New policies only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply. .
When you're setting up a new business and juggling lots of different responsibilities, insurance isn't always the first thing on your mind. However starting a new venture without having proper cover in place is an extremely risky move. Even if your business is small, you will still face many of the same risks as established companies, but without a stable client base and profit margin to support you if things go wrong.
At Direct Line for Business, we specialise in providing flexible business insurance for businesses. Our online tool will show you the different types of available cover to help you create a policy that suits your business needs. You can choose what aspects of your business you want to insure and leave out what you don't. Meaning you only pay for what you need and keep your outgoings lean.
If you're starting a company, insurance is often required by prospective clients, so it's important to have fast, effective cover in place. Our instant policy download service means that you can show your clients proof of your cover within minutes of signing up.
The nature of running a start-up means you're going to need a lot of flexibility from your policy — maybe you're working from your home at the moment but have plans to move into a dedicated office space when you become more established. Perhaps you're waiting for your profits to increase before you order some fancy new equipment or hire staff. We understand that change is inevitable, so to support your growing business we won't charge any admin fees if you need to amend your policy.
We know that running your business isn't a Monday to Friday job, so our business specialists are available seven days a week, online and over the phone. So, if you need help with your policy or have a question about your quote, we can provide help when you need it.
You can include any of the following cover options in your startup insurance to create a policy that precisely fits your business needs. These covers are subject to policy conditions and limits.
Professional indemnity is useful if your business offers a service or requires you to give advice to clients. If you make a professional error or give advice that is deemed negligent, you could be taken to court.
Professional indemnity insurance covers any legal and compensation costs you are required to pay. Clients will often ask to see proof of professional indemnity insurance before agreeing to work with a new contractor.
Public liability insurance covers you if you cause injury to a member of the public or accidentally damage someone's property. An example of this could include a customer slipping on a wet floor in your shop or office and hurting themselves, or causing damage while carrying out buildings works on a client's house. You'll be held liable for the claim if you have not taken adequate precautions to prevent any accidents or damage occurring.
This insurance also covers you if a customer or member of the public becomes ill or suffers an injury because of a product you have supplied. For example, if the heel snaps off a shoe someone has bought from you, causing them to fall over, or if a cupcake you sell at an event makes someone sick.
If the people in question pursued legal action against you, public and product liability insurance would cover the costs you are liable to pay. We can offer cover from £1 million to £10 million. Plus, we can cover costs to help you defend the claim.
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you have employees. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, which you can find out more about on our employers' liability page.
We'll cover you up to £10 million, as standard. This cover includes the legal and compensation costs you must pay if an employee gets injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you.
If there is an insured event such as flood or fire at your work premises, buildings insurance will cover the costs of repairing the damage, helping you get back up and running.
Equipment breakdown cover (for items forming part of the building) is included as standard. This will cover the costs of replacing or repairing things like your broken boiler and fire/burglar alarms, as long as the damage is not due to wear and tear.
Contents and stock cover is for businesses that supply goods or rely on specific equipment to run their business.
A seamstress would not be able to work without a sewing machine, a web designer would not be able to code without a computer and you may not be able to run your business without your trusty tablet.
Other general items that you might rely on for your business, like your office furniture or your shop tills, are covered by insurance. So, if your business contents are damaged by an insured event, such as fire or theft, your business can continue as normal.
If you sell goods, you can also insure them against damage or theft, whether they're raw materials or the finished article.
Our different cover options allow you to insure your business stock and equipment at your premises and when you're out and about. Whether you work at home, at fairs, in shared workspaces or visit lots of clients, we've got you covered. And when you insure stock at your premises or home (excluding bed and breakfast and tradesperson premises), you'll also get an extra 25% of stock covered for two months of your choice as standard, ideal for your busiest periods.
If you experience a sudden and unexpected issue that causes damage to your home that makes it unsafe or uninhabitable, the home emergency 24-hour claims line is here to help. You'll have a certified contractor, such as a plumber, electrician, glazier, locksmith, or drainage engineer, at your home within four hours of registering your claim to secure the property or prevent further damage. You'll also have access to gas engineers, pest control services, and roofers. These services are excluded from the 4-hour response time. Extreme weather and remote locations may extend the response time.
There is a limit of up to £1,500, including VAT, per claim for call-out charges, labour costs, and materials for insured emergencies, such as plumbing, heating, or pest infestations.
You don't have to pay any excess. There's no limit on how often you can claim.
You can add home emergency to a Direct Line business policy for an additional premium, if you run your business from home and have home buildings insurance, home contents insurance, or business contents insurance on your policy. It's available only on new and renewal policies, and you can't add it mid-term.
