What information is needed to make a claim?

Each claim type is different, so keep in mind that this is just a guide, and the detail that's required by the insurer depends on the type of claim being made. Here’s what’s included:

• What’s needed for every claim
• Theft claims
• Lost items
• Accidental damage
• Third-party property damage
• Third-party or employee injury
• Employee legal action
• Travel
• Professional negligence
• Cyber
• Landlord home emergencies

While every scenario is different, there are some standard things you’ll need to share for every claim you make. For example, we’ll always ask for:

• Your name
• Your company name
• Your policy number
• Whether you’re VAT registered

It can be upsetting to find that you’ve had a break-in or that someone has stolen some business-critical equipment.

To claim for theft, you’ll need to have a valid business contents, tools insurance or business equipment policy in place. Public liability insurance can cover the theft of someone else's property that you’re responsible for.

Before you do anything, we always recommend that you report a theft or burglary to the police immediately. The police will give you a Crime Reference Number, which you can use to check the progress of their investigation, and we’ll need to process your claim.

Some other things that may be needed, include:

• Police branch: Details of the police branch you reported the theft to e.g. the Metropolitan Police
• Photos: Especially evidence which shows someone forced their way into your property or vehicle. A number of our policies will only respond to a theft claim which involves forcible entry
• Proof of purchase: For claims involving theft, you’ll always be asked to tell us the make and model of the item, as well as proof of purchase. Receipts can help determine personal items from business ones and show what you paid. If it’s a specialist item — whether yours or someone else’s — we’ll usually ask that you send a web link to a like-for-like replacement
• Overnight storage: If the theft involves tools, we’ll also need to know where the tools were kept overnight

It’s incredibly frustrating to find you’ve lost something like your company phone or tablet, but luckily your insurance can potentially help. You’ll need to have a valid business contents, tools insurance or business equipment policy to claim for lost items.

Outside of the standard set of questions, to start your claim for lost belongings, your insurer will also ask for:

• Last seen: Sometimes easier said than done when an item is lost, but you’ll be asked to confirm when you last had the lost item or items
• Proof of purchase: For claims involving loss, you’ll always be asked to tell us the make and model of the item, as well as proof of purchase. Receipts help determine personal items from business ones and confirm what you paid. If it’s a specialist item — whether yours or someone else’s — we’ll usually ask that you send a web link to a like-for-like replacement

For accidental damage claims, it’s important to keep in mind that your insurance will not cover daily wear and tear. If your item has reached the end of its natural life, this is not something that would make an insurable claim. Spilling coffee on your work phone, however, is an insurable claim.

To claim for accidental damage to your own items, you’ll need to have a valid business contents, tools insurance or business equipment policy in place. For accidental damage to other people’s property, you’ll need public liability in place.

If wear and tear isn’t the issue, some of the things you’ll need to provide to start your claim for accidental damage to your own contents and equipment, include:

• Proof of purchase: For claims involving accidental damage, you’ll always be asked to tell us the make and model of the item, as well as proof of purchase. Receipts help determine personal items from business ones and confirm what you paid. If it’s a specialist item — whether yours or someone else’s — we’ll usually ask that you send a web link to a like-for-like replacement
• Photos: You’ll need to provide photographic evidence showing the damage
• Beyond repair: If your item is past saving we’ll need evidence showing this. This evidence can be an email from a repair shop telling you that the cost of repair is higher than the cost of a like-for-like replacement or a quote showing the cost of repair to restore the item to its original condition

Perhaps you’ve spilled nail polish over a customer’s white carpet, or you accidentally knocked down part of a garden wall when doing some work. This is where your insurance can potentially help.

To claim for third-party property damage, you’ll need to have a valid public liability policy in place.

Some of the things you’ll likely need to send your insurer to kickstart a claim for third-party property damage include:

• Photos: You’ll need to provide photographic evidence showing the damage
• Beyond repair: If the item is unsalvageable, we’ll need evidence showing this. This can be an email from a repair shop telling you that the cost of repair is higher than the cost of a like-for-like replacement or a quote showing the cost of repair to restore the items to their original condition
• Damage to an item: If the damage is to an item — like a phone or clothing — we’ll ask you to tell us the make, model or brand of the item or items damaged
• Damage to property: If the damage is to a third party’s home or property, we’ll need two quotes from separate builders confirming the cost to reinstate or repair their home. That's assuming you’ve not been able to repair the damage yourself, or the customer has been unwilling for you to repair the damage
• Contact details: On occasion, we may ask you to share the claimant’s contact details so they can be contacted about the claim

You never want to see an employee or member of the public get injured because of the work you do. But, if an accident occurs, it’s important to know what steps you should take to support the injured person and keep on the right side of the law. Learn how in our guide to workplace accidents.

