Business insurance
Office Insurance
cover for the equipment, the premises risks, the visitors and the staff of an office-based business
A package for an office-based business: contents and equipment, liability to visitors and staff, and options such as lost income, portable equipment and cyber. Advice you give clients needs separate professional cover.
- Agencies, practices and consultancies
- Equipment, liability and lost income together
- Tenants, owners and home offices
- FCA authorised and regulated
Quick answerOffice insurance is a package of cover for a UK business that works from an office. It usually brings together office contents and computer equipment, public liability, and employers’ liability if you have staff, with options such as business interruption, portable equipment, cyber and buildings if you own the premises. Tell MyMoneyComparison.com about your office once, and specialist UK brokers can come back with quotes.
This page is about the business that works from an office. Claims that your advice or work caused a client a loss are on our professional indemnity insurance page, and letting office space to a tenant is on commercial landlord insurance.
At a glance
Office Cover, in Brief
Six things that decide how office insurance behaves, before any of the detail.
- Equipment is the centre
- Computers, phones and furniture, insured to replace
- Visitors and staff
- Public and employers’ liability
- Equipment on the move
- Laptops away from the office need their own section
- Data and systems
- Cyber risks usually need separate cover
- Advice is separate
- Professional indemnity is its own policy
- Lost income
- Business interruption after insured damage
The basics
What Is Office Insurance?
A combined policy for an office-based business. Instead of buying each cover on its own, an office policy puts the sections an office is likely to need on one schedule, each with its own limit.
Contents and equipment
Computers, phones, furniture and fittings, against fire, theft, flood and other insured events.
Public liability
Injury to visitors or damage to their property arising from your business.
Employers’ liability
For staff who are injured or fall ill because of their work.
Business interruption
Lost income while insured damage stops or slows your work.
Portable equipment
Laptops and phones away from the office, where the section is added.
Buildings, if you are responsible
Owners insure it themselves; tenants check the lease.
How it works
How Does Office Insurance Work?
You describe the business, the office and the equipment, choose the sections and limits, and the insurer sets terms. Changes during the year are reported so the cover keeps up.
You describe the business
What you do, the premises, the staff, the turnover and how people work, in the office or from home.
You choose the sections and limits
Contents, liability, business interruption, portable equipment and any extras, each with its own limit.
The insurer sets terms
The schedule lists the sections, the limits, the excesses and any conditions, such as for security.
Changes are reported during the year
A move of office, new staff, more equipment or a change in what you do can change the cover.
What it covers
What Does Office Insurance Cover?
Contents and equipment, liability to visitors and staff, and a choice of extra sections such as business interruption, portable equipment and buildings.
| Section | Where it sits | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Contents and equipment | Core | Furniture, computers and fittings in the office |
| Public liability | Core | The limit is set on your schedule |
| Employers’ liability | If you employ anyone | Covers injury or illness to staff |
| Business interruption | Often optional | Income lost after insured damage, for a set period |
| Portable equipment | Often optional | Laptops and phones away from the office |
| Computer breakdown and data | Sometimes offered | Repair and restoring data after insured events |
| Buildings | If you are responsible | Check what the lease asks of you |
| Legal expenses and money | Optional | Shown on the schedule where included |
Read the lease alongside the quote. Some office leases make the tenant responsible for glass or fittings, and some ask for a set level of liability cover.
Exclusions
What Office Insurance Does Not Include
Gradual damage, equipment away from the office unless added, claims about your professional work, and risks that need their own policy, such as cyber.
Wear, tear and breakdown
Ageing kit and mechanical failure, unless a breakdown section is added.
Equipment away from the office
Laptops at home or in transit need a portable equipment section.
Claims about your advice
Covered by professional indemnity, not an office policy.
Hacking and data breaches
Usually need a cyber policy or extension.
Theft without forced entry
Some policies pay theft only after forcible entry or exit.
Kit left in a vehicle
Some policies exclude or limit it, with conditions where covered.
Types
Which Offices Can Be Covered?
A wide range of office-based businesses, from a single room to a full floor. The work you do shapes the liability side, and the equipment shapes the rest.
Agencies
Marketing, creative, media, PR and recruitment.
Professional practices
Accountants, solicitors, architects and financial advisers.
IT and software firms
Where equipment and data are central to the business.
Consultancies
Often small teams with portable kit.
Serviced and shared offices
Where the provider’s cover may not extend to you.
Home offices
A business run from home, where home insurance may fall short.
