Category: Small Business Insurance
Can you operate without an income?
Can you afford to lose
Your income?
Your clients?
Your staff?
Your business?
Business interruption insurance can help you get back on your feet in the event of an insured event by allowing you to:
- continue operating out of an alternative premises
- pay your employees
- receive an income until your profit level is up to the amount prior to the loss or the indemnity period expires
- pay accountants and investigation fees
- receive your rental income
- pay necessary costs to get your business up and running again to achieve your current income
An event doesn’t have to occur on your premises to affect your business. For example:
- A supplier that can no longer fulfil their contract with you
- A major business in the complex you operate may have a fire and therefore your sales decline due to foot traffic
- The business next door may have storm damage that means no-one can access your premises
- A public utility may not be able to supply adequately to your premises – ie gas, water, communication
- Damage to roads, bridges and railway
- Damage to your trucks or vehicles
- Stock or materials kept at an off site location
Did you know?
Every year 1 in 500 businesses will experience a severe disaster
43% of businesses that experience a disaster never re-open and 29% close within 2 years
Make sure you’re covered!
Small Business Insurance – why the cheapest is not always the best
Are you operating in hospitality, providing accommodation, running a transport business, or operating a cafe?
It can be tempting as a time-poor business owner to choose the cheapest cover you find online. All business owners regardless of their size should be aware of the ins and outs of what’s included in one size fits all policies.
Coverage over price
When purchasing your small business insurance, you need to make sure that you are getting adequate coverage through your insurance policy. Remember you are buying your small business insurance to make sure you are covered if an event was to occur.
Whilst it can be tempting to buy on price, and you certainly need to be comfortable with the price, you need to consider what has been included with your policy and what may have been excluded to enable the lower price.
My mantra I tell all my clients is “coverage over price”
Buying online can lead to under-insurance
Working out the true value of coverage you require for your small business can be tricky. Often it is more than just the property, equipment and stock and can be staff, your business type or category, terminology or other fine-print you don’t think about.
Thinking you are covered and being covered are two different things:
Business Owner Case Study
One client came to me and upon reviewing his business insurance, I was shocked. He ran a business that turned over around $20m per annum. He thought he had good insurance and that all parts of his business were adequately covered. I reviewed his business insurance policy over the weekend and found it was severely lacking. For example, there was machinery in his workshop that would have cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace and were simply not covered by their existing insurance policy. What was most alarming was this business employed more than 30 staff and if the business had been impacted by an insurance event and had not been able to recover, then those staff would have been left in the lurch as well. We highlighted all these shortcomings to the owner and worked with them to ensure that they were adequately covered going forward.
Three Helpful questions to ask:
1: Are you covered adequately? When did you last review your insurance?
2: Do you know what is included and excluded with your business insurance?
3: When did you last use a broker to better understand what is covered and what is lacking with your current insurance policies. They are the experts.
Remember – coverage over price.
LinkedIn: a trusted source for small businesses
Why LinkedIn isn’t just a professional network to post jobs
More than just an HR landing page, LinkedIn is a way for your small-to-medium business (SMB) to drive business results, increase brand awareness and educate potential customers about your products and services; all on a platform SMBs trust more than any other social media.
It’s a big number: 500 million professionals on LinkedIn globally.
More importantly, recent insights published by LinkedIn show it’s the most-used social platform for Australian SMBs when they’re looking to grow, find business partners and drive leads. In fact, LinkedIn says it’s the number one social network for lead generation. That’s on top of its capacity for connecting with and recruiting new talent.
Where LinkedIn really comes into its own is as a targeted, accessible, high-touch marketing tool.
Filter by job function, seniority, company name, geography, industry and more. Or by interest – through a member’s LinkedIn groups, fields of study or skills they self identify. Or you can reach people by segment, whether that’s “opinion leaders” or “business travelers”. For that reason, LinkedIn is also an obvious platform for launching account-based marketing campaigns.
Your business can use LinkedIn in a number of ways. After setting up a Company page, you can create LinkedIn Groups, publish articles or updates, do business development, promote your brand, products or blog, and grow traffic to your website.
LinkedIn is more trusted than other social networks
It’s not just the data, the networking and the free real estate that make LinkedIn attractive.