To claim for third-party injuries, you’ll need to have a valid public liability policy in place, and for employee injuries, you’ll need a valid employers’ liability policy.

You might also want to consider accident and sickness cover, to support your employees or your business should an accident or long-term sickness occur.

To claim for either employee or third-party injuries, some of the things you’ll need to send over to your insurer include:

• Contact details: We’ll ask for the name of the injured party and their contact information
• Photos: To get a full picture of the situation, you’ll need to provide details of the injury and what happened. This will need to be documented with photos or videos of the injuries and scene. For more complex injuries valued at over £1,000, medical evidence will usually be needed from the injured party
• Notification: Confirmation of when you were first advised of an issue
• Beauticians: If the injury has happened because of a beauty treatment, you’ll need to confirm whether patch tests were done without issue, and when

If you’re facing any sort of legal action for injury claims or unfair dismissal, before you speak to your own solicitors about a potential claim or issue, let your insurer know first. Otherwise, their costs might not be covered unless you have written approval.

Your insurer will bring in their own panel of solicitors to handle your defence, if needed. These costs are sometimes covered by your policy, either as part of your indemnity limit (known as costs inclusive) or in addition to it (costs in addition).

In the early stages of any sort of legal claim, it’s important that you don’ot to enter into conversations around liability. Essentially, don’t admit fault.

Legal action can be taken against you or your business if you dismiss employees without following the correct procedure or if you have contract disagreements, for example.

Payments for court fees, inquiry expenses and court attendance costs are included in a legal protection insurance policy, but your employers’ liability insurance might also cover this.

Beyond the things you’ll need to provide for every claim, if you face legal action from an employee and need to make a claim, you’ll likely need to send the following over to get the ball rolling:

• Contact details: You’ll need to provide the name of the aggrieved party (the employee making a claim against you) and their contact information
• Details: We’ll need to understand the issue, so be prepared to explain what happened and what led to the matter escalating
• Notification: Confirmation of when you were first notified of an issue, whether a grievance was raised and if so, the outcome

As above, if you’re facing any sort of legal action for injury claims or unfair dismissal, before you speak to your own solicitors about a potential claim or issue, let your insurer know first. Otherwise, their costs might not be covered unless you have written approval.

If needed, your insurer will bring in their own panel of solicitors to handle your defence. These costs are sometimes covered by your policy, either as part of your indemnity limit (known as costs inclusive) or in addition to it (costs in addition).

It’s important to note that in the early stages of any sort of legal claim, to not admit any liability or fault.

You're all prepped and ready to travel somewhere for a big conference and then... disaster. Your trains get cancelled, or bad weather has ruined your plans.

Other than the information we'll need for every claim, you'll also likely need to provide:

• Invoices: Copies of invoices for each part of the trip — this should show the date of travel, the cost and the full names of those traveling
• Proof of cancellation: We also need proof of cancellation — this can be a letter or email from the appropriate travel company, hotel or transfer provider confirming that the booking has been cancelled
• Refund: Confirmation of whether any of the providers have confirmed refunds have been issued, if yes, we need to see documentation confirming the amounts offered
• Costs: A breakdown of what travel costs you’re seeking to claim for
• Other cover: Confirmation about whether there is any other insurance issued for this trip

Directors' and officers' insurance, often called D&O insurance or management liability insurance, is designed to cover business leaders from the risks that come with running a company.

It's built to cover everything from accusations of mismanagement, claims of misconduct or even exaggerations in a pitch deck and is available to businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large organisations.

Both D&O and professional indemnity and D&O policies are designed to defend the policyholder when a claim is brought against them. They’re not designed for the policyholder to make a claim themselves.

If a claim is made, you should notify your insurers immediately. It’s important to never make any admission of liability or raise a payment in respect of a potential claim. If needed, your insurer will bring in their own panel of solicitors to handle your defence. These costs are sometimes covered by your policy, either as part of your indemnity limit (known as costs inclusive) or in addition to it (costs in addition).

