UK Office Insurance Quotes
Office Insurance
Cover built for firms that work from an office, protecting your equipment and contents, your public and employers’ liability, and the income you would lose if the office went out of use.
Why run your office cover through us?
- See contents, liability and lost-income cover quoted together on a single policy
- Built for agencies, accountants, consultants, software firms and home-office setups
What is office insurance?
Office insurance is a single business package for firms based in an office. At its core it brings together office contents and business equipment, public liability, employers' liability and business interruption, and it can be widened with professional indemnity, portable equipment, cyber and legal expenses. The contents section pays to put right the desks, furniture, computers and IT you work with after fire, flood, theft or damage; the liability sections answer a claim when a client or visitor is hurt; and business interruption steps in to replace the income you lose while the office is out of use. Because employers' liability becomes a legal duty the moment you take on staff, and because a home policy will not touch business equipment or liability, an office-based firm needs a policy written around how it actually operates.
The reason office insurance stretches across so many trades is that the underlying risk shifts from one firm to the next. A five-person marketing agency, a firm of accountants, a solicitors' practice, an IT consultancy and someone trading from a serviced office all fall under the office insurance banner, yet each presents a different picture to an underwriter. Insurer appetite moves a long way with the type of work, the headcount and the value of the equipment on site, and that is exactly why placing the risk through a specialist broker beats a mainstream off-the-shelf quote.
Most policies are assembled outward from a core of contents and liability. The standard build covers your contents and business equipment, adds public liability for injury to a client or visitor, and includes business interruption for lost income, with employers' liability layered on as soon as you have staff. Firms that give advice tend to bolt on professional indemnity, and plenty add portable equipment, cyber and legal expenses on top. Each of these covers carries its own price because the risk behind it changes from one office to the next.
The brokers on our panel place office cover day in, day out. They can tell the difference between the sum insured shown on your contents and what it would actually cost to replace them, they know why employers' liability applies from your very first hire, they understand how business interruption keeps a firm afloat after a fire or flood, and they can see where professional indemnity and cyber belong for advice-led and data-heavy work. The outcome is a policy priced against your real business rather than a one-size-fits-all office.
Related office cover
How office insurance works
Share your business details
Your trade, how many people you employ, the value of your contents and equipment, where you are based, your annual turnover and any earlier claims. The more precisely you set these out, the sharper the quotes the specialist underwriting panel can return.
Compare quotes from office specialists
What you enter goes to brokers who handle office cover every day. They rate contents, public liability, employers' liability and business interruption against your particular firm and the way it runs.
Pick your policy and stay covered
Settle on the policy that suits your firm, from core office cover through to added professional indemnity for advice-led work, or cyber and legal expenses, all sitting on one renewal date.
What does office insurance cover?
Office insurance bundles the main covers a desk-based business needs into a single policy: its contents and equipment, its liabilities, and its income. These are the six cover lines that make up a typical office package.
Office contents and business equipment
Desks, furniture, computers and IT insured against fire, flood, theft and accidental damage, covered up to a declared sum insured for everything you keep in the office.
Public liability
Steps in if a client or visitor is injured, or their property damaged, while at your office. Cover is commonly arranged at £1m, £2m or £5m, and is frequently requested by clients and landlords.
Employers' liability
A legal requirement the moment you take on staff. Cover starts at £5m and is usually set at £10m, protecting the business if an employee is injured or made ill as a result of their work.
Business interruption (lost income)
Replaces the income you lose and meets the extra costs you face if you cannot use the office after an insured event, keeping the business going until you are trading normally again.
Professional indemnity
Built for advice-based work, this covers claims that the advice or service you provided caused a client a financial loss, a common need for accountants, consultants, solicitors and agencies.
Cyber and legal options
Cyber and data-breach cover, along with legal expenses, can be bolted on to the policy, a sensible addition for any firm that holds client data or handles sensitive records.
Ready to build the right package for your business? Compare office insurance quotes and see what cover fits your office.
What office insurance does not cover
Every office policy is priced around what you declare: your trade, your headcount, the value of your contents and equipment and the way the premises are kept. Step outside those declared limits, or suffer a loss that belonged to an optional cover you chose not to buy, and the policy simply will not pay. Understanding where cover runs out is worth as much as understanding what it includes, not least because underinsurance, facts left undisclosed and covers missing from the schedule are the three most common reasons an office claim is cut back or turned down.