Findings from the Business Insider Intelligence Digital Trust report 2018 reveal that LinkedIn is the most trusted platform (for the second year in a row), based on how users’ information is protected and how safe the environment feels for users to create and engage with content.
LinkedIn users were seen to be well behaved, more selective and mindful about engagement, with content on LinkedIn viewed as being of a higher quality compared to other platforms.
A lot of that comes from the simple fact that people go on LinkedIn for business purposes, unlike many users of say, Facebook.
It works the other way too
1.5 million Australian LinkedIn members are employed by SMBs and 520,000 of those are classed as “decision makers”. So LinkedIn is a good way to market to the decision makers in your SMB.
LinkedIn insights show that 46% of those SMBs surveyed believed professional social networks such as LinkedIn influenced their awareness and selection of products/services for their company, second only to word of mouth at 68%.
When it comes to providing content through LinkedIn, Entrepreneurship, leadership, productivity and technology are the four content areas that SMBs are engaging with most frequently.
Social media just gets stronger
There’s no sign that our love of social media is in decline.
Hootsuite and We Are Social’s 2018 Global Digital Report showed there are 17 million active social media users in Australia, up 6% since January 2017.
Across the spectrum of social sites, LinkedIn’s insights report that 78% of people created and shared content through social media to enhance company reputation, and 70% did it to generate leads. 58% used social media to distribute product or service information.
Social media is now a must-have communication tool for a majority of businesses. For small business targeting other businesses, LinkedIn is a no-brainer – if you’re prepared to build connections and work those connections like a pro.
For more insights to help grow and protect your business, visit our blog.
The changing face of SME: Is your insurance up to date?
I was working with a small business recently who were looking to add a new insurance plan to cover a new expansion to their business. However, when asked it became clear their cover all insurance plan that they had bought online 3 years earlier, was outdated and left a key part of their business uninsured.
They were insured, but they were underinsured. If you have significantly under-insured your business, your insurer may have the right to pay only part of any loss because you’ve insured for only part of what it’s worth.
Insurance isn’t something that you can set and forget if your business changes. Whether it’s to add more staff, change your business location, or add a new service to your business it needs to be updated. However, not only do businesses change, but government legislation and policy are also regularly updated, as are the insurance plans on offer.
In the past few years the percentage of businesses that bought their insurance online has risen from 20% to 27%. While it may be convenient and cheap for the busy company owner, it may not be the best option in the long run.
Buying online only offers you a handful of policies which may not cover you completely, like a raincoat with holes in it. You are mostly covered, but there are still holes where the water can come in and leave you unprotected. These holes can come from not fully understanding what you need to protect your business, or missing little details that may seem unimportant but are actually vital.
Taking out insurance can be confusing at the best of times and can often cause you to over insure, under insure or ignore your insurance altogether. However, utilising a professional insurance broker to help you evaluate and choose your coverage plan can help you keep track of the changes in your business and insurance needs. As a broker, we can help navigate the changing landscape by:
1 – Keeping in touch with industries. Like everything else the SME industry is always changing, new policies come out regularly as does new legislation and regulations. Keeping our finger on the pulse keeps us in the know and allows us to provide the most up to date policy options for your company.
2 – Changes to the claiming process. It’s something we hope we never have to do, but making a claim from your insurance is inevitable in some cases. It’s not always as simple as just contacting your insurer though, as some companies have quite a few hoops that they make you jump through before they approve your claim. Even for those who have had to make a claim before, companies can change their claiming process at any time, making the process difficult. Buying insurance through a broker means that you get the most up-to-date information on the claiming process for each company, saving you time and money in the claims process.
3 – Business changes. Businesses are constantly changing, services and locations change, staff members come and go causing the business to grow and shrink with them. Your insurance cover, however, stays static and may leave your business unprotected if it’s not updated to reflect your business. A broker can help you find the best policy for your new circumstances making it easy to keep your policy up to date and your business protected.
As a business grows and changes so do their insurance needs, what met those needs last year, or even 6 months ago, may just not fit anymore. Be sure to keep an eye on your insurance and update it yearly to make sure you are completely covered. Utilise a broker when looking for a new policy because they ask the right questions to make sure that your insurance is the best possible fit for you.
