Recruitment agency insurance

Specialist cover for recruitment agencies from £5 a month*

  • Fast, easy online quote in 90 seconds

  • Interest free direct debit

  • No hidden fees or cancellation charges

Recruitment agency insurance is specially designed to cover the risks involved with running a recruitment agency or consultancy. As a specialist insurer, you can be assured we have expert knowledge of the risks facing your industry.

Few businesses could survive an unforeseen event. An improper referencing check on a candidate, a visitor injuring themselves at your office, or a fire at your premises could have serious financial consequences for your business. We can offer your business expert cover against these risks and more.

Do recruitment agencies need insurance?

While recruitment agency insurance is not a legal requirement, it’s worthwhile considering obtaining the correct level of cover, due to the potential risk of claims that could be brought against you. Sometimes the worst-case scenarios happen and it’s important that you are prepared.

Imagine you recommend a candidate for a role and the client hires them. Unfortunately, you made a mistake and told them they could work remotely a few days a week when in fact, the role is fully office based. The candidate is not happy and ends up leaving the role not long after starting. The client is inconvenienced and out of pocket, so they ask for compensation and for you to pay the cost of replacing the candidate.

Or an employee trips over a loose piece of carpet in your office and falls, injuring their hip. They require surgery and are unable to work for several months. To ease their financial burden, they bring a personal injury claim against you for damages.

Whether the claims are justified or not, the legal cost of defending yourself could be crippling for your business. This is where insurance for recruiters can act as a safety net.

Do recruitment agencies need professional indemnity insurance?

As a recruitment agency, you’ll be dealing with vast amounts of people each day. As a result, there is potential for someone to be unhappy with the service you’ve provided. For example, you misrepresented a candidate’s experience and not long after being hired, they had to be let go, or one of your employees didn’t check a candidate’s references thoroughly and they turned out to be false. Finding your business on the wrong side of a claim of negligence could prove costly.

This is why it’s important to consider obtaining professional indemnity insurance for a recruitment agency. It covers the cost of defending your business against allegations of professional negligence - such as giving your client incorrect or wrongful advice - and if unsuccessful, the cost of damages awarded against you.

This is invaluable business insurance for a recruitment agency and is available with cover limits ranging from £50,000 to £5m. To calculate the level of cover you need, think about how much it would cost to put things right if the worst were to happen.

Recruitment agency insurance cost

Costs for recruitment company insurance for businesses vary. At Markel Direct, we offer recruitment agency insurance from £5 per month for £1 million worth of cover*. Every recruitment agency business is different - you may be working alone from your kitchen table, or you may have several teams and offices spread across different cities - but whatever stage you’re at, we build a policy around your individual needs.

To help find the right insurance for your recruitment agency, our simple quote form will ask questions about your business and offer you covers that may be of interest. You can choose to buy as many or as few covers as you like, so you only ever pay for the cover you want.

By insuring with Markel Direct, not only are you protected by comprehensive, specialist cover, but we also offer  additional benefit services designed to make your life easier (included as standard with certain covers).

  • 24-hour legal advice helpline - get expert legal advice on any business-related legal query, such as health and safety, employment law, legal structures for your business, or how to handle a difficult client.
  • Markel Business Hub access - instantly download ready-made contracts, policies, procedures, and guidance you can use for your business - without paying any expensive legal fees.
  • Fee dispute service - access specialist legal guidance and support on fee dispute issues.
  • Public relations crisis management service - get help managing allegations of fraud, injury caused to employees or the public, and official investigations into your company's affairs.
  • Cyber response helpline - access expert legal and technical IT security guidance on the issues arising from cyber and data protection risks.

Get a quote online in minutes or call our insurance experts on 0800 640 660.

*Price based on a recruitment agency requiring £1 million of public liability insurance.

What insurance does a recruitment company need?

Professional indemnity insurance isn’t the only type of recruitment agency insurance cover you’ll need to protect against the risks associated with running your business. You can add or remove the following covers to tailor your policy to suit your needs.

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Cover starting at £5 a month

Tailor your recruitment agency insurance with these specialist covers

  • Public and product liability insurance

    Public and product liability insurance covers the cost of defending your business and paying out any compensation, if someone is injured, or their property damaged, which arises from you going about your business or supplying products.

    As a recruitment agency, it’s likely you have regular in-person meetings, both in your office and offsite. During a meeting in a café, an employee accidentally spills their coffee over a client’s laptop. They may ask your business to pay for a replacement. Or if a potential candidate visits your office and slips on a wet patch of floor, causing them to fall and hurt their back. You could be faced with a claim, as they seek compensation for a potential loss in earnings due to being unable to work. Without sufficient insurance, your business could face a significant financial burden in legal fees alone.

  • Employer’s liability insurance

    Employer’s liability insurance for a recruitment agency is a legal requirement if you have any employees. It covers your business against claims for injury or illness suffered by employees arising from their employment. So, whether you employ one part-time admin assistant or a whole team of recruitment consultants, it’s essential you add this cover to your policy. Cover for £10m.

  • Directors and officers insurance

    If you are a director or officer of your company, it’s worth considering directors and officers insurance. It covers the costs of defending yourself 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 £100,000 to £5m.

