Base cover rarely covers every risk a business faces – not by mistake, but by design: insurers typically offer the customisable parts as extensions, usually for an extra premium. The good news: this way, everyone only pays for what they actually need. The bad news: if you don't know what's missing from the base cover, you can't make an informed decision about extensions either. This article introduces the typical modules.
- An extension opens up an area that the policy terms otherwise exclude or limit – typically for an extra premium.
- What's on offer varies by insurer: the same risk is base cover with one and a paid module with another.
- The decision should rest on an assessment of your activity: an extension is only worth it if it covers a real risk.
The Recurring Modules
Rented premises: damage caused in a rented workshop, office, or shop – almost always relevant for tenants (tenant liability). Items being worked on or handled: the asset you're actually working on at the time – the most frequent claim scenario for tradespeople, yet often missing from base cover. Subcontractors: liability for a subcontractor's work (supply-chain article). Territorial extension: work abroad, exports (territorial scope). A professional indemnity module alongside public liability – or the other way round: combining the two pillars for a mixed profile (multiple professions article).
How to Decide on a Module
With three questions. First: could this claim scenario happen to me? If you work in a rented workshop, the answer is yes – in your own garage, no. Second: how large could the claim be? For a furniture restorer, the item being worked on could be worth museum-piece money – there, the module isn't an extra, it's the whole point. Third: what does the inner limit say? Extensions often carry a lower internal cap than the main limit – having the module isn't enough on its own, its size matters too (limit article).
The Trap: Automatically Taking “Every Module”
Carrying an unnecessary module is also a mistake: the premium for an extension you never use is money draining away year after year. (Let's reserve the term “over-insurance” for its property-insurance meaning: a sum insured that exceeds the value of the insured item.) The goal isn't the longest module list, but the right fit – a justified set that follows from an assessment of your activity (what the broker asks). And when comparing offers, watch out for this: quotes are only comparable if they contain the same set of modules – a “cheaper” quote is often simply emptier (comparison article).
The Next Step
Take out your policy and check: which extensions are included, and what's missing? If any of the modules above is missing while the underlying risk is real, it's worth sorting out – if you let me know, I line up the modules from several insurers (free consultation).
Example: Two Businesses, Two Sets
Two carpenters, the same base cover – yet the right module set is different for each. The first mostly installs on site: built-in furniture, kitchens, windows and doors – for him, the items-being-worked-on and subcontractor extensions are key, and workshop questions are secondary. The second is a restorer: valuable pieces sitting in a rented workshop – for her, the rented-premises module and the module for goods in her care matter most, with a high inner limit, while on-site questions carry less weight. If they took out each other's policy, both would end up poorly covered – even though, on paper, it's the same trade. The module set follows actual operations, not the job title; that's why everything starts with the assessment, not the product list.
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