Brett Thiedeman is the Director at Thiedeman Insurance Solution. He can provide advice on what insurance will provide you with the best cover for your business and your budget. Contact Brett Thiedeman today.
The business of blogging
The journey from passion to profitable online business
New technology means it’s never been easier to turn a passion into a fully-fledged online business, as Kelly Baker, Founder of The Beauty Insider can attest. We spoke to Kelly about taking the plunge and the steps she’s taken to protect herself along the way.
A few minutes scrolling through your Instagram feed or a quick search for ‘wellness’ online and you’ll find hundreds of blogger accounts offering tips and advice.
The truth is, it has never been easier to take a passion like fitness, wellbeing or beauty and turn it into a real, money-making business with millions of dedicated fans and followers. Free social media platforms and DIY websites mean it is achievable for anyone to establish an online presence – but just because your business is based in the cloud, doesn’t mean you can forget about having the right insurance in place.
Being an entrepreneur always comes with inherent risks, especially if your small business is your primary source of income. You need to be smart and make sure you’re protected. We spoke to Kelly Baker, Beauty Director and Founder of The Beauty Insider, to get some top tips for bloggers looking to keep themselves covered:
Protect your health (and your income). If you’re working for yourself, you don’t have the luxury of paid sick leave. A couple of weeks out of action could see you struggling for cash, so considering health insurance and income protection or total disability insurance will make sure you’re covered should anything go wrong. Kelly says, “I also have life insurance as I’ve got two little ones. Knowing they would be OK if anything happened to me is a load off my mind.”
Think about your liability. Operating on a public forum can win you fans and earn you critics. General liability insurance will make sure you’re protected against things like libel and copyright infringement.
“It might sound extreme,” says Kelly, “but there is always a risk that a client might take offence at something you produce and decide to take legal action. In that case, professional liability insurance will cover you.”
Whose data do you have? If your site stores user data like email addresses or fitness data, you need to make sure you treat it with care and have proper protection in place. Check that your insurance package will protect you if your site security is breached.
Consider what tools you need to keep your business going. If you’re running an online business, your phone, laptop or tablet are probably crucial to keeping your business up and running. Make sure your assets are protected in case of loss or theft so you can maintain a seamless online presence and keep your clients happy.
“I firmly believe my business will only go from strength to strength – but I’m smart enough to know that things can and do happen, and I want to be prepared,” says Kelly. “If I’m ever fretting over what I would do if things didn’t work out as planned, I remind myself of the insurance policies I’ve taken out and it sets my mind at ease.”
Finding the right insurance for a growing business can be confusing. Find the right insurance broker to help.
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt
Make your Christmas party one you remember for the right reasons
Bubble soccer, a cook-off or karaoke night – there are plenty of ways you can reward your team and help bring them closer. But it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, either physically or emotionally.
You can never predict what’s going to happen over the course of a workplace social or team-building event, and if you aren’t prepared with the right cover, a bit of harmless fun can have sizeable repercussions.
So, without being total spoil-sports, let’s use one business’ mistake to explore the risks and repercussions that small business owners need to consider, and how they can be avoided.
Case study: Sexual harassment, bullying, unfair dismissal
It started out like millions of other office Christmas parties. The employer, a roadworks company, put on an open bar to thank staff for their contributions throughout the year.
But it’s fair to say things went off-road pretty quickly.
At the party, an employee told his bosses to f— off. After the party ended he allegedly sexually harassed several colleagues. When the employee returned to work in January he was sacked for sexual harassment.
It doesn’t end there. The employee took the matter to the Fair Work Commission, which ultimately found he had been unfairly sacked, in part because his employer had supplied him with free flow of alcohol.
Commission vice-president Adam Hatcher reportedly said: “In my view, it is contradictory and self-defeating for an employer to require compliance with its usual standards of behaviour at a function but at the same time allow the unlimited service of free alcohol at the function.”
Avoiding risks
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Set the ground rules
Before any social event it’s a good idea to send your staff a memo reminding them of your Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) policy, their obligations under that policy, and encourage them to be safe and responsible at the function, the Australian Industry Group recommends.
