By signing the first employment contract, the business owner becomes an employer – and a new compass point appears on their insurance map: people. Not everything needs solving at once, but two questions are worth seeing clearly from day one.
- First question: what happens if the colleague is injured at work? – this is the territory of employer's liability and accident cover.
- Second question: what happens if the colleague causes damage? – the company's liability cover needs to cover them too.
- The benefits layer can be built even with just a few employees – though the minimum headcount for group arrangements varies by insurer, and at very small headcounts an individual policy is often the starting point.
If the colleague is injured
In a workplace accident, a compensation claim can arise against the employer – the subject of employer's liability is governed by law, and the details follow the rules in force at any given time. On the insurance side, two tools are available: an employer's liability extension on the company's liability cover, and group accident insurance, which gives the colleague themselves protection through fixed-sum payouts. The two are not the same and don't replace each other – together they give the full picture: employee claims.
If the colleague causes damage
For damage a colleague causes while working, the company is typically liable to the outside world – which is why, with your first employee, it's worth checking your liability cover: does the insured group and the description of activities cover work done by employees, and is the limit enough? If the colleague also drives a company car, the group of authorised drivers on the vehicle cover is a question too: fleet overview.
The benefits base: from just one employee
A benefits package isn't a big-company genre: an accident-cover base can be built for even one or two people, with life and health elements added later. With your first colleague, this also carries a message: the company cares. The cost comes out of a plannable budget – the tax treatment depends on the structure and follows the tax rules in force at any given time, so it's worth setting the budget together with your accountant: the tax logic of benefits.
The tidying-up step
Your first employee is also a good opportunity to tidy up the existing small portfolio: from now on, it's not just about the owner. A renewal table takes half an hour to build, and by the next renewal you can already decide within a system. The next stops on the growth path: micro business → 10+ employees.
Want to go deeper?
This article is deliberately an overview: the detailed information – covers, exclusions, practical examples – lives on the area's own specialist site.
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