Serving customers over a counter? Retail premises are covered on our shop insurance page.
Who it is for
Who Needs Office Insurance
Anyone running a business from an office, whether they rent it, own it, share it or work from a room at home.
Sole traders and freelancers
Working from their own office or a shared space.
Limited companies
Insured in the company’s name.
Tenants of office space
Insuring contents and liability, with the lease in mind.
Owners of their premises
Adding buildings cover to the same policy.
Home-based businesses
With clients visiting or staff working there.
Hybrid teams
With equipment spread across homes and the office.
Office or professional cover
Office Insurance vs Professional Indemnity
An office policy protects the premises side of the business. Professional indemnity protects against claims that your work or advice caused a client a loss. Many office businesses look at both.
| Office policy | Professional indemnity | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment and contents | Included | Not covered |
| Visitor injury claims | Public liability included | Not covered |
| Claims about your advice | Not covered | Included |
| Lost income after damage | Optional section | Not covered |
Two kinds of liability on the office side. Public liability covers visitors, clients and the public; employers’ liability covers staff. Our guide to public vs employers’ liability sets them side by side.
Cost
What Office Insurance Is Priced On
The work you do, the equipment value, the staff, the location, the security and the claims history. We do not print average premiums.
Why the equipment leads
The value of the computers, phones and furniture drives the contents side of the price, and portable kit adds to it where it is covered away from the office.
Why the business matters too
What you do, the number of staff and whether clients visit all feed the liability sections.
What the quote is rated on
The main factors
- Equipment and contentsWhat it would cost to replaceBase
- Business and staffFor the liability sectionsRate
- LocationCrime and flood exposureRate
- SecurityLocks, alarm and access controlRate
- HistoryPast claimsAdjust
Flood exposure
Flood Re is for homes, not business premises, so flood terms are set by the insurer.
Staff numbers
The employers’ liability section is rated on the staff you employ.
Kit away from the office
More portable equipment means a larger portable section.
Equipment away
Where Your Equipment Is When an Office Claim Happens
A laptop is insured differently in the office, at home, in a car and abroad. Four questions decide whether a claim for office kit is paid.
Is it in the office?
Contents cover is written for equipment at the premises named on the schedule.
Is it at home or on the move?
Equipment away from the office generally needs a portable equipment section, with its own limit.
Was it left in a vehicle?
Some policies exclude kit left in an unattended vehicle, or cover it only if hidden in a locked boot.
Was it outside the UK?
Some portable sections cover travel abroad and others do not. Check before taking kit overseas.
Quote checklist
What You Will Be Asked for an Office Insurance Quote
Six things shape the quote: the business, the premises, the equipment, the staff, the security, and the claims history.
The business
What you do and your annual turnover.
The premises
Address, construction, and whether you rent, own or share.
The equipment
The replacement value, in the office and away from it.
Staff
The people you employ, including anyone working from home.
Security
Locks, alarm and access control.
Claims history
Recent claims and any past refusals of cover.
Comparing
Checking Office Insurance Quotes Side by Side
Four areas decide whether a policy suits the office: contents, portable equipment, business interruption, and liability and extras. None of them is the price.
Contents and equipment
- The contents limit
- Whether cover is new for old
- Any computer breakdown or data section
Portable equipment
- The portable limit
- Rules for kit left in vehicles
- Whether travel abroad is covered
Business interruption
- The indemnity period
- How lost income is worked out
- Cover if access is blocked
Liability and extras
- The public liability limit
- Employers’ liability
- Legal expenses and cyber options
Check where your equipment is covered. A generous contents limit does not help with a laptop stolen from a train. Unfamiliar terms are explained in our plain English jargon guide.
Cutting costs
How to Reduce the Cost of Office Insurance
The levers are accurate equipment values, good security, covering only the sections you need, and the excess. We publish no savings figures.
Value equipment accurately
Too high wastes premium; too low invites a reduced claim.
Improve the security
Better locks, an alarm or access control can help the terms.
List only the kit that travels
Portable cover for items that stay in the office adds cost.
Choose only the sections you need
Skip what the lease or another policy already covers.
Back up your data
It limits the damage from a loss and helps with cyber terms.
Choose the excess deliberately
A higher excess is a lever, worth using only at a level the business could absorb.
Glossary
Office Insurance Terms Explained
The words that come up most on an office schedule.
- Contents
- Furniture, fittings and equipment in the office.
- Portable equipment
- Laptops, phones and tablets insured away from the office.