  • Office insurance

    Office insurance covers your office buildings, office contents and computer equipment against accidental damage (including theft) whilst on your business premises. You can also choose to cover your business equipment (such as laptops and mobile phones) on a worldwide basis, and insure your business against loss of income and/or additional trading expenses following events such as damage to your property.

  • Occupational personal accident insurance

    Occupational personal accident insurance provides a weekly payment if you are unable to work due to temporary total disablement (subject to a 14- day deferment period).

    And in the event of loss of limbs, sight, speech, hearing, permanent total disablement, or death, it will pay out a lump sum to ease the financial burden would be paid out.

    If you would struggle to maintain an income if you were unable to work following the accident, you should consider having occupational personal accident insurance to help ease the financial burden. Limits from £100/week to £500/week for temporary total disablement (£25k lump sum to £100k lump sum for permanent total disablement).

  • Cyber and data risks insurance

    As a recruitment agency, you hold confidential information about your clients and their projects on computers and other internet connected devices, and therefore could be at risk of a cyber-attack. Cyber and data risks insurance pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit following a cyber-attack. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties.

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Frequently asked questions

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Cover starting at £5 a month

Frequently asked questions

  • What insurance do I need to start a recruitment agency?

    When you start a recruitment consultancy, you’ll face the same risks as an established business, therefore you’ll require the same types of insurance mentioned above. However, if you are starting out on your own, you won’t need employer’s liability cover.

  • Does the policy cover the actions of people I supply to my clients?

    No. The policy is designed to cover your professional activities as a recruitment consultant/agency and does not extend to include cover for the actions of the people that you supply to your clients.

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  • I need to arrange insurance to start work - do you provide proof of cover?

    Yes. We provide a dedicated 'Confirmation of Liability Insurance' document (detailing the cover you have with us) as part of the documents that are emailed to you if you purchase your policy with us. You can present this document to agencies and clients as proof that you are insured.

  • What's the difference between professional indemnity and public liability

    Professional indemnity insurance covers against allegations of professional negligence - which means it would cover you if you were to make an error or mistake in a piece of work for a client, such as making a mistake in a job posting.

    Public liability insurance covers against allegations of injury or illness caused to third parties by your negligence. This includes many of the slips, trips and falls that are associated with personal injury claims. In addition, public liability insurance covers against damage to third party property - for example, if you were to damage a client-owned laptop or smartphone.

    As they insure against different scenarios, it's important you consider arranging both types of cover to ensure you are properly protected.

  • What limit of cover should I choose?

    Many clients and industry bodies with regulatory requirements will require you to have a minimum level of cover for you to undertake a contract, so it's worth checking this before you arrange cover. If you're unsure, give some thought to a worst-case scenario and the likely costs involved in putting your mistake right. We offer a range of limits on insurance, so you're sure to find the right cover for your business.

  • Why should I choose Markel’s insurance?

    Markel has over 25 years of experience insuring contractors, consultants and self-employed professionals. We insure over 200,000 micro businesses and are highly rated by our customers at Feefo.com.

    We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s and London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023

    To talk about your insurance requirements and better understand our cover, call us on 0800 640 6600 or get a quick quote online.

  • 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.

Insure with Markel and access these policyholder services

Our policyholders receive access to these unique services designed to make your life easier (included as standard with certain covers).

24 hour legal helpline 24 hour legal advice helpline

When you insure with Markel, you'll benefit from 24/7 telephone access to a qualified solicitor at no additional cost. Expert legal advice can be costly when you're working for yourself and it's difficult to know who to turn to for a trustworthy answer. Whether it's a question on health and safety, employment law, legal structures for your business or how to handle a difficult client, an experienced team of solicitors are on hand day and night to help you with any business-related legal queries. Included as standard with all policies.

Legal hub access Markel Business Hub access

In addition to our 24 hour legal helpline, you'll have access to the Markel Business Hub - an award winning online resource of legal and business guides, templates and content written and created by our team of expert solicitors. Instantly download ready-made contracts, policies, procedures and guidance you can use for your business - without paying any expensive legal fees. Included as standard with all policies.

Fee dispute service

Customers don't always pay on time and chasing fees or invoices costs time and money. Mindful of the impact this has on your business, we offer our policyholders access to a unique fee dispute helpline operated by one of the UK's leading law firms, who will provide specialist legal guidance and support on fee dispute issues. Included as standard with professional indemnity insurance.

Public relations crisis management service

In today's 24 hour news culture, public relations disasters can occur at any time. Having to deal with the press whilst managing a difficult situation can be hugely stressful as well as being a potential minefield. When there is a risk to your business as a result of negative press attention, our specialist public relations crisis management firm, The Counsel House, will work with you to help manage allegations of fraud, injury caused to employees or the public, and official investigations into your company's affairs. Included as standard with professional indemnity insurance, directors and officers insurance, cyber and data risks insurance and legal representation and employment disputes insurance.

Cyber response helpline

If you're the victim of a targeted cyber attack, our cyber response helpline provides access to specialist solicitors and information security experts who will give expert legal and technical IT security guidance on the issues arising from cyber and data protection risks. Included as standard with cyber and data risks insurance.

Cover starting at £5 a month

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