Incorporating changes who gets sued and changes very little about what you need to insure. The claims still arrive, they arrive at the company, and the company still has to pay them. Two things do change, and both catch people out: whose name has to be on the certificate, and whether employers' liability applies to a company whose only employee is the person who owns it.
The certificate has to name the company
Clients contract with the company, so the policy that answers a client's claim has to be in the company's name. A certificate in the director's personal name is the single most common onboarding problem an agency or a procurement team finds, and it is not pedantry: the policy answers for the insured named on it. Change it at the next renewal rather than at the first contract that notices.
The employers' liability exemption, and why agencies ignore it
A company whose only employee is a director owning at least half the issued share capital is generally outside the compulsory employers' liability duty. Agencies and end clients require the cover anyway as a contractual term, because their own compliance is simpler if everybody holds it. Both facts are true at once: you may not be required by statute and you may still be required by the contract you want to sign.
Limited liability is not a substitute for cover
A company limits the shareholders' exposure, not the company's, and directors carry their own duties under Part 10 of the Companies Act 2006 which they can be personally liable for breaching. Directors' and officers' cover answers for that and is a different policy from professional indemnity. A small company that thinks incorporation replaced insurance has confused which party is protected.
What is the same as before
Public liability, professional indemnity, product liability, tools and equipment, business interruption and cyber are the same covers with the same reasons as they were before incorporating. The rating is broadly the same too: insurers price the work, the turnover, the staff and the claims history rather than the legal wrapper around them.
Questions people ask about ltd company insurance
What insurance does a limited company need?
The same covers the work requires: public liability, professional indemnity where clients rely on the work, product liability where goods are supplied, employers' liability where anybody other than an exempt sole director is employed, and the property and cyber sections the business actually uses.
Does a limited company need employers' liability?
Generally not where the only employee is a director owning at least half the issued share capital. The exemption is statutory; the requirement in an agency or client contract is separate, and contracts frequently require the cover regardless.
Should the policy be in my name or the company's?
The company's, matching the entity on the contract. A policy in a personal name does not answer for a claim against the company, and it is the commonest correction made at onboarding.
Does limited liability mean I need less insurance?
No. It limits the shareholders' exposure, not the company's, and directors carry personal duties under the Companies Act that directors' and officers' cover exists for. The claims are unchanged; only the defendant is.