Wear, tear and gradual damage
Damage that creeps in over time is never covered: ageing, general deterioration, rot, damp, corrosion and anything down to poor upkeep or a slow-acting fault. You are expected to keep your equipment and premises in sound order. A policy answers sudden, unforeseen events, not the gradual results of neglect.
Office left unoccupied beyond the limit
Cover tightens once the office has sat empty past a set number of days, typically 30 to 60, whether that is a holiday shutdown or a move between premises. Beyond that point, risks such as escape of water, theft and malicious or accidental damage drop away unless you flag the empty spell to your broker and arrange cover for it.
Employee theft and dishonesty
A basic policy does not answer theft or fraud committed by your own people. Cash lifted from the till, stock or equipment walked out by a member of staff, or funds quietly diverted by someone you trusted all sit outside standard cover unless you add fidelity or employee dishonesty protection. Firms that handle cash or client money should ask their broker to write it in.
Cyber attacks and data breaches
Ransomware, hacking, a data breach or the income you lose when a system is knocked offline are all outside a standard office package. With so much office work now running on data and connected systems, any firm holding client information should add cyber cover rather than assume the base policy already carries it.
Professional mistakes and bad advice
If a client says your advice was negligent, your work contained an error or your service left them out of pocket, a standard office package will not respond. That exposure belongs to professional indemnity, which advice-led firms such as accountants, consultants and agencies almost always need. Leave it off and any client claim about your work falls to you.
Stock and goods in transit
The standard contents section stops at the office door. Equipment, stock or documents lost or damaged away from the premises, sitting in a vehicle or in the course of delivery, need their own cover. Portable equipment looks after laptops and kit used off site, while goods in transit is a separate add-on for anything you move or send. Ask your broker to fold in whichever you rely on.
What falls outside cover shifts widely between insurers and between businesses. Read the wording closely on unoccupied limits, sums insured, optional covers and material facts before you commit. For a closer look at cover while the premises stand empty, see our unoccupied office insurance guide.
Who office insurance is for
Office insurance fits any business run mainly from a desk rather than a shop floor or site. If you hold contents and IT, see clients or visitors, and rely on income that stops if the office cannot be used, it is built around firms like these.
Marketing and creative agencies
Studio kit, client visitors and project income to protect.
Accountants and solicitors
Advice-based practices needing professional indemnity alongside cover.
Management and IT consultants
Laptops used off site and advice clients rely on.
Tech and software firms
High-value IT plus cyber and data-breach exposure.
Recruitment and admin businesses
Staffed offices needing employers' liability and contents cover.
Serviced-office and home-office businesses
Business kit and liability a home policy will not cover.
Recognise your business? Compare office insurance quotes and see what cover costs for a firm like yours.
What impacts office insurance costs
No two office premiums look quite the same. A two-person consultancy in a serviced office sits in a very different bracket from a thirty-strong agency with a floor full of computers and specialist kit. A small firm such as a five-person agency often pays a few hundred pounds a year, but nothing is fixed: the price is built up from your headcount, the value of your contents and equipment, your location, your annual turnover, the work you do and your claims record. Knowing which of these pushes the figure hardest lets you ask sharper questions before you buy.
Get the sums insured for contents and equipment right, and state your staff numbers and business activity accurately when you ask for a quote. Insurer appetite for office risks swings further than most firms expect. One insurer prices keenly for a low-risk professional office, while another is a better home for high-value equipment, home-office setups or specialist work. A specialist broker knows which insurer suits which profile, which is why the very same business can see quotes that sit a long way apart. Pin down the contents figure as well, because underdeclaring triggers the average clause and trims every payout in proportion.
MMC Office Insurance Specialists, FCA-authorised (reg. 916241)
Type of work and activity
What the business actually does sets the baseline risk. An accountancy or design practice rates differently from a firm making client site visits or handling valuable stock and higher-risk equipment. The nature of the work also decides whether professional indemnity or extra liability needs to sit on the policy.
Value of contents and equipment
Usually the largest single driver. The premium is rated on what it would cost to replace your office contents and business equipment from scratch: desks, furniture, computers, servers and IT. The bigger the sum insured for contents, plus any portable kit taken off site, the more the cover costs.
Number of employees
Employers' liability becomes a legal duty as soon as you employ anyone, and the premium climbs with headcount. More people means more scope for a workplace injury claim, so a thirty-person office costs more to cover than a two-person practice working on its own.
Location and premises
Both the postcode and the building itself feed the rating. Higher-crime districts, flood-prone spots and shared or serviced premises can push the premium up, while modern offices with solid security and current safety systems tend to rate lower.
