Business insurance

Business insurance, also known as commercial insurance, is a type of cover that can protect UK companies against commercial losses. It can help to safeguard small businesses against compensation claims, legal costs, and operational risks that come with business activities. 

With Hiscox, you can choose from various types of cover designed to help small businesses, from limited companies to sole traders.  

The major insurance types include:   

• Professional indemnity insurance 
• Public and products liability insurance
• Employers’ liability insurance
• Cyber and data insurance
• Property insurance, such as business contents cover
• Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance

Our business insurance policies are tailored for small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs), freelancers, and limited companies.They can protect and prepare your company for the unexpected, including data loss, compensation claims, or specialist equipment damage.  

The right cover can help you manage costs and get back to running your business. 

Business insurance is available for any business or commercial entity in the UK that provides a service to customers, employs staff, or handles goods or customer data. If this is you, there might be a risk of claims and lawsuits.

Some industry bodies also have specific insurance requirements.

You might need business insurance in the UK if you are any of the following:

• Limited company
• Self-employed
• Start-up
• Sole trader
• Freelancer
• Home business
• Micro business
• SME

What to consider

When assessing their business insurance needs, many small business owners consider laws, contracts, and business risks.

Laws and contracts

Most companies that employ staff in the UK are legally required to have employers’ liability insurance, as outlined in the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

Other policies, such as public and products liability and professional indemnity, can offer extra reassurance and may be required by contracts, clients, or local councils.

Business risks

Your business may need insurance to deal with the unexpected. For example:

• Slips and trips by customers
• Workplace accidents and illness
• Defective workmanship
• Professional negligence
• Theft of business items
• Flooding and escape of water
• Hacking and cyber events
• Breach of copyright

Even if you aren’t at fault, expenses like legal defence costs can add up.  A business insurance policy can offer support. 

Hiscox is rated 4.8/5 on Feefo. This comes from real customer reviews in the past year. In all, we have 3887 reviews.

Hiscox offers specialist insurance to a wide range of industry sectors. From plumbers and carpenters to software developers and marketing and media agencies, we understand that different sectors have different needs. Whether you’re a tradesperson, consultant, or digital agency, we can offer tailored cover.  

We also think of the future, so you don't have to. Our updated Technology Professional Indemnity cover addresses risks arising from some uses of AI, deployment, and professional advice.  

We can even create customised small business insurance for specialist areas, including:  

• Management consultants 
• Coaching and training businesses  
• Advertising and creative professionals  
• Charities and not-for-profit organisations  
• Shops and online retailers  

Professional indemnity  

Professional indemnity insurance can protect your business if a client claims financial loss due to your professional advice, designs, or services. Whether the claim is valid or not, this cover can help with legal defence costs and compensation awards. It can benefit consultants, architects, designers, and other service-based professionals. A cover compliant with most recent legislation may be required via contract or by regulatory bodies. 

Lear more about professional indemnity insurance. 

Public liability  

This helps protect your business if a third party, such as a customer, supplier, or member of the public, claims you caused property damage or that they suffered injury or illness due to your business activities. This includes slips, trips, or damage caused during work. It can benefit businesses that interact with the public, attend events, or operate from physical premises. In the case of a customer or visitor claim, it could cover legal defence costs and awards.  

Learn more about public liability insurance.

Products liability  

Products liability insurance can be especially useful for retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers that design, manufacture, sell, or distribute any product. This cover can support your business if a product causes injury, illness, or damage. Our policies are regularly updated to cover consumer safety regulations and product compliance standards.   

Learn more about product liability insurance.

Employers’ liability  

This type of insurance may be legally required under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.It can protect you if an employee becomes ill or is injured as a result of their work for you. You might need cover for full-time employees, part-time and temporary staff, volunteers, and helpers or apprentices. Our cover can also include hybrid and remote work environments. This policy can help with the costs of defending or settling a legal claim. 

Learn more about employers' liability insurance.

Cyber and data  

If you’re hacked, it can cost money to put things right. Cyber insurance can help protect your business from the financial and legal risk related to cyberattacks, data breaches, cyber crime, and online fraud. It can include support for system recovery, legal costs, and regulatory fines. You can also add optional cyber business interruption insurance for extra protection.  

With rising ransomware threats and stricter GDPR enforcement, this cover is becoming increasingly sought after.  

Learn more about cyber insurance.

Personal accident   

In a micro-business, you might not have a rainy-day fund. In a start-up, you may rely on certain people. If you or a key employee is unable to work due to an accidental injury, our personal accident insurance provides weekly payments (up to £1,000) or a lump sum for serious injuries and accidents which affect an insureds person’s ability to carry out their usual occupation. This cover can be especially useful for sole traders, start-ups, and micro-businesses that rely on a small team. 

Learn more about personal accident insurance.

Hiscox can also provide covers such as:

• Legal protection insurance 
• Business contents insurance 
• Commercial property insurance 
• Property away and in transit insurance 
• Equipment breakdown insurance 
• Professional, treatment and public liability insurance 
• Business interruption insurance

Taking out specialist insurance may be a good idea in some fields. Find out more about what we cover.

Inclusions and exclusions vary by product type. See your policy documents for full details.

Ready to learn more? Speak to our customer services team for further policy details.

You can contact us:

• By phone
• By live chat.

Why choose Hiscox? Because when things go wrong, we can help put them right.  

We’re the small business insurance experts. We know how hard you work to build your business, and we can help you protect your finances and reputation.   

Innovation and service are central to what we do, as seen with our CyberClear Academy.  

We provide an award-winning service, too. We’re proud winners of the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award in 2025, an independent indicatorof excellence that comes from real customers.   

With Hiscox business insurance, you get a:  

• Range of cover limits to suit your business size and sector.  
• Specialist claims team 

Thanks to all this, you can rest assured you’ve got the right cover in place. But don’t just take our word for it – check out our reviews and ratings on Feefo (external link). You can view our business insurance reviews page to see how our customers feel about working with us.    

We know that with the right insurance, your business can flourish – even through challenges.  

Get an online business insurance quote. Find out how Hiscox commercial cover can help you build resilience.