We don't claim to be the oracle for everything there is to know about professional insurance. But we're pretty close. If you've got any business insurance FAQs niggling away, it's a good bet we can answer them.
So, right on cue, here are five business insurance FAQs head-scratchers we've had put to us this week...along with their answers.
I'm an engineer and my wife's an accountant. We work under the same limited company name and we both need professional indemnity insurance. Can we have just one policy?
'Fraid not.
Different occupations involve different risks. When you buy professional indemnity insurance, your insurer issues a policy that covers those specific risks.
Accountants and engineers do very different things. They're both specialists in their own right, and one policy wording covering both just isn't possible. There's no 'one size fits all' insurance, and that should be seen as a good thing – everyone gets the cover they need.
Buying two insurance policies for one business might seem like an inconvenient expense. But, when it comes to fighting a claim, it pays to have the right cover.
If I pay annually and cancel my insurance mid-year, will I get a refund for the months not used?
Yes, you'll get a pro rata refund proportionate to the time left to run on the policy.
This is a good time to point out, though, that professional indemnity is a 'claims made' policy. This means your insurer will only pay your claim if your policy is running when you do the work and when the claim is made.
Say you cancel your policy, only for a customer to later allege there's a problem with your work. Your insurance wouldn't be able to help. Our Advice, News & Know-how article answering the question 'what's claims made insurance?' explains more.
I don't know my annual turnover or payroll yet as I'm just starting out. How can I get a quote?
It's probably useful to explain why we ask for these figures.
In simple terms, your turnover affects your professional indemnity insurance, and your payroll affects your employers' liability insurance. The higher each figure is, the more each insurance costs.
To an insurer, it's simple maths. High turnover = a lot of work or high-value contracts; high payroll = lots of staff. In either case, the chances of a claim (or an expensive claim) are higher, so they charge more.
If you don't know exactly how much yours are or will be, your best estimate is fine. We appreciate it's hard to be exact when you're a new business so we don't hold you to those figures. In fact, there's leeway built in to your policy to allow for changes without them costing you more. Just let us know when you have more of an idea.
Here's more about why your turnover matters .
When I was getting my professional indemnity quote, I was asked if I 'supply a product'. What does that mean?
The insurers we work with are perfectly happy to cover anyone providing a service (design, ideas, advice), but they're not so hot on businesses that make or sell physical products.
That's because supplying products carries a different kind of risk to giving advice or providing a service. Physical things can go wrong, causing property damage and/or bodily injury – neither of which are covered by professional indemnity.
If you do supply products, you'll need product liability insurance. This pays for legal fees and compensation if what you've supplied injures someone or damages their property.
But we don't offer it (unless you're an online retailer) so we recommend giving the British Insurance Brokers' Association a call to find out who does.
Does your photography insurance policy cover equipment left in a car?
As much as we'd like you to keep your kit with you at all times, we know it's just not practical or possible.
If your equipment is locked in a car boot out of sight, your insurer should be satisfied you've taken reasonable steps to protect it. If in doubt, we'd always say read your policy wording thoroughly and if there's anything you don't understand, speak to your insurer or broker. Better safe than sorry and all that.
If you've got a question you'd like an answer to, go ahead and ask us. We love tackling business insurance FAQs. You can use live chat (start typing in the green box in the bottom right corner of your screen), tweet us @policybee, email contactus@policybee.co.uk or call 0345 222 5391.
We'll do our very best to help.
Image used under license from Shutterstock.
accountantsclaimsengineersphotographersrunning a business