Travel agents’ insurance

Why do travel agents need professional indemnity insurance?

You don’t.

It’d be great if we could say that and mean it. But we can’t.

Mistakes happen, accusations are made, solicitors get involved and clients want payback. Rightly or wrongly these things happen every day and, sooner or later, you could be on the receiving end.

A claim won’t go away if you ignore it. And there are no shortcuts. You have to Do Something About It.

So, you need professional indemnity insurance because you have a business to run; because you have limited funds; because you’re not legally trained; and because your reputation matters.

What else is there?

How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?

Professional indemnity insurance protects your business. No one else’s.

So you have to decide what level of cover is enough for you. Consider what you do, who you do it for and how much it’s worth. Think about worst-case scenario and what could go wrong. What’s the most expensive mistake you could make (or be accused of making)?

Always bear in mind that you can’t have too much cover. Your legal defence can cost many tens of thousands of pounds - and that’s before the compensation bill from your client arrives. Your level of cover has to be enough to cover all of this.

It’s a tricky one to get right. Have a read of this guide or call us if you need more help.

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

Negligence claims and allegations made against you by clients and third parties, because of mistakes you’ve made and things you’ve failed to do.

Specifically (but depending on the policy wording):

• Defamation
• Intellectual property infringement
• Loss of documents or data
• Negligent misrepresentation or misstatement
• Employee dishonesty
• Virus transmission
• Breach of confidentiality
• Failure of third-party equipment

But that’s not all. Some professional indemnity policies can fix a mistake before your client is even aware of it, thereby preventing a claim in the first place.

Clever stuff.

Do I need public liability insurance?

Unless you operate 100% online, it’s likely you’ll be dealing with clients face to face at some point. That might be at your place or it might be at theirs. Either way, travel agents’ public liability insurance is a good idea.

Clients slipping, tripping or falling are sure-fire ways to end up with an expensive claim against you. If that happens, your policy pays to defend you and helps fix what’s broken. It pays any compensation you’re liable for, too.

What else do I need?

Employers’ liability insurance covers your business if an employee sues it for damages. Claims are usually because they’ve suffered injuries and illnesses as a consequence of working for you. It’s a legal requirement for UK businesses with employees.

Office and property insurance covers the things in your office (furniture, plants, fixed IT equipment etc) and portable insurance covers gadgets and technical equipment away from the office (laptops, tablets, projectors etc). If you’re not sure it’s worth insuring, add it all up - it’s probably worth more than you think.

Business interruption insurance means you can still work when your office is out of action. Be it flood, fire or flea infestation, you’re covered for the costs of setting up elsewhere and for any lost revenue in that time.

Directors’ and officers’ insurance covers your company bosses. Anyone from regulators to shareholders to competitors can accuse you of not running a business with due care. Worse, directors are personally liable for their actions. The good thing is this insurance covers your defence costs and any compensation you have to pay. So you can put away your chequebook.

Why choose us?

First off, we’re experts. Finding the right insurance for small businesses and self-employed folk is what we do. Day in, day out. And we’re pretty good at it too.

Don’t want to take our word for it? Check out our platinum Feefo rating to see what our customers think.

And if quick and easy is what you’re after, look no further. You can get a quote and buy insurance online in a matter of minutes, with the documents delivered directly to your inbox.

We make getting professionally insured as painless as possible, with no unnecessary jargon or impossible loopholes to jump through.

As if you needed any more reasons, we’ll reward you for referring a friend.