Office insurance

Specialist office and business equipment insurance tailored to you from £5 a month*

  • Fast, easy online quote in just 90 seconds

  • Interest free direct debit

  • No hidden fees or cancellation charges

An unforeseen event at your office could have a serious impact on your business, so it’s essential that you’re properly protected.

Anything from a fire or flood to a break-in could result in thousands of pounds worth of damage. Our office insurance covers you for these risks and more.

We offer a range of different types of cover, including buildings and contents insurance, business equipment cover and business interruption insurance, to comprehensively protect your property against a multitude of risks. Each policy can be tailored to meet the individual needs of your business and our fast and easy quote system allows you to choose the cover you want at a price you can afford.

What is office insurance?

Office insurance is designed to protect your business against unexpected events concerning your workplace. This can include cover for damage to the structure of your building, as well as protection against the loss of or damage to your office equipment. It can also cover risks associated with members of the public and/or your employees, and risks to your finances and reputation. 

Why choose Markel for office insurance?

At Markel, we understand the importance of having office insurance that meets the specific needs of your business. With over 30 years’ experience insuring small businesses, consultants, contractors and self-employed professionals, we know exactly what our customers are looking for. Here are just some of the reasons to buy office insurance from us:

✔ Cover starting from £5 a month*

We feel that our policies provide excellent value for money, which will enable you to find office insurance that fits your budget.

✔ Highly rated by customers

We provide insurance to more than 200,000 micro businesses and are highly rated by our customers at Feefo.com.

✔ Cover you can trust

We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s and London market insurer that wrote £1.09 billion of gross premium totals in 2020.

✔ Get a quote in 90 seconds

Getting a quote with us is quick and easy. Simply fill in our online form and we’ll provide you with the information you need in no time.

✔ Tailored office insurance

We provide tailored office insurance designed to suit the individual requirements of small businesses, freelancers, contractors, charities and community groups.

*The £5 a month premium referenced is based on property damage insurance with a £10,000 level of cover.

Who needs office insurance?

If you have a physical office space, you can benefit from having both your building and its contents insured. Whether you experience a fire, flood, break-in or another unexpected event, you could be left facing major costs. As well as the expenses associated with repairing or replacing equipment, you are likely to suffer lost productivity, which in turn means missed deadlines, lost earnings and potential damage to your reputation. Office insurance can be tailored to protect you from all of these risks, as well as other dangers associated with your workspace.

We provide office insurance to suit the needs of any type of business, from architects to bookkeepers, IT consultants, estate agents, web designers and more.

What kind of office insurance do I need?

The kind of office insurance that you need will depend on the specific requirements of your business. Broadly speaking though, there are four main areas that you may wish to cover. These are:

  • Premises and equipment
  • People (including your employees and/or members of the public)
  • Finances
  • Reputation

At Markel, our buildings and office contents insurance cover your premises against accidental damage (including theft and damage caused by disasters such as fire, flood, explosion or storm) to office buildings, office contents and computer equipment. Few businesses could survive an incident that destroyed their premises and contents, so give this cover careful consideration.

Please note that buildings insurance is not available for homeworkers, but you can cover your home office contents.

Our office insurance policies can also include professional indemnity insurance, employers’ liability insurance, public liability insurance and business interruption insurance.

Do I need professional indemnity insurance for my office?

If your business offers advice or provides a professional service, you may benefit from including professional indemnity cover in your office insurance policy. For example, you may fall into this category if you handle client data, provide recommendations or deal with intellectual property. Professional indemnity insurance covers you if one of your clients suffers a financial loss because of your negligence. It’s also worth noting that some professional bodies require their members to put this type of protection in place.

Do I need employers' liability insurance for my office?

If you have one or more employees, unless you meet specific exemption criteria, you are legally required to have a minimum of £5 million of employers’ liability insurance in place. This type of cover protects you if an employee suffers an accident or injury while at work.

Do I need public liability insurance for my office?

If you have customers or other members of the public visiting your office, you should consider taking out public liability insurance. This type of protection is designed to cover the legal fees and compensation costs if a third party is injured in your office or their property is damaged.

Do I need business interruption insurance for my office?

An often-overlooked form of cover, business interruption insurance protects against the financial losses you would incur (or additional costs in working) as a result of an interruption to your business’ activities. For example, if your workplace was flooded and it took months to dry out, you would have to find an alternative workplace. This could have a severe financial impact on your business’ operations - including the additional costs involved in renting an alternative premises, or losing out on projects you can’t complete because you aren’t based in your normal workplace.

