Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Why your business needs insurance to be credible

 

Wednesday 12 December 2012 11:35 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In today’s economy piece of mind is absolutely crucial, costly mistakes can threaten your profits, and indeed the existence of your business. Few can afford to pay out thousands of pounds if someone should make a claim against their business and they’re not insured. However, for a reasonable monthly fee you can protect both yourself and your customers against a number of eventualities. Getting the right insurance for your business is the ideal way to offer peace of mind to your customers, and also safeguard yourself against mistakes.

Public and product liability insurance is absolutely essential if you deal with customers on a regular basis. It safeguards you from costly court and legal fees should your business or product cause injury or damage to a third party. What’s more, it shows your customer base that you are credible and that you’ve considered even the worst of “what could happen”.  It’s often considered pivotal in a customer’s decision to do business with you. In many industries a minimum level of cover is required, and it’s important to ensure you have the proper insurance to safeguard both yourself, and your customers.

Professional indemnity insurance is also vital if you provide design, advice or a service to your customers. It’s a safety net that can protect you against claims of professional negligence, defamation of character or libel, unintentional breach of confidentiality or copyright, loss of documents or data or loss of money or goods. Many businesses assume that these are covered by their basic public and product liability insurance, however you need professional indemnity insurance should your “product” be non-tangible or service based.

Consider your customer’s point of view, they are offered a service by two companies. One of whom simply lives day to day, not considering what could happen; the other has considered accidental eventualities and put professional insurance in place to safeguard both them and your business. The very existence of public and product liability and professional indemnity insurance reassures customers that you offer a truly professional service and will take proper care of their custom. However, it also provides them with the peace of mind that should anything go wrong, you’ve taken the proper steps to allow you to put it right.

Professional insurance is available from Markel - specialists in business insurance. They tailor your insurance to suit the needs of your industry and are guaranteed to offer you the cover you need. They can help you get on the right track when it comes to protecting your business and reassuring your customers that you’re well covered, and as such they are too if the worst should happen.

There’s no need for a claim against you to threaten your businesses future, for a low monthly cost you can rest assured that your business is safe. Simply covering yourself against any possible issues that could arrive will offer your customers critical confidence in your abilities and business practices and show them that you’ve taken steps to ensure if anything should go wrong, you will be able to put it right.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in