This can serve two purposes – it can reduce the risk of mishaps during the event, and if something does go awry it can serve as evidence that you took preventative action.
It’s also important to note that if you direct, request or even support your employees to take part in an activity, the courts can consider that any resultant injury is work-related and therefore subject to workers’ compensation.
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Set physical and temporal boundaries
Clearly define the venue and the time within which the work-related event will take place. Any conduct which occurs outside those boundaries is likely not to be your responsibility or liability.
In the case study outlined above, the employee’s alleged sexual assault was committed after the party’s advertised end-time and at another venue.
As such, Mr Hatcher’s ruling on the matter stated: “Employees were informed in advance that, in substance, the organisation’s standards of conduct would apply at the function, but there was no suggestion of any expectation that those standards would apply to behaviour outside the temporal and physical boundaries of the function.”
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Identify and manage hazards
Manage the OHS risks associated with a work-related social function in the same way you manage any other OHS risks.
That means your pre-event planning should include identifying any safety hazards, assessing the risks and eliminating or controlling them.
Further steps you can take
Clearly, a bit of harmless office fun can have sizeable repercussions. But that doesn’t mean you – or your staff – have to do without.
In addition to taking the above steps, consider protecting your business from any unfortunate mishaps with appropriate insurances, such as workers’ compensation, public liability or events insurance.
For advice on protection and risk management, find a great broker here.
When Ship Happens
Ensure business is smooth sailing in even the roughest seas
As a small e-commerce business, if your goods were lost at sea or damaged en-route while being shipped, could you afford to replace them? We explore the risks, benefits and protections required when outsourcing shipping.
With the next generation of digital natives rising up as a shopping force, the demand for an instant online shopping experience is bigger than ever.
By the end of 2017 online shopping in Australia accounted for 8 percent of total traditional retail sales with a growth of 19.2% from the previous year. Australia Post’s Inside Australian Online Shopping report predicts that by 2020, one in 10 items will be bought online. 48% of consumers say they shop on a mobile device at least once a week according to the Telstra Small Business Intelligence Report.
With customers expecting speed and convenience from providers, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) have to consider how best to ship orders, and how to protect goods at all stages of fulfilment.
Your options as an SME
Handling your order fulfilment in-house is the cheapest option but it takes time you might not have to spare.
Alternatively, you could dropship, which means you have products advertised on your website that you don’t actually have in stock. When customers order these products, the orders go straight to a third-party supplier who ships them directly to the customers.
The risk here is that you’ll be accountable for safe delivery in whatever timeframe you stipulate, relying on the third-party to honour your promise. You also have to trust that orders are insured if goods are damaged or destroyed; or make sure you have your own insurance in place.
The third option: 100% outsourcing
You may choose to work with a logistics company that handles all of your warehousing and fulfilment. There are many in the market who can pick, pack and ship your orders, and you’ll get the benefit of leveraging their buying power on packaging and shipping costs.
It’s rare that they’ll cover you for major losses though. They might actually specify you need to organise a certain level of commercial insurance at your end.
Mitigating risk
In June 2018, 81 shipping containers fell off a cargo ship travelling along the coast of New South Wales, spilling debris for kilometres. It’s perhaps a dramatic example, but if there was an accident en-route and your goods were damaged beyond repair, could you afford to replace them?
When you’re working with suppliers, warehouses, or distributors you need to read and understand your contracts to figure out where you’re covered by their insurance, and where you aren’t.
If you’re shipping inventory in large batches you may need to look at additional “transit” or “inland marine” insurance to cover goods transported over land, or “ocean marine” insurance for sea and air transportation. Or a combination thereof.
It can be a good idea to get an expert to look at your business from the get-go to identify your exposures, and tailor-make a policy for you. There are brokers who specialise in commercial insurance; find one who’s worked with companies in a similar line of business.
Then if you do engage a third party for fulfilment and shipping, your broker can point out gaps in your existing coverage and recommend how to manage the risk.
For a relatively small outlay, you can pass that considerable risk onto an insurer and eliminate at least one worry as an SME owner.
Find a broker to suit your needs here.
What is small business insurance?