Claims history and previous cover
Earlier theft, escape of water or liability claims load the premium and can bring a higher excess. A clean record across recent years, and cover held continuously without gaps, both work in your favour at quote and at renewal.
Annual turnover
Turnover is the gauge insurers use for the size of the business and the scale of its liabilities. Higher turnover generally points to more clients, more staff and more activity, which raises public liability and professional indemnity exposure and flows straight into the premium.
Each office business is priced on its own staff, equipment, location and claims record. Compare office insurance quotes to see how your own firm, equipment and risk profile shape the premium across our specialist broker panel.
How much does office insurance cost?
Office insurance carries no fixed online price. A specialist quotes each premium, and it shifts with a short list of clear factors, set out below.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Number of employees | Every extra member of staff adds employers' and public liability exposure. |
| Contents and equipment value | The larger your IT and equipment sum insured, the more you pay. |
| Location | City-centre and higher-risk postcodes push the rate up. |
| Annual turnover | Bigger firms carry more risk and wider liability. |
| Type of work | Advice-led work often needs professional indemnity added. |
| Claims history | Earlier claims load the premium. |
As a rough guide, a small office such as a five-person agency often pays a few hundred pounds a year. There is no fixed online price; a specialist quotes it against your business.
How office insurance works
Three short steps take you from a few details about your office to quotes from specialist business insurance brokers.
- 01Step one
Tell us about your office
Share your staff numbers, the value of your contents and equipment, your location and the type of work you do.
- 02Step two
Get matched with specialists
We match you with specialist business insurance brokers who cover office-based firms like yours.
- 03Step three
Compare and get covered
Compare your quotes side by side and get your office covered on terms that suit the business.
Comparing quotes is free with no obligation to buy.
Office cover options and legal requirements
An office policy folds several covers into one, and a few of them are set by law rather than left to choice. A typical package holds employers' liability, public liability, business interruption, contents and equipment, professional indemnity, portable equipment, cyber and legal expenses. Open any panel below to see what each of the eight covers does, and where a legal duty applies.
Employers' liability, a legal requirement
The moment you employ anyone, employers' liability is a legal requirement under the Employers' Liability Act 1969. The law sets a minimum of £5m, though most office policies arrange £10m as standard. It meets the compensation and legal costs when a member of staff is injured or made ill by the work they do for you.
The duty reaches almost every business with employees, part-time and casual staff included. Trading without valid cover can cost you a fine of up to £2,500 for each day you are uninsured, and there is a further penalty for failing to display the certificate. It is the single office cover the law insists on. See our office insurance guide for how it sits within the wider package.
Public liability for clients and visitors
Public liability answers a claim when a client or visitor is hurt, or their property is damaged, in connection with your business. Someone trips in your reception, or a staff member damages a client's property on a job, and this is the cover that settles the compensation and the legal bill. Limits are commonly written at £1m, £2m or £5m.
The law does not demand it, yet clients and commercial landlords routinely require it before they will sign a contract or grant a lease. How much you need turns on the size of contract you take on and who comes through your office, which is why cover runs in bands from £1m up to £5m.
Business interruption and lost income
Business interruption puts back the income you lose, and covers the extra costs you take on, when an insured event such as a fire or flood leaves you unable to use the office. It keeps the firm trading while the premises are put right, meeting wages, ongoing overheads and the cost of running from a temporary base.
The sum to insure is your gross profit or revenue across the time it would realistically take to get back to normal, the indemnity period. Pitch it too short or too low and the money stops before the business has recovered, one of the most frequent gaps in office cover.
Office contents and business equipment
This looks after the physical things the business owns and uses: desks, chairs and furniture, computers, servers and IT, phones, printers and any specialist equipment. It pays to repair or replace them after fire, flood, theft or accidental damage, and it can take in tenant's improvements you have made to a rented office.
Insure the lot for what it costs to replace as new, not the price you originally paid. Under-declare the total and a claim can be trimmed by the same proportion, so keep a current asset list and revisit the sum insured each time you buy new equipment. See our office contents and equipment cover guide.
Professional indemnity for advice-based work
Professional indemnity carries the cost of defending and settling a claim that your advice, design or professional service left a client out of pocket. When a consultant, accountant, solicitor, architect or agency is accused of an error, a missed deadline or a negligent recommendation, this cover funds the legal defence and any damages awarded.
