hire a part-timer as and when it seems necessary.
Furthermore, that cover would need to be for a minimum of £5 million. Should you violate the legal requirement that you have employers’ liability in place, you could be hit with a hefty fine. This insurance can make it easier for you to fund a compensation payout if, while conducting your corporate responsibilities, you are responsible for an injury or illness that one of your workers suffer.
Insurance for countering public or professional disgrace
Your self-employment responsibilities might regularly bring you into face-to-face contact with members of the public. For example, customers might visit you at your corporate premises, or you may travel to carry out work where they live or work.
In any of these instances, it could be wise for you to take out public liability insurance. Though not legally compulsory, this type is, in many ways, akin to employers’ liability insurance – except that it is members of the public you would be helping to financially protect.
Should you provide particular types of professional services or advice to clients, you might also benefit from paying attention to professional indemnity insurance. This could assist you in countering adverse consequences of negligence or a mistake from which a client suffers.
Workers who commonly take out professional indemnity insurance include – but are not limited to – doctors, engineers, solicitors, journalists, accountants, architects, financial advisors and business consultants.
In sickness and in health…
To keep bringing in an income, you obviously have to keep working. However, if you become sick or injured to the extent that you have to temporarily stop working, this could make your financial situation somewhat precarious… unless you have income protection insurance.
This would enable you to, each month, receive about 50% to 60% of your gross takings while you wait to recover. The Call Wiser insurance brokers’ group can help you find a suitable policy.