Home emergency cover isn't currently available on policies that include commercial premises or tradesperson businesses.
Business interruption insurance offers cover if your workplace is unusable after an insured event such as a fire, theft or flood. Whether you run your business from home, an office, a shop, a client's location, or a shared workspace, business interruption insurance can help cover any loss of income until your business can operate at the same level as it previously did had the damage from the incident not occurred. If you need to temporarily relocate due to this damage, we may also pay for the relocation costs if it's economically viable.
If your main supplier or customer's premises get damaged due to an insured event and they can't trade, we'll cover any loss of turnover for your business. We can only do this once their insurer accepts the claim and manages the repairs to their premises. Similarly, if there's an incident, such as a fire, at a location where your business frequently trades, and you can't trade elsewhere, we'll cover the loss of turnover for the time the premises are unusable.
Business interruption will also cover you if key equipment that you use to run your business, like a laptop, is damaged or stolen, meaning you can't trade.
If you, an owner, partner, director, trustee, or other essential employee of your business die or become seriously disabled as a result of an injury caused by accident and violent means, and are unable to continue working, we'll cover the incurred costs, up to £25,000, to minimise any interruption to the business.
If you hold sensitive customer data, process payments online, or just want peace of mind, cyber cover could be a good option to help protect your business. Cyber criminals can catch you off-guard and trick you into doing something you shouldn't, like opening an attachment in a fake email or finding a way through your cyber security. If this happens and they get their hands on your data or access to your bank account, the impact on your business could be serious.
But, with our cyber cover, you can call the experts, 24/7. They'll help you to stay in business and recover in three ways following a cyber incident:
Find out more about cyber cover.
Available on new and renewal policies for eligible retail, and office and professional trades. Cover is up to the limit in your policy schedule for all claims made in the year. You must follow our requirements for data backup, firewalls and antivirus protection. You'll find these requirements and all other terms and conditions in your policy booklet.
Theft of Takings covers cash or cheques stolen:
Maximum limits conditions and exclusions apply.
This covers the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients. Legal expenses cover can only be used if there is at least a 51% chance that the claim will succeed.
If you have commercial premises, you can extend your cover, for an additional premium, to include property damage as a result of an Act of Terrorism. We'll cover you up to the maximum sum insured on your policy for buildings, contents, and business interruption (depending on which covers you have taken).
This includes:
If you choose business interruption cover on your policy, terrorism cover will also include any interruption to or interference with the business, due to damage to your premises resulting from an Act of Terrorism. It will also cover you if you're unable to access your premises as a result of an Act of Terrorism within one mile of your business.
Acts of Terrorism are defined as damage caused by someone acting on behalf of, or in connection with, any organisation which uses force or violence to overthrow or influence the UK government.
Terrorism cover is only available for properties located in England, Wales and Scotland.
Terrorism insurance is optional, so an additional premium will apply.
You can include Terrorism cover on your policy by calling us on 0345 301 5066 when you take out your policy or at renewal, as it cannot be added to your policy mid-term.
There's no one answer to this question as every business is unique and will require different types of cover. That's why we let you design your own insurance policy, so you're in control of how much you pay.
Broadly though, things that will affect the price of business insurance quotes include: the size of your business, number of employees, type of trade, the aspects of your business you want to insure and your history of insurance claims.
Business insurance is largely optional but there are a few exceptions.
If you have any non-family members on your payroll then you are legally required to take out employers' liability cover. Things are even stricter if you run a limited company as you are required to cover all employees, even if they are related to you. If you do not have this cover in place then you could be liable for fines of up to £2,500 per day without cover.
Some clients and venues may not work with you without proof of insurance. For example, if you are selling products at a fair or exhibition, the event organisers may require you to have public liability insurance. Meanwhile, if your business provides professional guidance to clients, those clients may wish to see proof of professional indemnity insurance before hiring you as a consultant.
Our online quote tool gives you the option to input all your trades so that we have a better idea of what type of cover you need. If you need extra help, chat to us online or call 0345 878 5622.
Your quote is valid for up to 30 days from the day you receive it.
Once you have completed the quote details, your excess amount is provided on the 'Your Summary' page. This will vary depending on the covers chosen and your trade. There will be some options to vary an optional excess to reduce your premium.
All exclusions are listed in the policy wording, and key exclusions are listed in the policy summary. For more details or if you need help understanding something, chat with us online or call 0345 878 5622.
When you get a quote, we'll send you a personalised policy document that shows the cover you've chosen.
These can also be found when you log into your account.
Here you can find examples of our latest insurance documents, which show the main covers we offer, plus exclusions.
Our virtual assistant is ready to answer your questions.
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