Other than the usual things you need to provide, you'll also need to confirm and provide:

• Details: The date of the incident and when you were first advised of an issue. We’ll also need to know the reason your services were engaged and who you agreed to provide services for
• Relationship: Explain the relationship between you and the client and if you’ve worked with them before
• Contract agreements: A copy of the contract between you and the claimant. In particular, we need to understand what terms and service levels (SLAs) were agreed on
• Correspondence: Copies of all correspondence you've exchanged with the person making the claim to date. It may be necessary for us to review a full copy of any paperwork as a ot can be learned from things like attendance notes, emails or billing narratives
• Third parties: Confirmation about whether any other third parties were involved. For example, solicitors, accountants or a developers. Someone might likely argue that a different person or organisation also played a role in causing the losses, not just you, the main party being blamed

It’s important to check what kind of policy you have when it comes to these types of claims. You’ll have either a:

Claims made policy:

This type of policy is designed to cover you if someone makes a claim against you while your cover is active — even if the event that caused it happened earlier. So long as the claim comes in during the policy period, you’re covered.

Most directors’ and officers’ (D&O) and professional indemnity (PI) policies work this way. That means if your policy has ended and a claim comes in later, you won’t be covered — even if the incident happened while you were insured. Some businesses choose run-off cover for this reason.

Claims occurring policy:

This type of policy can cover events that happen while your policy is active, even if the claim is made years later, after your policy has ended. What matters here is when the incident took place, not when the claim is made.

Learn more about this in our guide to claims made policies.

Cyber claims can be intimidating, but the steps below are quick and easy to understand and will ensure that things can be progressed quickly.

You’ll need a valid cyber insurance policy in place to make a claim.

• Firstly, contact Action Fraud immediately. You can do this online or by calling the 24-hour phone line on 0300 123 2040. When you make the claim, you will need to confirm the date you reported the incident and the claim number from Action Fraud
• If you run a business and you suspect that data has been stolen, you must also make sure that you’ve reported the situation to the Information Commissioner's Office. Again, you'll need to confirm the date you reported the incident and the claim number provided by them
• If you suspect there is a risk that your finances may be vulnerable, it’s good practice to also speak to your bank

While there are several steps to dealing with a cyber claim, some of the elements you’ll need to confirm and provide include:

• The details: The date of the incident and when you first became aware of it
• Action Fraud: Confirmation about whether or not you’ve contacted Action Fraud and the Information Commissioner's Office to report the issue
• Your finances: Whether you think your finances may be vulnerable and whether you have contacted your bank
• The damage: Details of the systems you believe have been targeted
• Third-party damage: Whether you’re aware of any specific companies, people or systems that may have been affected along with any relevant information you can provide
• Your business: Confirmation that your business is still able to run and operate effectively. If not, we’ll need extra details of how your business has been affected
• Paperwork: The best course of action is to keep all copies of correspondence relating to the incident. This includes communication with Action Fraud, the Information Commissioner's Office, your bank and any other documentation you have

If you’re facing any sort of cyber claim, before you speak to your own solicitors about a potential claim or issue, let your insurer know first. Otherwise, their costs might not be covered unless you have written approval.

If needed, your insurer will bring in their own panel of solicitors to handle your defence. These costs are sometimes covered by your policy, either as part of your indemnity limit (known as costs inclusive) or in addition to it (costs in addition).

Perhaps your boiler has broken in the middle of winter or your tenants are complaining of blocked drains, whatever the situation, you'll want to get the issue fixed fast.

If you're covered by landlords' home emergency insurance and you have an eligible emergency, you should call the 24/7 emergency hotline. You can find this number signposted in your policy documents.

When you speak to the hotline agent, they'll ask you to provide:

• The property: You'll need to give the address and postcode of the affected property
• The details: As much detail as you can provide about the issue. You'll be advised on any action you need to take to make your property safe or to prevent further damage
• Your tenants: If your property is rented to tenants in a vulnerable situation, a certified contractor will aim to attend your property within four hours where possible

Once your insured emergency is registered, a certified tradesperson will attend your property. The authorised tradesperson will contact you directly to arrange a suitable appointment time, so you may need to be available to attend the property if your tenants aren’t able to be there.

Your claim will be taken care of with the authorised tradesperson and you'll be kept updated on progress.