Small Business Liability Insurance

Business Property Insurance
What are the needs for setting up a building and property maintenance business?

Me and my friend are looking into setting up our own building and property maintenance business and really need to know what are the main aspects of this, we are both time served in the building trade so its not how to do the job but how to run this sort of business, for example is there any rules or regulations of such we need to be aware of , what sort of insurances and registering the business.

If you’re in the UK, contact your local Business Link for free help and advice on starting up. They have a wealth of information and their seminars on starting up are really useful.

Plan what you want to do, who you’ll do it for, how you’ll reach them, how much you’ll charge for what you do and how much you need to do to make a profit. Business Link is very good on the format for your business plan. If you don’t need funding, the plan doesn’t have to be a terribly formal document but do make a plan so that you know where you’re going.

Potentially, there are many regulations that you’ll need to comply with – things like P certificates for electrical work, anything to do with PAT testing. You’ll definitely need business insurance that will include employers’ liability insurance, public liability and possibly professional indemnity. Again, Business Link can help you sort out what applies to you.

Inland Revenue need to know within 3 months of starting that you’re in business. They also run free seminars on all the tax and national insurance aspects of running a business.

If you’re setting up a limited company, which may be a good idea if you’re working business to business, you’ll need to register it with Companies House. Their website takes you through everything that you need to do.

Depending on the types of work you’re doing, there may be trade bodies that you want to register with – a bit like Corgi registration for gas fitters.

The other thing that I’d strongly advise is to set out an agreement between you and your friend. This protects both of you if there’s a dispute at some point. Often it’s about money and by the time you’re arguing it’s too late to draw up an agreement. My husband and I have always had written agreements between ourselves for our businesses. The value of them was apparent when we wanted to remove a co-director from one of our companies.

Good luck!

Commercial Business Property Insurance

Small Business Property and Casualty Insurance

Insurance can cover a variety of catastrophes including natural disasters, fire, and theft. Providing good health coverage for your employees can help you retain them. However, these are not the only types of insurance available. You may be required to carry life, business interruption, or auto insurance depending on the nature of your business. Other types of insurance cover business liability or damage to your inventory. Here we are going to focus on Property and Casualty Insurance

Property Insurance covers property loss from fire, smoke, theft, explosion, vandalism, and other disasters. This insurance protects your business from outside affects; it can consist of many different components, so make sure you ask your insurance agent the details of your coverage. As an entrepreneur, you need to calculate exactly what you should insure and weigh it against the cost of insurance. If you insure everything to the maximum extent, it will be very expensive and not make good business sense. For new businesses, property insurance is usually not very high, but it will depend on factors such as the cost of your equipment, the industry type, and safety of the neighborhood. Property insurance is generally considered the insurance that protects your place of business and the tangible components of your company. It protects the property for its cash value and replacement cost. There are two types of property insurance coverage. The all-risk coverage, as the name implies, covers you against most threats. “Named peril” coverage covers you against a particular risk, for example, a fire.

Liability (Casualty) Insurance combined with property insurance would make up the bulk of your insurance package. Liability insurance protects your business in the event that your business activities cause harm to a person. Liability insurance is usually the immediate concern for the entrepreneur. Society is becoming increasingly litigious, so operating a business without this insurance will be risky. If you are running a business where you deal frequently with customers and they visit your place of business often, liability insurance becomes important.