A UK business usually needs a short list, not a comparison-site bundle: employers’ liability if you employ anyone, public liability if you meet people or visit sites, professional indemnity if a mistake in the work could cost a client money, cyber if you hold data or run on digital tools, and directors’ and officers’ once directors can be sued personally. This page is that overview in plain English.
Meshed is an FCA-regulated UK broker. We place business insurance for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, from a panel of insurers. Broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
Product deep-dives live on their own URLs. If you are an early-stage tech or SaaS company (not payments), start on Startup Insurance UK. Contractors and trades: Contractor Insurance UK. Payments, EMI, or other regulated financial-services firms: Fintech Insurance UK. Professional indemnity: Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. Public liability: Public Liability Insurance UK. Employers’ liability: Employers’ Liability Insurance UK. Cyber: Cyber Insurance UK. Directors’ and officers’: Directors and Officers Insurance UK. Landlords: Landlord Insurance UK.
Who this is for
UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, including:
Founders who know they need “business insurance” but not which product names
Professional services and consultancies
Tech, digital, and creative agencies looking for the company-level picture (tech pack sits on Startup Insurance UK)
Contractors and trade businesses looking for the company-level picture, not a trades package
Retail, hospitality, offices, and studios
Home-based firms whose clients still ask for a certificate
Companies about to hire, or whose cover has not been looked at since the last renewal
We work with limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, typically up to £30 million turnover.
“Business insurance” and “commercial insurance” are the same idea. “SME insurance” is that idea sold to smaller firms. None of those labels tells you which policies you need.
Who we have helped
We place business insurance for UK trading businesses: firms putting employers’ liability in place before they hire, consultancies whose contract names a limit, and companies whose schedule no longer matches the work they actually do.
What the law actually requires
Two things are legal duties for a lot of UK businesses. Most other covers are not.
Employers’ liability. If people work for you, you almost certainly need this. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires at least £5 million of cover, from an authorised insurer, as soon as you become an employer. Trading without it can mean a fine of £2,500 for each day you are not properly insured. You must display the certificate where staff can see it, on the wall, the intranet, or the company site, and show it to an inspector. Failing that can mean a £1,000 fine.
Most policies are written at £10 million. That is the market default, not a special deal.
A limited company that employs staff needs this, including part-time, temporary, and casual workers. The family-member exemption that applies to some unincorporated businesses does not apply to limited companies. A company whose only employee is a director who owns 50% or more of the issued share capital may be exempt. Check the Health and Safety Executive guide before you assume you are out.
Motor. If the company uses vehicles on the road, including a personal car used to visit clients, you need motor insurance that allows business use. A social, domestic and pleasure policy will not do. We are not writing the motor guide here.
Everything else on this page is not a general legal duty. Contracts, landlords, professional bodies, and lenders often make it one in practice.
The usual covers, in plain English
Employers’ liability
Cover for when an employee is injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you. It pays defence costs and compensation, up to the limit.
This is the legal duty above. It does not cover a member of the public. That is public liability. It does not cover a client who says your advice cost them money. That is professional indemnity. The product page is Employers’ Liability Insurance UK.
Public liability
Cover for when someone who is not your employee is injured, or their property is damaged, because of your work. A client trips in your studio. A contractor marks a customer’s floor. A visitor is hurt at your office.
Public liability is not a legal requirement for most UK companies. Landlords, venues, local authorities, and enterprise clients routinely ask for it anyway, often at £1 million, £2 million, or £5 million. If you meet people, visit sites, or invite anyone in, you need it.
Product liability is the sibling cover: injury or damage blamed on something you made, sold, or supplied. If you sell physical goods, say so. We will not leave it off a schedule that needs it. The public liability product page is Public Liability Insurance UK.
Professional indemnity
Cover for when a client, or another third party, claims they lost money because of your advice, design, or delivery. Defence costs, and any damages or settlement the policy agrees to, up to the limit.