Plenty of regulators and professional bodies make it compulsory, and larger clients frequently write a minimum limit into their contracts before appointing you. The limit you need depends on the size of the contracts you handle and the loss a single slip could cause, so advice-led firms usually carry more than the contract minimum.
Portable equipment and laptops away from the office
Standard office contents cover normally protects equipment only while it stays at the insured address. Portable equipment cover stretches that protection to laptops, phones, tablets, cameras and tools taken out of the office, whether staff are working at home, visiting a client or moving between sites.
With hybrid and home working now the norm, a large share of a firm's kit spends time away from the premises, exactly where it is most open to loss, theft and accidental damage. You can arrange cover for the UK only or worldwide, and high-value items are often listed one by one so there is no argument over the amount at claim.
Cyber cover for data breaches
Cyber cover answers when the business is struck by a data breach, hacking, ransomware or an email scam. It funds the work of investigating and putting right an attack, recovering lost data, notifying the people affected and meeting the regulatory obligations that follow, including any dealings with the Information Commissioner's Office.
Any office that keeps client records, takes payments or leans on email and shared systems carries this risk, and the cost of a breach is seldom just the ransom. Cover can also pick up the income lost while systems are down and the liability owed to clients whose data was exposed.
Legal expenses cover
Legal expenses cover meets the legal costs of the disputes a business runs into, which can be dear to fight even when you are plainly in the right. It usually takes in employment tribunals brought by staff, contract and debt recovery disputes, tax investigations and the defence of prosecutions under health and safety or other regulations.
Cover is commonly arranged up to about £100,000 a claim and typically comes with a legal advice helpline you can call before a problem hardens into a formal dispute. For a small office with no in-house legal team, it removes the cost risk from standing your ground.
Every office is its own blend of these covers, and only employers' liability is fixed by law. Compare office insurance quotes to see how your staff, equipment, income and type of work shape the package across the MyMoneyComparison.com broker panel.
Who needs office insurance?
Any business working from an office needs it, but the policy looks different for a small creative agency, a professional practice, a consultancy, a tech firm, or someone in a serviced or home office. A home policy will not cover business equipment or liability, and many landlords and clients require public liability before you can work with them. Here is the cover each type of office tends to need.
Marketing and creative agencies
Protect the computers, screens and studio equipment your team designs on, add public liability for clients visiting the studio, and take professional indemnity for the campaigns and creative you deliver.
Accountants and solicitors
Holding client data and paperwork carries real exposure, so cover pairs office contents with professional indemnity for the advice you give, public liability, and business interruption to keep fees coming in after a loss.
Consultants (management, financial, IT)
Laptops travel to client sites as often as they sit at the desk, so cover extends equipment protection on and away from the office and adds professional indemnity plus public liability for the meetings and advice you run.
Tech and software firms
With high-value IT and client data in your care, cover protects contents and equipment, adds cyber and data-breach protection for the information you hold, and includes professional indemnity for the systems you build.
Recruitment and admin businesses
Staffed offices bring people onto the premises, so cover leads with employers' liability for your team, protects office contents and computers, and carries public liability for candidates and visitors coming in.
Serviced-office and home-office businesses
A home policy excludes the business kit and liability you rely on, so a dedicated policy sizes contents, public liability and business interruption to the setup, whether that is a serviced suite or a spare room.
Not sure which of these fits your setup? Compare cover for your office and match the policy to how you actually work.
Office insurance vs home or standard contents insurance
The two are easy to mix up, but they cover very different things. Office insurance is built around a business, protecting its equipment, its liabilities and its income, and it adds public and employers' liability and business interruption. A home or standard contents policy covers personal belongings in a home lived in by the owner, and it excludes business use. Running a business, whether from a rented office or a spare room, on a home policy is a common reason a claim is reduced or declined.
Same premises, same laptop, two completely different answers. Here is how each product treats a business run from an office.
Office insurance
- What the policy is forA trading business run from an office, whether a rented unit, a serviced office or a room at home, built around equipment, liabilities and income.
- Underwriting basisRated as a commercial risk, with staff numbers, equipment value, turnover and location all declared.
- Business equipment and ITCovered on a declared sum insured, so computers, screens and office kit are protected as business assets.
- Public liability to clients and visitorsIncluded, commonly £1m, £2m or £5m, for injury or damage caused to people visiting on business.
- Employers' liability for staffIncluded, and a legal requirement once you employ anyone, covering claims from people who work for you.
- Business interruption and lost incomeIncluded, replacing lost income while you cannot use the office after an insured event.