Risk. That four-letter word that strikes fear in the hearts of businesses — or, on the flip-side, a sense of steely resolve and frank excitement for companies who are well-equipped to respond to any situation. For businesses smart enough to think ahead and exercise their foresight with proper coverage, a risk isn’t scary. It’s controlled.
That’s precisely what small business insurance, when done right, can do. The right insurance will:
- Manage risk
- Protect a business
- Support a business during times of critical expansion and growth
What is a small business?
The term ‘small business’ covers a whole host of business formats and types of operations in a range of diverse industries. Just think about it: a family business, a drop-shipping business and lean marketing agencies are all considered small businesses. In other words, ‘small business’ is not a one-size-fits-all.
‘There is no ‘typical’ small business. It is a very diverse sector, covering many different types of business activity. The vast majority (over nine in ten) of Australian businesses are small businesses. They account for 33% of Australia’s GDP, employ over 40% of Australia’s workforce, and pay around 12% of total company tax revenue’ — Kate Carnell, AO Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
So, it’s fitting that insurance policies vary to suit and serve their businesses needs.
In Australia alone, small businesses are the most popular format and they’re on the rise. Small businesses can be defined as those employing anywhere from one to 19 people.
Source: The Australian Treasury – Australian Small Business Key Statistics and Analysis
And, with the rise of the Internet in the decade since then, numbers are up: active businesses have risen from June 2016 to June 2017 by 3.1%.
Clearly, small businesses are a vibrant and necessary part of any economy’s growth. And they’re more than surviving.
What can small business insurance cover?
To get from surviving to thriving, small businesses need to think through a plan of action. And this includes planning for the unexpected.
Small business insurance is exactly what it sounds like: An insurance policy that is tailored specifically to cover small businesses in various niches and industries to protect their assets, their employees, both internally and externally, as well as against legal liabilities.
While products do vary, there are two compulsory forms of business insurance:
Workers’ compensation: Varying by state and territory, workers’ compensation protects employees in the event of an accident or sickness.
Compulsory third party: Again, each of the states and territories has their own CTP but, generally speaking, this is car insurance which covers individuals operating a vehicle for claims made against the individuals, in the event that personal injuries occur from the use of a car.
Furthermore, home-based businesses have their own set of needs, besides the two listed above, including:
- Public liability
- Equipment insurance
- Fire, storm and theft
- Business interruption insurance
- Insurance policies taken out for loss of income due to accident or illness
What does a small business insurance leave out?
There are many aspects of small business insurance that are ‘optional’, in the sense that they only apply to particular business or types of situations that are likely to occur.
These policies are quite common and focus on protecting the assets, revenue, liabilities and employees. A few examples include:
- Property insurance
- Product liability insurance
- Tax audit insurance
- Insurance for deterioration of stock
- Machinery & equipment breakdown insurance
- Goods in transit/property in transit insurance
- Computer and electronic equipment insurance
Why can insurance brokers help you find the right small business insurance policy for you?
Finding a quote for insurance that matches your business is one thing.
Finding a quote for a policy that covers everything that is essential while still honing in on a premium that doesn’t blow the bill, so to speak — well, that’s a different animal altogether.
Finding insurance can be a quite a confusing, tedious and time-consuming task.
Insurance Brokers form an invaluable link from small businesses to the insurance company, bringing both sides into a mutually beneficial package. They can use their expertise and knowledge about a client’s business to find matching policies and bundles that would serve the business best.
It’s the job of a broker to actually choose providers and companies that specialise in or have knowledge about the industry the business operates in.
An insurance broker’s connections and past experience with insurance providers will often also net businesses access to a ‘deal’ or insurance policy that may not have otherwise been available to them.
Industries that need small business insurance
Small business insurance policies can cover all sorts of formats — some of them even quite surprising.
For example, while farms, restaurants and accounting firms are all relatively standard and common small businesses that call for insurance, have you ever thought about backpacker hostels, food trucks, nightclub venues and 24-hour convenience stores?
These are less-frequently considered small business formats that call for insurance and their own specialised policy needs.
Connect with Small Business Insurance Brokers that you can trust. Connect today on Advisr.
