Commercial property insurance

If you own the building your office is located in, you should consider office buildings insurance. This offers protection against damage that may occur to the actual property, such as flood or fire damage, but not the actual contents of the office or your work equipment. For this, you’ll need to ensure you’ve taken out business contents cover.

With Hiscox, your place of work will be protected from a range of risks, covering accidental damage and the results of criminal damage.

Commercial property insurance is designed to cover the costs which your business could face in the result of:

• Accidental damage -  Hiscox provide this cover as standard, as well as cover for risks such as storms, floods and fire.
• Rebuilding costs - which includes all professional fees and costs associated with rebuilding your office or work space.
• Trace and access – cover for the cost of locating damage to cables, underground pipes and drains or the source of a gas or water leak.
• Emergency services - including fire extinguishing expenses.
• Loss prevention costs – we will pay the reasonable and necessary cost of protecting your building from imminent damage.

Commercial property insurance is designed for those who own the building they work from. This might include a retail business that owns, rather than rents, a chain of stores, or a small design and construction business in possession of a workshop, for example.

You might have a particular need for commercial property insurance if you depend on your owned premises for appointments. For instance, if you run an acupuncture clinic, beauty salon, estate agency or dance school studio.

Organisations that rely heavily on bricks-and-mortar locations for meetings, such as certain charity centres and consultancy offices, may also benefit.

Many digital businesses also choose commercial building insurance. A self-employed accountant who owns a small city centre office may face significant costs if an event such as fire damaged the foundations, for example. An IT business might also face increased disruption if flooding isn’t fixed in a timely manner.

Many firms in these sectors opt to tailor their Hiscox property insurance to include additional covers. Business contents insurance helps to safeguard what’s inside your office, shop, salon or centre, while portable equipment insurance can protect electronic items while you’re out and about.

Adding equipment breakdown insurance may offer reassurance that your servers, machinery and tools are covered too.

With Hiscox, commercial property insurance includes cover for*:

• Rebuilding and repair costs – including professional fees and costs associated with rebuilding your office or commercial building.
• Trace and access – assistance with the cost of locating damage to cables, underground pipes and drains or the source of a gas or water leak.
• Emergency services – including fire extinguishing expenses.
• Loss prevention costs – we will help to pay the reasonable and necessary cost of protecting your building from imminent damage.
• Land decontamination – support with the cost of decontaminating land on your commercial property after an accidental oil or water spillage.
• Damage to trees and plants – if a fire or explosion at your business building causes damage to trees on your land, we’ll help.
• Damage to solar panels – including costs due to lost tariff revenue and higher electricity bills.
• Debris clearance costs – if an insured event creates debris at your property, we’ll help to clear it.

*Please refer to the policy wording for the full details of inclusions and exclusions of this cover

How much commercial property insurance cover you need will depend on factors including the nature of your business and buildings – a larger company will generally have more to cover and it’s wise to avoid underinsurance.

When you generate a commercial building insurance quote, we’ll ask you to set a policy limit. This should be equal to the total cost of responding to a worst-case scenario event, including demolishing and rebuilding all insured buildings, plus the cost of services such as surveying. This figure might be higher if the property is listed, for instance.

When you get a quote for commercial property insurance with Hiscox, it’s possible to tailor your policy with a range of other covers. A policy might include public liability insurance, employers' liability, professional indemnity and extras such as cyber and data and personal accident cover.

Taking out insurance becomes relevant as soon as you exchange contracts for the purchase of a commercial building, even if that date arrives before you start trading from the address. This is because properties can be subject to damage from events outside your control, such as storms. If your building is due to be unoccupied for 30 days or more, it’s important to let us know.

Once you do move in, you may wish to add office insurance to insure contents such as computers and stock. Your insurance needs while working from home might also differ.

Planning to sell up? This Hiscox policy also covers you and the buyer in the time between contract exchange and completion.

From quote through to receiving your documents, the process of getting commercial property insurance can take minutes with Hiscox.