There are several types of business insurance you should consider if you run a recruitment consultancy. These include:
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims that the advice, recommendations or services you provided to your client were either incorrect or negligent. It’s an important type of insurance to have for anyone who offers services in the recruitment industry, as you can potentially be held liable for the behaviour of those you place in jobs for a considerable time into the future. Cover is available starting from $250,000 and goes up to $10 million or more.
What it covers:
- Payment of compensation if there’s a successful claim against you
- Payment of court-awarded damages to the litigant
- Cover for your legal defence costs
- Cover for the cost of disciplinary proceedings or investigations
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is also essential if you have an office which is open to members of the public. It can cover you if a member of the public is injured or sustains property damage as a result of your negligent business activities. This insurance can offer between $5 million and $20 million worth of cover.
What it covers:
- Third-party personal injury claims
- Damage to a third party’s property
- Legal fees to defend yourself
General business insurance
General business insurance may also be worthwhile if you have an office and portable equipment (such as laptops) which need coverage. Because glass breakage is a common exclusion from business policies, you may wish to purchase this as an optional extra if your landlord requires you to have insurance to cover the cost of glass breakage in your office.
What it covers:
- Fire, storms, theft, vandalism and collision which cause damage to your business assets
- Specialist cover for electronic equipment and other portable equipment
- Limited business interruption insurance
Cyber liability insurance
As a recruitment consultant, you may hold plenty of confidential information about potential job prospects and your clients’ businesses. Unfortunately, many cybercriminals may be able to get hold of these private details. For this reason, cyber liability insurance is also a very important form of insurance for all recruitment consultants, as well as other consultants or contractors working in related fields as well.
What it covers
- Data breaches including theft of client information
- The cost of a forensic investigation into the cause of the breach
- Data recovery costs
- Cyber extortion and denial of service threats
- Crisis management costs
- Advertising and communicating with customers
- Legal costs including any fines and penalties imposed