How Business Insurance Brokers can protect your small business
There’s a reason why:
- Insurance brokers handle around 90% of the commercial insurance transacted in Australia
- Play a major role in risk assessment, risk financing and insurance distribution, handling over $16 billion
- Account for around half of Australia’s total general insurance business
According to National Insurance Brokers Association of Australia (NIBA), the traditional role of brokers is to, essentially, act as a representative on behalf of the client. This goes above and beyond the more commonly-held idea of a broker as someone who streamlines the search process.
In fact, insurance brokers create relationships of trust with their clients — relationships that call on a broker to provide expert assistance, ‘assisting customers to assess and manage their risks, providing advice on what insurance is appropriate for the customer’s personal or business needs’.
This necessary core of trust is why insurance brokers are required, in Australia, to have an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence to operate.
How small businesses can find and select a broker
Finding an insurance broker can help eliminate the overwhelm and helps get you laser-focused on your specific needs in finding the right policy cover for your business.
The process all starts with you.
Before you can approach a broker, you’ll want to understand what your business needs. There are two types of insurance that are absolutely compulsory in Australia: These are workers’ compensation and CTP (compulsory third party).
Besides these, take a moment to take stock of where you may be vulnerable. This is your due diligence on risk management in relation to your business.
When evaluating each insurance broker, keep the NIBA’s guidelines for what constitutes the traditional broker role in mind:
- Is the insurance broker able to provide advice on what insurance is appropriate for my business needs?
- Does the insurance broker demonstrate detailed technical expertise including knowledge of prices, terms and conditions, benefits and pitfalls of the wide range of insurance policies on the market? Can they and are they willing to explain this to me in an accessible and understandable way?
- Can the insurance broker provide assistance in interpreting, arranging and completing insurance documentation?
- Do they have demonstrable experience in predicting, managing and reducing risks as well as a history of assisting in the resolution of claims?
How brokers work with small businesses
Many businesses choose an insurance broker because they can usually offer products and policies that match your specific requirements and have understanding across the vast range of insurance products taht are available.
Businesses are essentially benefitting from the expertise as well as the relationship the insurance broker has with the insurer. Buying insurance through a broker often allows businesses to tailor their specific needs under one policy, avoiding paying for covers that don’t apply to the business.
Calculating Insurance Premiums
It’s part of a broker’s job and role to calculate premiums, break down coverage and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each policy.
Despite the fact that brokers can avail their business clients of competitive premiums, some of the factors that determine cost are beyond them:
- Nature of the business, as well as internal size and structure and what kinds of products or services, will be sold
- Business income
- Claims history
- Nominated sum insured
- Interaction of the business with third parties
- Risk factors involved in running operations
Discounts and savings
Here’s where businesses can benefit the most from having an insurance broker on their side. Besides highly-qualified, expert advice on the critical nature of risk within the business, brokers provide significant multi-policy discounts.
Insurance Brokers can also communicate with businesses to inform them of what they can do in order to benefit from discounts. For example, a business could benefit from a discount right off the bat if certain safety and security measures are in place.
Advising on risk management
This is where insurance brokers go above and beyond for their clients, bringing a technical level of expertise.
It’s not only about finding the right policy but about making you, the business owner, aware of the fact that there is always risk present in a business. It’s a broker’s job to know the nature of the market, as well as to understand the ins and outs of your business, before ever giving advice on which policy will mitigate as much of this risk as possible.
In this case, it can be a good idea to find an insurance broker who specialises in your specific kind of business or industry.
Find the ‘perfect match’
There are many different kinds of insurance policies. There are also many different levels of insurance coverage provided, most varying from one insurer to the next.
It’s part of a broker’s commitment to a client to provide comprehensive and customised assessments that evaluate policies and to give you suggestions on what is best for your business, based on both your current level and future plans for expansion and growth.
This kind of risk management and assessment allows businesses to feel confident that brokers are designing and helping them choose the policies that are right for their situation, preventing risk, minimising loss, and negotiating terms and covers with insurance companies.
How an insurance broker can be vital at claims time
Business doesn’t end at the end of a business day. Similarly, a relationship built with an insurance broker doesn’t end because you’ve signed the proverbial dotted line.
In fact, a true test of the efficacy of a broker comes at claims time.
