SVA Forum

skva · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:47 pm Post subject: Insurance Poll

I've been browsing through the advice regarding insurance as I'm a little unsure as to what I actually need - working at home and meeting clients off site only. So, just wondering what insurance others here currently have if you wouldn't mind adding your thoughts.

Thanks :)
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caroline · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:08 pm Post subject:

An interesting poll - I'm sure it will show up some revealing results!

Just because I'm sure this question will come up I'm posting the VA insurance which includes professional indeminty, public liability and equipment.

http://www.prizmsolutions.co.uk/prizm_insurance_products/prizm_pro_for_virtual_assistants.html

If you are ever looking for something specific to VAs e.g. from typing equipment to insurance to websites to book recommendations please try the SVA Sales Page link at the top of the forum. It has lots of useful info and they are all products that are recommended by members.
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sara - Office Bird · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

I have my PII, PL and Office Equipment through HSBC and underwritten by Hiscox. They were able to beat the Prizm insurance quote, but only by about 42p once you add the 5% tax on! Laughing

One thing to bear in mind with the PII is that if you are doing book keeping you need it to be written in a certain way. The VA Insurance package the Prizm link sends you to wouldn't cover you for book keeping services, according to HSBC anyway. I'm no insurance expert so If I am wrong on this then I do appologise.

You won't need Public Liability if you aren't going to have clients in your home and I would have thought your office equipment would be covered by your home insurance as long as you tell them what you are doing.

If I wasn't offering any financial services then I wouldn't have bothered with the PII.

An interesting poll but everyones circumstances are so different, and that is not allowed for so the data will be distorted. :?

Your best bet is to ring a couple of companies, explain what you are doing and then play them off each other until you get the right cover at the right price.

Good Luck!

caroline · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:44 pm Post subject:

coxvos · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject:

My office equipment is covered on my home insurance but I don't currently have any other insurance and I meet my clients either on neutral ground or in their place of work.
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Lynn

planitpurple · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:51 pm Post subject:

My office equipment is also covered in my home insurance as I ticked the box on it saying I work from home. I don't currently have any customers who need to come to my home so don't need any insurance covering that.
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Yvette Segal
Plan-It Purple Virtual Assistance
http://www.planitpurple.co.uk

Burford Secretarial · Moderator Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 540 Location: Kent

My equipment is also covered by my home insurance as this was an option - I don't have any other cover in place.
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Charlotte Burford

Burford Secretarial
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admindoc · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject:

My equipment is also covered under my house policy, which I clarified with them when I set up.

In terms of other insurance, I don't have any. However, I am waiting to hear back from a client with regards to book-keeping services. When that project comes on board I will be taking out professional indemnity to be on the safe side. Otherwise for the general stuff I'm not sure it's needed.
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caroline · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:03 am Post subject:

My lawyer advised me not to take out professional indemnity when I started as he basically didn't think there would be a policy which would cover me for what I do!

His argument was that by not answering the phone or screwing up a deadline I could put all sorts of things in jeopardy and in order to insure against that I would be spending literally hundreds of pounds each month.

That's why I'm so keen to plug the Prizm quote - it's specifically designed for VAs, and I think it's quite reasonable too!
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skva · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 7:50 pm Post subject:

Hmm, interesting replies, thanks so much everyone.

Caroline, I noticed that the Prizm quote includes "employers liability" which is something I don't need considering I'm my only employee !! Do you know if they are flexible?
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caroline · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject:

I'm sure they would be.

C.
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sara - Office Bird · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject:

I phoned Prizm and asked if they could take away the Employers Liability and reduce the cost accordingly. They said that removing it would not reduce the cost as it was provided as a bit of a freebe by the underwriters. The man was very nice though and said it was a useful thing to have, although unless you are employing someone I'm not sure how useful it would be!!

The other thing about Prizm is that they charge you extra if you pay by direct debit. This is not the case with all providers. I didn't talk to them about this though and they may wave it to beat another quote - you never know. :)

OfficeStuff · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:10 am Post subject:

I've just had a quote from HSBC for Professional Indemnity insurance, which is underwritten by Hiscox. It was the cheapest I've had, and HSBC will collect the premium my monthly direct debit, interest free. They also do other sorts of business insurance. Worth a look.
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Carole Meyrick
Office Stuff
Perfectly Practical Office Support

Burford Secretarial · Moderator Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 540 Location: Kent

Although I don't have insurance for Burford Secretarial as I have also just set up the Limited company and we have an office so we got our insurance through HSBC it was very reasonable.
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Charlotte Burford

Burford Secretarial
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Peter · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

As most of you are aware I'm (still) currently setting up my business. My business advisor told me that I should get PII because, say I was typing up a contract document for them and added an extra nought, I could potentially cost them thousands of pounds. Any opinions on this?
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Peter

Assisted Virtually
www.assistedvirtually.co.uk

"Your business means everything to us"