Office Insurance
Providing Office Managers With Top-Quality Insurance
Whether you run a large corporate office employing hundreds (or even thousands) of employees or simply a small office with just one or two people, office insurance is critical in keeping you protected against various risks. Offices have become more varied over recent years with the rise of coworking spaces as well as home offices. But the need to be insured remains as important as ever.
Here at Insurance by Simply, our team of office insurance brokers can help office managers and administrators put together a single office insurance policy for you, to keep you covered no matter what happens
What is Office Insurance?
Whatever your size of business, if you utilise an office space, then you can benefit from a comprehensive office insurance policy. Office insurance is a term that actually encompasses many individual policy types, ranging from business contents insurance to public liability and professional indemnity insurance.
Who Needs Office Insurance?
Any business that operates out of a commercial property can benefit from an office policy; that’s to say, it doesn’t have to necessarily be a conventional ‘office’, it can also be something like a doctor’s surgery or a veterinary clinic, which require more tailored and specialised office insurance types.
The level of office insurance you require depends on various factors, including the size of your office property, as well as the type of business activities that take place (whether members of the public are ever on-site, for instance).
Different Types of Office Insurance
There are a large number of insurance types which fall under the office insurance category. These include:
Business contents insurance
This covers equipment used in your office for business purposes; this includes everything from computers through to stationery supplies and everything in between. Offices with large quantities of valuable equipment will require a higher level of business contents cover than smaller offices.
Employers’ liability insurance
This protects the employer in the event that an employee becomes ill or injured whilst working for your company. Under the Employers’ Liability Act 1969, this type of insurance is a statutory requirement for employers.
Public liability insurance
This covers you should a member of the public suffer injury or an accident whilst on your office property, or as a result of your business activities.
Professional indemnity insurance
This protects your business against claims of inaccurate consultancy/advice, breaches of confidential information and inadequate services.
Building insurance
This protects the bricks and mortar of your office property if it’s damaged or destroyed by a fire, flooding or criminal activity. Building insurance is typically only needed by those businesses that own their office properties outright. If the office is rented or leased, then the building insurance falls to the landlord, who will usually incorporate the premium into the rental agreement with your business.
Stock cover
This differs from business contents insurance in that it is used by businesses that house their stock or products on their office premises, as opposed to the equipment used by the business itself. For smaller businesses that often run everything from under one office roof, stock cover can be a beneficial extra to have as part of your overall office insurance policy.
Cyber-risk business insurance
Many modern offices are tech havens, with a huge amount of data flowing in and out every working day. Cyber-risk business insurance covers your business in the event of a data breach or cyber-attack.
Types of Office
There are various types of office properties in today’s business world, including in-person offices, virtual offices, coworking spaces and SOHOs (small offices/home offices). Medical, dental and veterinary surgeries can all also utilise office insurance policies.
Home Office Insurance
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, home working skyrocketed over the past couple of years. Whilst some people had to make do with their kitchen table or spare bedroom, others were lucky enough to have a study/shed they could convert into a purpose-designated home office. But are home offices covered by standard office insurance policies?
Typically, your home office will be covered by standard home contents insurance and require no other insurance, but there are some exceptions to this. And whether you think you’re covered by your contents insurance policy or not, it’s wise to double-check so as to avoid any unwelcome surprises should you suffer a break-in or flooding, for instance.
If you have clients/other employees visiting your home office space, then you might consider taking out employer’s liability insurance or public liability insurance to protect you. Tools insurance is also worth considering if your home office contains specialist equipment or machinery that might fall outside of the remit of standard home contents insurance.