- Public liability
- Liability for injury or damage to visitors and others.
- Employers’ liability
- Liability for injury or illness to staff.
- Business interruption
- Cover for income lost after insured damage.
- Indemnity period
- How long business interruption cover pays for.
- New for old
- Replacement with new items, without a deduction for age.
- Professional indemnity
- Separate cover for claims about your work or advice.
- Average
- A reduction in a claim when the sum insured is too low.
- Excess
- The part of each claim you pay yourself.
Why MyMoneyComparison.com
Why Compare Office Insurance with MyMoneyComparison.com?
MyMoneyComparison.com is an FCA-authorised UK comparison service that introduces office-based businesses to specialist brokers. We do not sell insurance and we do not give advice: the broker you choose arranges the policy. Using us is free.
One form, one office
Describe your office once, instead of repeating yourself to each broker.
Advice given
We are an introducer, not a broker. We do not sell policies and we do not recommend one insurer or product over another. Read our editorial policy.
Authorised and regulated
MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd appears on the FCA register under FRN 916241.
Incorporated
A UK company since 2013. FCA authorisation is separate and later; the register carries its date.
FAQs
Office Insurance FAQs
Answers on equipment, home working, liability and lost income.
What is office insurance?
A combined policy for an office-based business. It usually brings together contents and equipment, public liability, and employers’ liability if you have staff, with optional sections such as business interruption, portable equipment and buildings.
Do I need office insurance?
A full office package is not a legal requirement, but employing staff usually brings a duty to hold employers’ liability cover, with some exceptions. Leases, landlords and clients often ask for other cover, such as public liability.
Does office insurance cover my laptops?
In the office, laptops normally fall under contents. Away from the office, at home or on the move, they generally need a portable equipment section with its own limit, so it is worth checking both.
Is my equipment covered if staff work from home?
Only if the policy extends to it, usually through portable equipment or a named home-working extension. Home insurance may not cover business equipment, so check which policy responds.
Does office insurance cover professional mistakes?
No. Claims that your advice or work caused a client a financial loss are covered by professional indemnity insurance, which is a separate policy. Some professions are expected by their regulator to hold it.
Do I need public liability if clients rarely visit?
It is still worth considering. Public liability covers injury or damage to anyone other than staff arising from your business, including when you visit clients or attend events, not only visitors to the office.
Is cyber cover included?
Usually not in full. Some office policies include limited data restoration, but hacking, ransomware and data breach costs generally need a separate cyber policy or extension.
What if my computers break down?
Mechanical or electrical breakdown is not an insured event on a standard contents section. Some insurers offer a computer breakdown section, which may also help with restoring data.
Is theft from the office covered?
Yes, as part of contents cover, though some policies pay for theft only after forcible entry or exit. In a shared building, check how theft by other occupants or visitors is treated.
What is business interruption cover?
It pays for income lost while insured damage stops or slows your work, for up to the indemnity period you choose. It generally follows damage that the policy covers, so it will not pay for a quiet month.
Do I need buildings cover if I rent the office?
Often not, as landlords often insure the building and recover the cost through the rent or service charge. Some leases pass that duty to the tenant, so the lease decides.
I work in a serviced office. Am I covered by the provider?
The provider’s insurance protects its own building and liability, and may not cover your equipment or your liability to your visitors. Ask what the provider insures and cover the rest yourself.
Can I insure a home office?
Yes. Home insurance may not cover business equipment, stock or visiting clients, so a home office business can take its own policy for equipment and liability. Tell your home insurer you work from home too.
Is equipment left in my car covered?
Some policies exclude kit left in an unattended vehicle, and others cover it only if it is out of sight in a locked boot. The conditions are on the portable equipment section.
Does office insurance cover legal costs?
Only where legal expenses cover is added. It can help with disputes such as employment claims or contract disagreements, up to the limit on the schedule.
How do I compare office insurance quotes?
Look beyond the price to the contents limit, the portable equipment terms, the business interruption period, the liability limits and the excess. Two quotes can look alike but pay out very differently.
Ready when you are
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- Equipment, liability and lost income together
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About this page
This page explains UK office insurance: what it covers, what it leaves out, and where equipment is and is not covered. It is general information rather than advice. Policies differ between insurers, so read your own documents and put the questions raised here to your insurer or broker.
How we approached this page
- Published UK office and business policies
- HSE guidance on employers’ liability cover
- The Flood Re eligibility criteria
Legal & Regulatory Information:
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