Business insurance for Recruitment consultants


Our range of insurance products are designed to protect the long-term vitality of your recruitment business.

Whether it’s employers’ liability cover to ensure your recruitment agency meets regulations, or cyber insurance to protect your consultancy in the event of a data breach, there are several ways commercial cover can offer support.

Many headhunters opt to include professional indemnity cover in their recruitment insurance package, since this can help with legal costs relating to client disputes.

As you work tirelessly to match candidates to positions, insurance is there to help manage everyday business risks and safeguard your professional standing.

 

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Why choose Hiscox for recruitment insurance?


1

Flexible cover from £8.40 a month*

Our cover is flexible and tailored – plus, it starts at just £8.40 a month

 

*Figures based on an average of all business insurance policies sold to at least 10% of our customer base between January 2023 and January 2024

2

Our award-winning team helps to fix problems quickly

Hiscox's claims team can help you to prevent problems occurring and fix them quickly when they do

3

Pay monthly and cancel at any time with no fees

Pay monthly, make unlimited changes to your policy and receive no cancellation fees

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Why do recruitment consultants need insurance?


Missing a reference check

You run a lively recruitment agency and take great pride in the quality of your matches. However, in such a fast-paced environment, mistakes can be made. When your newest graduate recruiter recommends a candidate without completing thorough reference checks, this could cost more than just your pride. If a client takes you to court for an alleged mistake, professional indemnity insurance can assist with covering the cost of settling or defending a claim.

An office mishap

When a potential candidate visits your headquarters, they trip on a stray power cable trailing near your interview room and test centre. Unable to showcase their skills, the visitor leaves without being checked into your staffing system – but this may be the least of your concerns. When scans show the injury was more severe than anticipated and a claim is brought against you, public liability insurance can help to cover the cost of proceedings, including compensation.

Accidental data loss

The week begins with business as usual, but by Tuesday your systems have been locked by malicious software – and the hacker has stolen confidential data, too. As a recruitment consultant, you work with databases every day to process candidates and give your commercial partners informed advice. It’s the modern way, but it also leaves you vulnerable to cyber risks. Our cyber and data cover would support the cost of data recovery in such cases – acting fast, since we know your time is precious.

What cover is included in insurance for recruitment consultants?


Recruitment is diverse, so each company’s risk profile will be unique. A range of products, including public liability, cyber insurance and personal accident insurance, may support your enterprise, whether you’re a self-employed consultant or part of a growing agency.

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These are just some of the types of business insurance for recruitment consultants that we can offer. We can provide other specific types of cover and build them into a policy that’s tailored to the exact needs of your business.

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Insurance for recruitment consultants FAQs


Does recruitment insurance cover candidates placed with clients?

There are two types of recruitment insurance – the version you select will determine whether cover applies to your business activities alone, or if it also covers your recruits’ work for clients.

Non-vicarious recruitment insurance does not cover candidates you’ve placed – it applies only to your business, its direct employees and activities.

This means employers’ liability insurance only covers claims from a recruitment agency’s own employees, and not the recruits it secures placements for. Likewise, non-vicarious professional indemnity insurance would not cover claims of negligence by staff your agency has placed with a client.

However, vicarious insurance also covers risks related to your casual staff, such as claims of negligence.

The best way to determine which cover is right for your recruitment business is to review client contracts. Some stipulate that recruiters are only responsible for finding and placing staff, while others say recruiters also take responsibility for candidates and their work.

What insurance do I need to start a recruitment agency?

The insurance you’ll need to start a recruitment agency depends largely upon how the business will operate. Asking yourself key questions may help to determine which covers you’ll need – for instance, does your plan involve a period of home working as the agency’s sole employee, or will you hire staff and require a workplace?

If you’ll employ staff, then taking out employers’ liability cover could be required by law – and you may find office insurance to be beneficial once you hire premises.

How much cover should a recruiter take out?

Recruitment businesses face differing levels of risk – some focus on small projects, while others provide staff to large employers and events across the UK.

Since the amount at stake may shape the scale of disputes, it might be a good idea to consider the size of your recruitment accounts when deciding how much professional indemnity cover to purchase.

The limit of cover you set helps to shape the cost of insurance. It is also the maximum amount you’ll be able to claim for legal fees, compensation pay-outs or repairs.


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