Pharmacy businesses have a number of unique business risks and insurance cover requires close attention to ensure that your property, stock and general liability risks are covered.
Pharmacies often carry high-value medicines and a variety of stock, and specialist equipment.
In addition to general property and stock covers, pharmacies must also take out specialist liability cover, business interruption and now cyber insurance.
If you have a pharmacy and are considering reviewing your current insurance schedule, here are a few things you should update;
Including new equipment and fit-out purchases on your policy
Changing the fit-out of the store, refrigerators, Safes, I.T upgrades, dispensing robots, packing systems and robots for dose administration aids, expansion of compounding capabilities to name a few. A lot of equipment required for this can be costly so it is important that your insurance policy reflects upgrades you have made throughout the year.
Considering stock levels and cost
Maybe you started ordering a month in advance so have more stock on hand daily or Wholesalers are offering bulk buying discounts, so another reason for holding more stock.
Ongoing out of stocks lead to more and more pharmacies holding more stock so they are not adversely affected if items to go out of stock.
You might also stock Section 100 medications that cost upwards of $10,000. (can be as high as $20,000/item/month.
Any of these may mean you need to consider increasing your stock sum insured.
Cover for the deterioration of stock
If your refrigeration units lost power due to a surge, power outage or breakdown you need to ensure you have enough cover for stock that has deteriorated and can no longer be sold. With the addition of new monoclonal antibody derived medications and the increasing demand for insulins and other injectable hyperglycemic medications that require refrigeration underinsurance could leave you significantly out of pocket.
Protecting your Electronic scripts or other digital/online platforms
With an increase in E-Records, Electronic scripts and growing technological advances in the industry, have you covered your business for cyber attacks? Your I.T Providers don’t work 24/7 and if a government can be hacked so can small businesses and small businesses have more to lose. Any information you hold is subject to privacy laws and if this information is stolen you could be held for ransom and also have some reputation damage. A cyber policy pays ransoms and helps get your data back by using highly specialised forensic specialists.
Changes to profits, staff wages and expenses
It is important to update your profits, expenses and wages if they have changed through the year. If you have a fire or loss that forces you to close temporarily, business interruption is important to be able to keep key staff paid, pay overheads and help get you back trading as soon as possible.
Getting professional help
Do you need an insurance review and would you like our specialist account manager to assist?
If you haven’t reviewed your insurance recently, please feel free to send your current policy through to Sara Stotyn for an obligation free review and assessment. Sara specialses in pharmacy insurance and can beat your current policy by a minimum of 10% using our trusted provider Medisure.
Get in touch today.
The information in this article is to be regarded as general advice. Your personal objectives, needs and financial circumstances were not taken into account when preparing this website content. We recommend that you consider the suitability of this general advice, in respect of your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting on it. You should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement and Financial Services Guide from Allsafe Insurance Brokers before making any decision to purchase a financial product.
