Editorial Guidelines

We believe in: 

• Answering common queries. Our research tells us what business owners are searching for. 
• Utilising expertise. We use a range of content authors, including business owners and financial or insurance copywriting specialists. 
• Thorough research. Accuracy is at the heart of everything we publish. Each of our blog articles is based on reputable sources. 
• Educating, not advising. You won’t find advice on our blog. Instead, we provide well-researched information to help you learn more. 
• Citing trusted sources. We’re transparent about where we get our information. 
• Rigorous fact-checking. A three-step editing process allows us to maintain quality. 
• Expert reviews. The articles you read here go through a three to five-stage approval process. 

Sometimes, we publish articles from trusted Hiscox partners. These might not go through the same checks as our usual content. Where this applies, you’ll see a disclaimer at the top of the page. 

These editorial standards have been in place since January 2023.

When you read an article on the Hiscox blog, you can trust what we say. We intend for everything we publish to be:

1. Written by experts in their field

All content on the blog is written by experts in their field. Sometimes, by professional copywriters and journalists with specialisms in things like personal finance and tech. 

Other times by business or finance experts. In other cases, business owners share their insights. 

Look out for the page author at the top of each article. When we write about insurance, we always get input from the deeply experienced Hiscox team. 

2. Based on trusted source information 

At Hiscox, we strive to help with the things that matter to you as a business owner. From strategy to tax and the law to contracts. Accuracy is everything in these subject areas. So, we only work with material from trusted sources. In other cases, we’re able to rely on our own expertise. For instance, about insurance terminology, common risks and claims. 

You’ll find that our articles use sources such as: 

• Government websites. For instance, GOV.UK for anything relating to government policy or the law. 
• Official data. We work from primary data sources from official organisations. For example, the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 
• News sources. Like BBC News. 
• Industry sources. For example, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). 
• Internal sources. Like our yearly Cyber Readiness Report. And our teams of insurance experts. 

3. Edited and fact-checked

Every article we publish goes through several fact-checking stages: 

• Proof-reading. We check for errors and dig into the sources to verify facts.  
• Editorial review. One of our Content Managers reviews the article for quality. 

4. Reviewed by Hiscox experts 

As a direct insurer, we have access to a wide pool of insurance experts. Including specialists in various types of covers, such as public liability or professional indemnity. 

All blog articles go through these stages: 

• Conduct review. Our Conduct team takes a magnifying glass to every statement. They want to make sure we can justify everything we say, and effectively meet user needs. They check accuracy to ensure we don’t misrepresent any piece of information we share with customers. 
• Brand review. Our Brand team reviews the article and signs it off. The Brand review makes sure our content meets the needs of existing and prospective customers. 

Some of our articles also go through these stages:

• Underwriter review. When we write blog articles about insurance products, we sometimes have the content reviewed by our underwriting experts.
• Compliance review. In some cases, our Compliance teams may review blog content to ensure we’re adhering to regulations.