How to build the right cover
- List what you do: where you work, who visits, what you sell or advise on, what you own, and how you use vehicles.
- Tick off legal requirements: staff and vehicles first.
- Check contracts: clients, venues, landlords and platforms often specify minimum liability limits (for example £5m or $1m per occurrence).
- Insure your assets: premises, equipment, stock and the income they generate.
- Think about your biggest “what if”: a data breach, a design error, a fire, a key supplier failing.
Our cover checker walks you through these questions in about two minutes.
Packages vs separate policies
Many insurers sell packages for particular trades (shops, offices, salons, restaurants, tradespeople) that bundle liability, contents, stock and business interruption. In the US the equivalent for small firms is the business owner’s policy (BOP). Packages are convenient, but check each section’s limits and exclusions; separate specialist policies can be better for professional indemnity and cyber.
Disclosure rules for business insurance
In the UK, the Insurance Act 2015 requires businesses to make a fair presentation of the risk: disclose everything you know or ought to know that would influence an insurer, in a clear way. If you don’t, the insurer’s remedy depends on what it would have done had it known, which can mean a reduced claim. Keep records of what you told the insurer and update them when the business changes. See disclosure and misrepresentation.
Brokers or direct?
Simple risks (a sole-trader consultant, a small shop) are easy to buy online. A broker adds value when your business is unusual, larger, or needs several covers coordinated, and can negotiate wordings and help with claims. In the UK, check brokers and insurers on the FCA register; in the US, check the agent’s license with your state insurance department.
Last updated: 15 October 2026