Insurance brokers in Australia act as the liaison between the business and the insurer. In such a pivotal role, the broker assists the business to fill out paperwork, file claims, follow up with the insurer and handle the provisions of your claim.
For example, if part of the business’s policy is to be eligible for a rental car coverage in case of an accident, brokers can expedite and handle this, alongside the insurance provider.
Think of your broker as someone who speaks multiple languages: They speak your language, understanding the needs of your business. At the same time, they speak the language of insurance as well as that of the insurance companies.
During stressful moments of filing claims, it’s an insurance broker’s intricate knowledge of the fine print on your insurance policy that can make all the difference.
Comprehensive Business Insurance
Comprehensive Business Insurance
When unexpected events occur in a business, having the right insurance cover can help protect a business’s assets, contents and stock.
While every business is unique and differs in its needs, small- and medium-sized businesses usually require a standard set of policies.
That’s where comprehensive business insurance comes in.
What is comprehensive business insurance?
Comprehensive business insurance is designed to protect SMEs from undue risk, reducing their inherent vulnerability with a set of policies that focus on where risk is most likely to occur.
This kind of ‘package’ cover provides a robust foundation for addressing legal and financial risks. By packaging all the essential types of insurance together that your business needs, you’ll likely pay a lower premium than if you were to purchase standalone insurance policies.
What can comprehensive business insurance cover?
Comprehensive business insurance provides SMEs protection that covers risks like property damage or loss, interruption to business income, machinery, electronic breakdown, third party injury/property damage from business-specific products or operations, or loss that may result from government investigation.
These usually come under a ‘commercial package’ insurance, intended specifically for businesses.
In terms of commercial car insurance, ‘comprehensive’ cover usually entails cover for damage done to one’s own vehicle and other people’s property, theft, a few other risks, plus any associated legal fees. As the name suggests, cover is comprehensive and usually can cover the full areas where business risk can occur.
What does comprehensive business insurance leave out?
‘Comprehensive’ business insurance can be thought of as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, in that it aims to provide cover for the most standard and commonly-experienced risks and situations that many businesses face.
Obviously, then, comprehensive can leave out cover for situations that are just as ‘commonly’ faced but not common to all businesses. Examples include:
- Product liability
- Money
- Glass
- Goods/property in transit
- Loss to computer data
Consider this: What may be ‘comprehensive’ for an office-based business may not be so for a construction-based business.
An insurance firm that specialises in serving only one kind of client — either the office-based client or the construction firm client — should be approached by that type of client if the business really intends to take full advantage of a comprehensive cover that suits their needs.
As you’ll see below, brokers are the best way to wade through and make sense of these differences.
Why can brokers help you find the right comprehensive business insurance policy for you?
It’s quite clear that brokers save businesses and individuals both time and money on their policies. First off, brokers are ‘in the know’ and maintain a relationship with various companies, giving them access to specific deals that they can avail their clients of.
Secondly, brokers help to save their clients the time it would take to do research on specific policy covers and compare quotes.
However, when it comes to comprehensive business insurance, there is yet another way a broker goes above and beyond.
Some insurance providers have specific policies that cover and differentiate between an office-based business, a ‘tradies’ package or commercial strata. The latter would include options that focus on accidental loss or building damage, damage to common area contents, third party injury, office bearer’s liability, personal accident cover and machinery breakdown.
Essentially, what constitutes ‘comprehensive’ business insurance does vary from provider to provider. What’s more, every insurance provider structures their packages and offerings slightly differently, as seen above. They have various specialities — for example, some insurance providers might serve all SMEs but have an unspoken niche providing ‘comprehensive’ coverage for IT firms. This would vary greatly from a provider who mainly serves agricultural or even construction firms.
The expertise and experience in these subtle nuances are why it’s best to rely on a broker. It’s not only about sniffing out the best deal but finding a policy or cover package that actually suits the business’s needs.
Industries that need comprehensive business insurance.
There are many industries that can benefit from a comprehensive business insurance package. If your business falls under one of these industries, consider bundling up your costs and bringing in some savings using a comprehensive cover:
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Wholesale/retail
- Cafés/restaurants
- Accommodation/hospitality
- Property & property management
- Health and community
- Recreation