Review: Hiscox Business Insurance
By Sam Gilbert 
In Summary
Widely praised by its customers, Hiscox business insurance was named Best Small Business Insurer at the 2014 Start Your Business awards.
You can get a quote at the Hiscox website.
Background to Hiscox business insurance
Hiscox has a long history of providing specialist insurance cover. It is perhaps most widely known for providing high net worth home insurance – covering more than 60,000 homes in the UK. However, it also has a successful business insurance operation, protecting more than 150,000 British SMEs, professionals and consultants.
It bases its customer service around the philosophy that claims should be handled based on fairness and common sense, claiming Hiscox "doesn’t behave like a typical insurance company".
Hiscox provides a wide range of insurance products for businesses, including professional indemnity, public liability, and employer's liability insurance, as well as online security protection.
Overview of the cover provided by Hiscox business insurance policies
The exact nature of Hiscox business insurance will depend on the type of cover your company requires, however some of its benefits are common to all policies. For example, it offers 0% interest on monthly direct debits, immediate coverage and documentation, and the ability to make changes to your policy at any time.
From there, businesses can choose from the following cover options:
- Professional indemnity - to protect your business if claims about the quality of your work are brought against you by a client
- Public and employers’ liability - to cover you in the event of an employee or member of the public sustaining an injury
- Office insurance – available both at home and at office premises, cover for buildings damage and contents, including portable equipment like laptops
- Personal accident insurance – Hiscox will pay your business a weekly sum if you or a key employee cannot unable to work following an accident, or a lump sum in the event of permanent disability
- E-risks – to insure your business in the event of losses arising from Internet and email issues, such as electronic identity fraud, hackers and viruses
As your company needs will be quite specific, Hiscox has a breakdown of recommended insurance products by profession.
There are some policy features that are worth highlighting, though. For example, personal accident insurance includes cover for accidents sustained outside of working hours – such as a DIY or sports injury. Meanwhile, its office insurance features £200,000 of "all-risks" contents cover.
Get a quote tailored to the needs of your business at the Hiscox website.
How much does business insurance from Hiscox cost?
There is no exact price quoted for Hiscox business insurance, because the cost will depend very much on how many products you wish to take out, and the level of cover you require for each of these.
For example, within office insurance, the value of equipment you wish to cover and the location and security solutions installed at your premises can impact premium price.
Generally speaking, Hiscox is not known for being the cheapest insurer, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s important to choose an insurer that offers comprehensive cover, and has a good track record of paying claims.
Cutting corners to secure a cheaper premium can come back to haunt you in the long run, if you find yourself facing (say) a public liability claim that you’re not covered for, or make an unsuccessful claim on damage or theft to property and/or buildings.
Particularly with claims made against you, bills can mount up without adequate insurance protection.
Visit Hiscox's website for an accurate business insurance quotation.
What do Hiscox business insurance customers say?
More than 10,000 customers have left business insurance reviews via ServiceTick, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive.
Overall, Hiscox business insurance scores 4.5/5 stars on average, with comments including "very polite and helpful", "absolutely brilliant and very professional", and "I was very happy with everything". However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these comments are published on Hiscox’s website, so are likely to favour the good over the bad!
Reviews on Simplybusiness, meanwhile, give Hiscox a similarly high score of 4.7/5 stars.
What do experts say about Hiscox business insurance?
Industry body Defaqto rates Hiscox business insurance 3 out of a possible 5 stars.
Hiscox won Best Small Business Insurer at the 2014 Start Your Business awards.
