Closing a limited company: the insurance to sort before strike-off
Closure does not erase the past
Striking off a company feels final: the trading stops, the accounts are closed, the name disappears from the register. But dissolution is not an amnesty. A dissolved company can be restored to the register so that a claim can be brought against it — typically so a claimant can reach the insurance that was in place at the time — and the events of its trading life do not stop having consequences just because the company has gone. Employees who were exposed to something harmful years ago, customers with latent losses, counterparties with long-tail disputes: all of these can surface after the company has closed.
So the insurance question when closing a company is not “when can we stop paying premiums” but “what needs to stay answerable after we stop”. There are three recurring answers: claims-made covers, the directors, and the employers’ liability records.
Claims-made covers need run-off
If the company carried professional indemnity, cyber or similar claims-made cover, those policies only respond to claims made while they are in force. Cancel at closure and the company’s past work is uninsured against any claim that arrives later — including one brought against a restored company, or pursued against the people behind it. Run-off cover keeps the policy open for claims about pre-closure work, commonly benchmarked at six years to match the ordinary limitation period for contract claims, longer where exposures are latent. The full mechanics are in our run-off explainer; the closure-specific point is that run-off must be bought before the trading policy lapses, because it is far easier to continue cover than to resurrect it.
Directors do not dissolve with the company
The company’s limited liability protected shareholders; it never fully protected directors, who can face personal claims about how the company was run — and the winding-down period itself is when conduct is examined most closely. Decisions made in the final years and months — which creditors were paid, what the accounts said, how the closure was handled — can be questioned after the company is gone, by creditors, liquidators or regulators, and the claim arrives addressed to the individual, not the dissolved company.
Directors’ and officers’ liability cover is claims-made too, so the same logic applies: a D&O policy cancelled at closure gives former directors nothing when an allegation about their stewardship arrives two years later. D&O run-off keeps that personal protection alive for a defined period after closure. For any company with external creditors, a regulator, or a closure that was anything other than entirely comfortable, it is the cover most worth keeping. Our D&O guide covers the underlying policy in detail.
Employers’ liability: keep the records, permanently
If the company ever employed anyone, its employers’ liability insurance history matters long after closure, because industrial disease claims — hearing loss, respiratory conditions, asbestos-related illness — can emerge decades after the exposure. Those claims are answered by the EL insurer who was on cover at the time of exposure, which means the single most valuable thing you can preserve is the ability to identify that insurer: certificates, policy numbers, insurer names and cover periods. Keep them indefinitely and make sure someone knows where they are. The Employers’ Liability Tracing Office maintains a database of EL policies for exactly this reason, and insurers are expected to contribute their records to it — but your own file is what makes a former employee’s claim traceable quickly. This costs nothing and is the most commonly skipped step on this page.
The final checklist before the last policy lapses
Before the last renewal is allowed to go, walk the programme deliberately:
1. List every live policy — including ones bought years ago and quietly auto-renewing — and classify each as claims-made or occurrence-based. The claims-made ones are the run-off candidates.
2. Arrange run-off for PI, D&O and cyber before cancellation, sized to the tail of the work actually done.
3. Archive the EL record — certificates, insurers, policy numbers, periods — somewhere that survives the company.
4. Keep property and liability cover until the assets are actually gone. Premises being emptied, stock being sold and equipment awaiting collection still burn, flood and injure people; unoccupied premises need their insurer told, not assumed.
5. Cancel in the right order once trading, assets and staff have genuinely ceased, claiming time-on-risk refunds where they apply — and keep the cancellation confirmations with the archive.
How Apex helps at closure
We run this as a short, structured exercise: audit the live programme, price the run-off decisions, archive what must be kept, and sequence the cancellations so nothing lapses while it is still needed. If the company being closed sits alongside others in a group, or the closure follows a sale, we fold it into that wider workstream. It is unglamorous work that pays for itself the day an old claim arrives and there is an insurer to send it to.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone claim against a company that no longer exists?
Yes, in practice. A dissolved company can be restored to the register so a claim can be brought against it — typically to reach the insurance that was in force at the time — and some claims can be pursued against the individuals behind the company. Dissolution ends the trading, not the consequences of it.
Do directors still need cover after the company closes?
Their exposure does not close with the company: decisions made while running and winding down the business can be questioned afterwards, and such claims arrive addressed to individuals. D&O cover is claims-made, so a policy cancelled at closure offers nothing later — D&O run-off keeps former directors protected for a defined period after dissolution.
What do I do with the employers’ liability certificates?
Keep them — along with insurer names, policy numbers and cover periods — indefinitely, somewhere that survives the company. Industrial disease claims can emerge decades after exposure and are answered by the insurer on cover at the time, so the record of who that was is what makes a future claim answerable. The Employers’ Liability Tracing Office database exists for this, but your own archive is the fast route.
Which policies need run-off when a company closes?
The claims-made ones: professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ liability, and most cyber policies. Occurrence-based covers such as public liability respond based on when the incident happened, so they do not need run-off in the same way — but they should stay in force until premises, stock and staff have genuinely gone.
When should the last policy actually be cancelled?
Only once trading, assets and employees have genuinely ceased: premises being cleared still burn and visitors still trip. Sequence the cancellations, tell insurers about unoccupied premises rather than assuming cover continues, claim time-on-risk refunds where they apply, and file the cancellation confirmations with the company’s archive.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.