Business Insurance Review Checklist | Professional Insurance UK

Editorial attribution: Professional Insurance UK Editorial Team
Editorial review: 28 June 2026

This checklist helps a UK business organise the facts, changes and documents that may matter when reviewing insurance. It is designed for renewal preparation, a mid-term business change or an initial discussion with an insurer, broker or other authorised insurance professional.

It does not select a policy, calculate a suitable limit or replace the questions asked by an insurer or intermediary. Not every item applies to every business.

Before you begin

Collect the current policy wording, schedule, endorsements, latest statement of fact or proposal, certificates and renewal correspondence. Use the version that applies to the current period of insurance.

Record unanswered questions rather than guessing. If an insurer or intermediary asks for information, answer accurately and raise anything material that may not be captured by a narrow question.

Read Understanding Business Insurance Documents if you are unsure what a document does.

1. Business identity and legal structure

Confirm the full legal name of the insured business.
Check trading names and brands that need to be shown.
Record the legal form: sole trader, partnership, limited company, limited liability partnership, charity or another structure.
Check registered and trading addresses.
Record Companies House, charity or professional registration details where relevant.
Identify subsidiaries, associated entities, joint ventures or predecessor businesses that may need consideration.
Check whether the policyholder named in the schedule is the entity that actually carries out the work and owns the insured assets.

2. Activities, products and services

Describe what the business does in plain language.
List every material product or service, including newer or occasional work.
Record work that has started since the last application or renewal.
Identify activities performed at customers’ premises, construction sites, public venues or outside the United Kingdom.
Record design, specification, consultancy, advice, inspection, certification, installation, repair or maintenance work.
Identify products imported, manufactured, assembled, altered, labelled, distributed or sold under the business’s name.
Record hazardous materials, heat work, work at height, excavation, lifting, security work or other higher-risk activities where relevant.
Check whether any activity falls outside the description shown in the schedule, statement of fact or policy wording.

3. Income, turnover, payroll and other rating information

Record the latest actual annual turnover.
Prepare a reasonable estimate for the coming policy period.
Separate turnover by activity, product, customer type or territory where requested.
Record payroll, wage roll, employee numbers or contractor payments where relevant.
Identify the largest contracts or customers and the share of income they represent.
Check whether declarations, estimates or adjustable premiums need to be updated after the policy period.
Keep the source of each figure so that it can be explained later.

Do not assume that every policy uses the same definition of turnover, payroll or revenue. Follow the wording and questions used for the particular policy.

4. People and working relationships

List employees, directors, partners, volunteers, apprentices, trainees, temporary workers and labour-only subcontractors.
Identify self-employed contractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Record changes in headcount, roles, working hours or locations.
Check whether anyone works abroad, from home or at third-party premises.
Identify safety-critical, manual, driving, clinical, advisory, financial or regulated roles.
Check whether employers’ liability insurance is required and whether any exemption genuinely applies.
Record the insurance requirements imposed on subcontractors and how evidence is checked.

Employment status for insurance purposes may not be determined solely by the label used in a contract. The practical working relationship and the policy wording can matter.

5. Contracts, tenders, leases and professional rules

Review customer contracts, framework agreements and tenders for insurance clauses.
Check required types of cover, limits, territories and policy periods.
Identify requirements to name another party, note an interest, waive subrogation or maintain run-off cover.
Check landlord, lender, franchisor, platform, venue or supply-chain requirements.
Review professional-body, regulator or licensing rules that apply to the business or its people.
Record certificate deadlines and the person responsible for providing evidence.
Flag clauses that require cover which the existing policy may not provide.

A contractual requirement does not itself prove that a policy meets it. Compare the clause with the actual wording, schedule and endorsements, and obtain advice where needed.

Read Business Insurance Requirements in the UK for the difference between statutory, regulatory, contractual and voluntary requirements.

6. Premises and locations

List all offices, shops, workshops, warehouses, storage units, home-working locations and temporary sites.
Record ownership or tenancy arrangements.
Check construction, age, occupancy, security and fire-protection details where requested.
Identify unoccupied periods, sharing arrangements and changes of use.
Record flood, subsidence, escape-of-water, theft or other location-specific concerns known to the business.
Check whether stock, equipment or records are kept away from the main premises.
Record work at exhibitions, markets, festivals or customer sites.

7. Property, stock, equipment and money

Update replacement values for buildings, contents, machinery, computers, tools and specialist equipment.
Check stock values, including seasonal peaks and goods in transit.
Identify property hired, leased, borrowed or held on behalf of customers.
Record portable equipment used away from the premises or abroad.
Check whether reinstatement, new-for-old, indemnity or another valuation basis applies.
Review single-item limits and inner limits.
Check whether sums insured reflect current rebuilding, replacement and professional costs rather than historic purchase prices.

