Public and Employee liability insurance and running a business from home. Help!

[LancsSOLAR]

Alright People,

So I've been working for an installation company for the last 5 years and I've decided to go out on my own. I need some help setting up. I'm wondering who you guys use for your public and employee liability insurance, what extra cover you might have found appropriate and how much it costs.

Also I'm planning on using my garage for storage of materials. I'm guessing that I have to inform my home insurance company and my mortgage provider of a change in the use of the building?

thanks

 

[Gavin A]

dan at northern alliance

 

[Richard Burns]

There are numerous threads about insurance companies have a look below this post for similar threads (but do watch out for how old some threads are).

You will need to register with the HMRC as self employed and get set up for self assessment for your tax.
You will need public liability insurance. Generally for a one man band you do not want to be paying above £100/yr, obviously different for an employer.

If you are going to be employing people this is out of my range but you will need employers liability insurance, you should talk to an accountant about how to set up your pay arrangements and contracts.

The insurance cover does depend on the wording or your insurance, if you have separate independent cover for business materials then just letting your insurance know you are self employed should be enough.
Unless you are storing hazardous materials the additional use of an existing building should not affect your mortgage.

Good luck with setting up the business, ensure you are ready for a low income for a while and go for it and enjoy being your own boss (with all the attendant troubles!)

 

[uksparks]

I use NICEIC Insurance,

£250k PI
£5m PL
£10k Tools cover
£100k efficacy cover

currently paying £575.76 per year

if I knocked the tool cover down to £5k it would probably chop the bill in half.

 

[Gavin A]

yeah, but add in the solar element and that would go a lot higher, working on roofs etc

 

[Worcester]

Remember also if you subcontract scaffolding or employee people 'ad hoc' to help you out with installs you'll also need to be registered for the CIS with HMRC

 

[series530]

I run a glazing company from home with three employees (4 as of next Wednesday).

We have public as well as employer liability insurance through Ageas. Most decent brokers can offer you a quote. Our liability doesn't include roofs so you may need to be pretty specific.

As to keeping supplies at home: we do the same and have turned our garage over for storage use. Be VERY careful with your home insurance. Many insurance companies have clauses within the policy that nulls the insurance because you run a business from home while having materials above normal office stuff such as desks and computers. We had to take out specialist home insurance which notes that we keep company stock on site but excludes the value of the stock in the event of a claim and also notes that we run a business from home.

It's all too easy to assume that you are covered and then find yourself high and dry in the event of total or partial loss. We don't have a mortgage assigned to the property of anything more than buttons so the mortgage provider would be safe in the event of a claim. If you have a sizable loan on a mortgage and your insurance is invalid you could be in breach of your terms of the mortgage as well as stuffed financially were you to make a claim. Again, find a decent broker and get specialist help. While it will inevitably cost more it will give peace of mind.