In short, if you feel your business would struggle to survive an interruption to its normal activities, you should give serious consideration to business interruption insurance.

What level of office insurance cover do I need?

At Markel, we make it easy to tailor your cover so that you have exactly the right level of protection. When deciding how much office insurance you need, you should take a variety of factors into account, such as the value of your assets, the size of compensation claims you may face and what a day of lost productivity would cost you.

If you’d like to discuss your options, don’t hesitate to contact us today.

  • Buildings and contents insurance covers your office premises against accidental damage (including theft and damage caused by disasters such as fire, flood, explosion or storm) to office buildings, office contents and computer equipment. Few businesses could survive an incident that destroyed their premises and contents, so give this cover careful consideration (please note that buildings insurance is not available for homeworkers, but you can cover your home office contents).

  • Business equipment insurance covers against loss, theft and accidental damage to vital equipment that you take with you while undertaking your business' activities, including laptops, smartphones, tablets and projectors.

  • Business interruption insurance covers any loss of income (or increased costs of working) if you are unable to work from your usual business premises. This cover could save your business thousands of pounds if you have to be re-sited during repairs or if you cannot fulfil your contractual obligations.

Customer reviews

4.8/5

Rated 4.8 stars from 351 customer reviews at Google

Cover starting at £5 a month

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need office insurance if I run my business from home?

    If you run your business from home, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to rely on your home insurance policy to cover all your costs if something goes wrong. It may be insufficient to cover your equipment and it won’t provide protection if an employee or customer had an accident while in your home. You should speak to your home cover provider to make sure you are not violating the terms of your policy and to find out exactly what you are protected against. The chances are though that you could benefit from taking out tailored office insurance.

  • Do I need insurance if I work in a co-working space?

    If you work in a commercial co-working space, the owner of the building should have insurance that covers the possessions of the people using it, and they should have public liability cover too. However, always check to make sure exactly what protection is in place.

  • Can you cover equipment outside of my office?

    Our office equipment insurance covers against loss, theft and accidental damage to vital equipment that you take with you while undertaking your business’ activities, including laptops, smartphones, tablets and projectors.

    Simply enter the value you would like insured on the quote form next to the question ‘What is the value of office contents and/or business equipment which you wish to insure whilst in the confines of your office and outside of your office?’

  • Is my photography equipment insured if I leave it in my car?

    Yes, provided that:

    • The property is concealed in a locked boot or stowage area within the vehicle
    • All points of access to the vehicle are securely locked and security devices put in full and proper operation
    • Force is used to gain entry to the vehicle and such entry causes external and visible damage to the vehicle
  • What's the excess?

    £250 is the excess for all office insurance policies.

  • What other types of cover are available?

    As well as office insurance policies, which can include employers’ liability, public liability, professional indemnity and business interruption insurance, we offer a range of other types of cover. They include:

    • Cyber and data risks insurance
    • Directors and officers insurance
    • Legal expenses insurance
    • Occupational personal accident insurance
  • How are Markel Direct regulated?

    Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.

Cover starting at £5 a month

Cover starting at £5 a month

More specialist cover

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    Professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of defending your business against allegations of professional negligence (such as giving your client incorrect or wrongful advice) and any compensation or damages subsequently awarded against you. This is essential insurance if you provide advice, designs or services to your client. Cover is available with limits ranging from £50,000 to £5m.

  • Public and product liability insurance

    Public and product liability insurance covers the cost of defending your business (including damages awarded against you if unsuccessful) if someone is injured, or their property damaged, which arises from you going about your business or supplying products. This is an important cover for consultants that regularly deal with clients or members of the public. Limits range from £1m to £5m.

  • Employer's liability insurance

    Employer’s liability insurance is a legal requirement if your business has employees. It covers your business against claims for injury or illness suffered by employees arising from their employment. If you employ staff, even on a part time basis, you almost certainly need this cover. Cover for £10m.

  • Directors and officers insurance

    Directors and officers insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided in respect of the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £25,000 to £5m.

  • Occupational personal accident

    Occupational personal accident insurance can help you maintain an income if you're accidentally injured at work.

  • Legal expenses insurance

    Legal expenses insurance pays your legal costs and expenses for contract disputes, tax enquiries (including IR35), attending jury service, debt recovery, personal injury, as well as any award you are required to pay following an employment dispute with an employee. Limit of £100,000.

  • Cyber and data risks insurance

    Cyber and data risks insurance helps you when you're the victim of a targeted cyber attack, paying the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties.

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