PI is not a blanket legal duty. Some professional bodies make it a condition of practice. Many clients make it a condition of contract and name a minimum limit. If a mistake in your work could cost a client money, you need it.
That is the overview. Limits, claims-made, retroactive dates, and run-off live on Professional Indemnity Insurance UK. Do not size a PI programme from this page.
Payments, EMI, and other regulated financial-services firms should not start here. Use Fintech Insurance UK.
Cyber
Cover for when your systems or data are hit: a ransomware event, a mailbox takeover, a lost laptop that holds client files. A useful policy pays for incident response, IT, legal, and notifying the people you have to tell, and for the business interruption that follows, not just a legal claim after the fact.
Cyber is not a legal duty. It is the cover most companies skip until the first incident. Some PI wordings pick up a sliver of third-party data risk. That is not a substitute. A ransomware event, your own outage, and the response costs sit on a cyber policy. We will say if PI and cyber should be placed together so one incident is not bounced between them. The product page is Cyber Insurance UK.
Directors’ and officers’
A limited company is a separate legal person. That does not make the directors untouchable. D&O, also called management liability, is there when a director or officer is personally accused of how they ran the company: a shareholder claim, a regulatory investigation, an alleged breach of duty.
It protects the people, not the trading risks of the business. PI, public liability, and employers’ liability do not do this job.
Investors and non-execs often ask whether D&O is in place before they join. Insolvency and large-shareholder claims are the clauses to read, not the brochure line. A limited company with more than one decision-maker should be looking at it. The product page is Directors and Officers Insurance UK.
Property and contents
Cover for the physical things the company would have to replace: the premises if you own or are responsible for them, the fit-out, computers, tools, stock, and the kit you take to a client site.
If you rent, read the lease before you buy buildings cover. The landlord’s policy may already sit on the structure. It will not sit on your laptops, stock, or tenants’ improvements unless someone has said so in writing.
Business interruption usually sits with this, not on its own. It is the income and the standing costs if an insured event, fire, flood, theft, stops you trading. It will not pay because a client left, or because a contract went quiet.
Landlords insuring rented property should not use this section. Use Landlord Insurance UK.
How to decide what you need
Start with the work, not a comparison-site bundle.
Who works for you? Staff, even one part-timer, usually means employers’ liability. A one-director company that owns the shares may be exempt. Check, do not guess.
Who could get hurt? Clients, visitors, or the public on your site or theirs means public liability. Goods you supply may need product liability with it.
Could your work cost a client money? Advice, design, code, accounts, or a delivered service means professional indemnity. Open the PI page and size it there.
What data and systems do you run on? Client files, cloud tools, and payments mean cyber, even if you are “just email and a laptop”.
Who can be sued personally? Directors mean D&O is on the list, especially once you have investors, a board, or a headcount.
What would you have to replace tomorrow? Premises, kit, or stock means property and contents. Add business interruption if a closed month would hurt.
Then read the contracts you already signed. If an MSA, a lease, or a professional body names a cover and a limit, that number is the floor. We match the certificate to that, not to a default.
A regulated payments or financial-services model is a different programme. That is Fintech Insurance UK, not a longer version of this list.
What it costs
Premium follows risk. Insurers price the work you do, turnover, headcount, contracts, claims history, and the limits you ask for. A low-hazard consultancy and a site-based contractor with the same turnover will not pay the same.
We will not publish a “from £X a month” number that only exists for the cheapest trade on a comparison site.
What you can control: a proposal that describes the work you actually do, signed terms, and a schedule that is not still written for last year’s company. Underwriters load the files that are vague.
How Meshed works
You tell us what you do: services, turnover, contracts, headcount, and current cover.
We review the documents and flag gaps in limits, exclusions, territory, and who is actually insured.
We go to our panel and come back with options.
You bind. We stay on for mid-term changes and renewal.
Straightforward SME risks are often quoted in minutes. Specialist trades, regulated models, and non-standard wordings can take longer. We will say that up front.