Home or standard contents
- What the policy is forPersonal belongings in a home lived in by the owner. Any business use of the property is outside the policy.
- Underwriting basisRated as a domestic property, with business use excluded from the way the risk is priced.
- Business equipment and ITBusiness equipment is excluded or strictly limited, so a work laptop or office kit is not properly protected.
- Public liability to clients and visitorsPersonal liability only, not business visitors, so a client injured on the premises is not covered.
- Employers' liability for staffNot provided, so it cannot meet the legal duty you take on the moment you employ someone.
- Business interruption and lost incomeNo trading income to protect, so there is nothing to replace the earnings a closed business loses.
If you run a business from an office or from home, a home or contents policy will not cover it correctly. Compare office insurance quotes to get cover built around the way your premises are actually used.
Office Insurance Specialists
Specialist office and business insurance comparison since 2013
MyMoneyComparison.com has been matching UK businesses with office cover since 2013, without the usual runaround. From a small creative agency to an accountancy or legal practice, a consultancy or software firm, a recruitment business, or a team working out of a serviced office or a home office, our specialist broker panel handles office-based firms every day. Compare specialist office insurance from a panel that knows office contents, public liability, employers' liability, business interruption and professional indemnity inside out.
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Everything You Need to Know
Straight answers to the questions office-based firms ask most about their cover.
What is office insurance?
Think of office insurance as a single commercial policy that pulls together the protections most office-based businesses rely on. Under one arrangement it looks after the equipment and contents you work with, the legal responsibilities you carry towards employees and visitors, and the money coming in should something stop you trading. Buying it as a package tends to be simpler than piecing together separate covers one at a time.
Is office insurance a legal requirement?
No law forces you to hold office insurance as such. The exception is employers’ liability, which becomes compulsory the moment you take on staff and must provide cover of at least £5m. Public liability sits outside the law too, yet many landlords and clients will not work with you unless you have it in place.
What does office insurance cover?
At its heart sit four elements: cover for your contents and equipment, public liability, employers’ liability and business interruption. Around that core you can add professional indemnity, protection for portable kit, cyber and legal expenses. The aim is to shape the policy around the way your particular office operates.
Do I need employers' liability?
Once you have anyone on the payroll, whether full-time, part-time or temporary, the answer is yes. Legislation sets a floor of £5m, though most firms hold £10m in practice. Trading without it is costly: penalties can reach £2,500 for every day you go without valid cover.
What is business interruption cover?
Should an insured event such as a fire or flood leave your office unusable, this cover steps in to make up the income you would otherwise lose and to meet the added costs of carrying on, perhaps from a temporary base. Its job is to keep the business trading while you get back on your feet.
Does it cover my computers and equipment?
It does. The contents section of an office policy looks after furniture, desks, computers and wider IT kit if they are damaged, stolen or hit by fire or flood. For laptops and devices that travel with you, a portable equipment extension can be bolted on to cover them beyond the office walls.
Do I need professional indemnity as well?
Businesses that offer advice or a professional service should give this serious thought. Professional indemnity responds when a client argues that your work left them out of pocket. Some professional bodies and clients insist on it, and it slots neatly into an office policy as an added section.
How much does office insurance cost?
No single figure applies, because the premium reflects your own circumstances. Insurers weigh up how many people you employ, the worth of your contents and equipment, where you are based, your annual turnover, the nature of the work and any past claims. Comparing quotes side by side is the surest way to see what your office would actually pay.
Can I insure a home office?
Yes, and it is worth doing properly. A domestic home policy will not stretch to business activity, work equipment or the liabilities that come with running a firm from home. That gap means a home-based business should arrange its own cover for its equipment, any stock and its public liability.
What about cyber cover?
This section guards against data breaches, hacking and the expense of restoring the systems and information you depend on. Although it remains an optional add-on, it matters more and more for any office holding client records or leaning heavily on technology, and it can be written into the wider policy.
Does office insurance cover public liability?
Public liability forms one of the building blocks of an office policy. If a visitor or client is hurt while at your premises, or you damage property that belongs to them, this is the cover that responds. Limits are usually set at £1m, £2m or £5m depending on what you need.
Why use a specialist business insurance broker?
Because office risks differ so widely from one trade to the next, and a specialist broker can reach commercial markets that a standard price-comparison journey never touches. That knowledge lets them line up the contents, liability and professional sections against the way your firm really runs, so the policy pays out cleanly when a claim arises. MyMoneyComparison.com puts you in front of FCA-regulated UK brokers who arrange this kind of cover.
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