The Importance of Insurance

  We all take out insurance in our personal lives; whether covering our car in case of breakdown, protecting our treasured possessions with home insurance or providing for our family if the worst should happen with life insurance. However, when it comes to businesses, we’ve found that many people are unsure what insurances they need or who to use.   Insurance is vital for economic growth as it reduces the uncertainties in business and human life, giving businesses the confidence to invest and innovate. As a contractor, insurances provide a safety net and also make your services more attractive to end clients as they know, should a mistake be made, they will be reimbursed.   ICS offers three insurances as part of our standard packages for both our Umbrella employees and Limited Company clients:  

• Employers’ Liability insurance up to £10,000,000
• Public Liability insurance up to £5,000,000
• Professional Indemnity insurance up to £2,000,000

  While the numbers may look scary it’s important to understand why we provide each insurance.   Employer’s Liability: As soon as you take on an employee, you are legally required to take out Employer’s Liability insurance for a minimum of £5,000,000 cover. Failure to do so can cost you £2500 a day in fines! Employer’s liability covers you should a member of staff be injured or become ill as a result of work and makes a claim for compensation. Staff include employees, temporary staff, students or people on work placements. There are exceptions such as if you employ a close family member or an employee who is not a permanent resident of the UK, to see the full government guidance click here. Public Liability: To cover you from claims made by the general public who have been affected by your business, you need Public Liability insurance. This insurance covers you for personal injuries, loss or damage to property and death, which could occur on your premises or at events your business is operating. Although not legally required for most businesses, it is important to have if your premises (whether at an office or your home) is visited by clients. Professional Indemnity: Having professional indemnity cover protects you and your business should a mistake be made when providing your services to a client. From an unintentional breach of copyright to a loss of goods, documents or data, there are many reasons why a claim could be made against you. It is not just a loss of physical goods either, damage to reputation can also be claimed for. Some industries such as accountancy, surveying and engineering are required to have professional indemnity insurance and job roles such as consultants also need cover as it is required by many end clients. We hope that by providing these insurances as part of our offering we protect our clients and employees whilst also making their services more attractive to end clients. If you’d like to know more about our insurances or have general enquiries about the solutions we offer, please call our team on 0800 195 3750 or email info@icsuk.com and we’ll be happy to help. We work closely with FMB, an independent financial planner based in Kendal. FMB can not only provide in-depth tax planning advice but also products such as Relevant Life Cover to protect Limited Company directors. If you’d like to know more about how we work with FMB, visit ICS Money or ask your accountant for more details. Further reading: The Benefits of Relevant Life Cover – ICS Blog for Limited Company Directors Getting Your Business Ready to Employ Staff – Gov.UK Guidance