Underinsurance can reduce a payment where the policy contains an average or proportional-settlement provision. The exact effect depends on the contract.

8. Vehicles, driving and travel

List vehicles owned, leased, hired or used for business purposes.
Check the permitted use shown on each motor policy.
Identify employees who use their own vehicles for work.
Review driver eligibility, licence checks and vehicle-use controls.
Record courier, delivery, carriage-of-goods or passenger activities.
Identify overseas driving and business travel.
Check whether tools, stock or equipment left in vehicles are insured and under what conditions.

A personal motor policy does not automatically cover every business journey. The permitted-use wording must be checked.

9. Digital systems, data and cyber exposure

List critical systems, cloud services, websites and online sales channels.
Identify personal, confidential, financial or commercially sensitive information handled by the business.
Record material changes in remote access, suppliers, payment systems or outsourced IT.
Check backup arrangements, restoration testing and access controls.
Review multi-factor authentication, patching, staff awareness and incident-response arrangements.
Record previous cyber events, suspected compromises or notification incidents.
Check whether cyber, crime, funds-transfer fraud and business interruption sections respond to the exposures being considered.

Cyber insurance is not a replacement for proportionate security and incident preparation.

10. Incidents, claims and circumstances

List claims made during the period.
Record accidents, complaints, errors, losses, regulatory enquiries and threats of legal action.
Identify facts that may reasonably develop into a claim, even if no formal demand has been received.
Check notification deadlines and the required method of notification.
Keep copies of notifications and acknowledgements.
Do not admit liability, settle or incur defence costs without checking the policy conditions and obtaining appropriate guidance.
Record remedial action taken after an incident.

Claims-made policies can require notification during the active policy period or an applicable reporting period. Occurrence-based policies use a different trigger. Check the exact wording.

11. Limits, sums insured, excesses and extensions

Review each main limit and sum insured.
Check whether the limit applies to each claim, each event, each period or in the aggregate.
Identify defence-cost treatment and whether costs are inside or outside the limit.
Review sub-limits, inner limits and waiting periods.
Check excesses and whether different excesses apply to different sections.
Identify extensions relied on by the business and check their conditions.
Consider contractual minimums, worst credible losses and the business’s ability to fund uninsured amounts.
Record why a limit was selected and who approved it.

A limit that satisfies a contract may still be insufficient for the business’s wider exposure. Conversely, a higher limit does not remove exclusions or conditions.

12. Policy wording, schedule and endorsements

Confirm the policy period and renewal date.
Check every insured name and address.
Read the insuring clauses and definitions relevant to the business.
Review exclusions and conditions, not only the headline cover summary.
Read all endorsements and special terms.
Check territorial, jurisdictional and geographical limits.
Identify retroactive dates, discovery periods and run-off arrangements where relevant.
Check cancellation, premium-payment and instalment provisions.
Confirm claims and complaint contact details.

13. Changes since the last review

Do not automatically wait until renewal if a material business change occurs. Check the policy and contact the relevant insurer or intermediary promptly where required.

14. Questions to take to an insurer or intermediary

What activities and entities are covered?
Which important activities are excluded or subject to special conditions?
What information was used to assess the risk?
Are the limits per claim, per event or aggregate?
Are defence costs included within the limit?
Which excesses, waiting periods and sub-limits apply?
What must be notified, when and to whom?
What changes must be reported during the policy period?
What territorial and jurisdictional limits apply?
Which documents form the complete contract?
Does the policy satisfy any identified contractual or professional requirement?
What assumptions were made when recommending or arranging the cover?

Review record

Item	Record
Review date
Reason for review	Initial purchase / renewal / mid-term change / contract / incident / other
People involved
Documents checked
Material changes identified
Questions outstanding
Notifications made
Decisions and reasons recorded
Next review date or trigger

Important limitations

This checklist is a preparation and record-keeping tool. It does not establish that information is legally sufficient, that a policy is suitable, or that a claim will be paid.

Commercial insurance duties and policy requirements depend on the circumstances. Under the Insurance Act 2015, a business policyholder generally owes a duty of fair presentation before entering into a non-consumer insurance contract and when relevant variations are agreed. Material circumstances and sufficiently clear disclosure must be considered in context.

Do not cancel existing insurance until replacement arrangements and effective dates have been confirmed.

Next step

Use this checklist with:

For personalised decisions, speak to an appropriately authorised insurance professional and check the current policy wording and relevant legal or professional requirements.