Read next
Startup Insurance UK — tech and SaaS pack map
Contractor Insurance UK — site and trades certificate pack
FAQs
Is business insurance a legal requirement in the UK?
Not as a single policy. Employers’ liability is a legal duty if you employ staff, with limited exemptions. Motor insurance is a legal duty if you use vehicles for the business. Public liability, professional indemnity, cyber, D&O, and property are not general legal duties. Clients, landlords, and professional bodies often make them a condition of trading anyway.
What insurance does a limited company need?
The set that matches the work. Employers’ liability if you have staff. Public liability if you meet people or visit sites. Professional indemnity if a mistake in the work could cost a client money. Cyber if you hold data or run on digital tools. D&O if directors can be sued personally, which is the point of a limited company. Property and contents if you have premises, kit, or stock worth replacing. We place cover for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders.
What insurance does a sole trader need?
The same classes, sized to the work. Employers’ liability if you employ staff. Public liability if you meet people or visit sites. Professional indemnity if a mistake in the work could cost a client money. Cyber if you hold client data. Sole traders do not buy directors’ and officers’ cover — there is no separate company to be a director of. We place sole-trader trading covers.
Do I need employers’ liability if I have no staff?
Usually no, if nobody works for the company. The duty starts when you become an employer, including part-time, temporary, and casual workers. A company whose only employee is a director who owns 50% or more of the issued share capital may be exempt. A limited company that employs family members is not exempt. Check the HSE guide for your facts. Detail: Employers’ Liability Insurance UK.
What is the difference between public liability and professional indemnity?
Public liability is injury or property damage to someone who is not your employee. Professional indemnity is financial loss from your advice or services. Most service firms need both. They are not substitutes. The pages are Public Liability Insurance UK and Professional Indemnity Insurance UK.
Do clients ask for an insurance certificate before a contract starts?
Often yes. Enterprise MSAs, main contractors, landlords, venues, and frameworks routinely name a cover and a limit, and ask for a certificate of insurance before you start. We match the certificate to that clause, not to a comparison-site default.
When do I need business insurance?
As soon as the law, a contract, or a real claim risk says so. Employers’ liability starts when you become an employer. Public liability and professional indemnity usually start when a client or landlord names them — or when you meet people or sell advice. Cyber when you hold data. D&O once directors can be sued personally.
How much does business insurance cost in the UK?
It depends on the work, the limits, and the claims history. There is no useful average across trades. We quote the company in front of us. We will not use a starter price from a comparison site as if it applied to you. Meshed’s broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
Do I need public liability insurance?
If you meet clients, visit their premises, invite anyone in, or work where the public can be affected, yes in practice. It is rarely a statute. It is very often a contract, a lease, or a venue rule. Detail: Public Liability Insurance UK.
What insurance do I need if I work from home?
The same classes, sized to the work, not to the postcode. Home insurance often excludes business visitors, business kit, and business use. Public liability still matters if clients come to the house. PI still matters if you sell advice. Cyber still matters if client data lives on the home network. Tell the household insurer as well. That is a different conversation to this programme.
I just raised, hired, or got an enterprise insurance clause. Where do I go?
If you are early-stage tech, AI, or SaaS (not payments), use Startup Insurance UK for the certificate pack founders actually buy after a raise. If you are a site contractor or trades firm, use Contractor Insurance UK. This hub stays the plain list when you do not know the product names yet.
I am a fintech. Is this the right page?
No. Use Fintech Insurance UK for payments, EMI, PSD2, and other regulated financial-services models.
I am a landlord. Is this the right page?
No. Use Landlord Insurance UK for rented property. This hub is for the trading company.
Are you an insurer?
No. Meshed is a broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248.
How fast can we bind?
Clean renewals and standard SME programmes can be same-week. New employers’ liability before a first hire is usually straightforward. Specialist wordings, claims histories, or regulated models take longer.
Vincent Liu
Co-founder & CTO
