Whether your business is small, medium or large, insurance is vital to its livelihood. We’ve put together a quick guide to the basic types of insurance you should have in place for your business.
The good news while these fall into the ‘good to know’ knowledge category, if you have a good insurance broker working for you it’s their job to find, compare, and choose which has the best coverage and the lowest cost for your business.
Public liability insurance
Your business will be protected if a third party claims that they have suffered from injuries or property damage due to your business’ negligence or failure to act accordingly.
Product liability insurance
Protects your business against claims that the products you import, manufacture, repair or sell have caused injury or damage to customers. If you’ve heard about any of the issues Samsung have experienced with product recalls a few years ago, you’ll understand why this type of insurance is a must.
Professional indemnity
If you provide services or advice to your clients, professional indemnity insurance will make sure you are not held accountable for errors of judgement or omissions of information during services. This type of insurance is especially necessary for architects, engineers, public health advisors, financial advisors and lawyers.
Keyman insurance
This type of insurance will protect your business if its head honcho contracts a long-term illness/injury which disables their ability to work. This type of insurance can even respond in a worst-case scenario where your ‘key person’ dies unexpectedly. It will ensure that the business continues even if someone critical to its existence cannot.
Property insurance
Whether you are renting or own the property from which your business operates, property insurance is necessary to cover the building itself plus its contents in the case of burglary, fire or storms. Types of property insurance vary due to the nature of destruction, and it is advised to take into consideration the area that you are situated in, its crime rate and weather trends, when searching for the right policy to protect your property. Certain natural disasters such as bushfires and cyclones may not be covered under your property insurance and may require a separate policy. If you are unsure, contact an insurance broker to shed some light on the different types of policies available to you.
Worker’s compensation
Worker’s compensation is compulsory, as it means that your employees are covered for the costs that arise due to injury or death on the job. This type of insurance needs to be added to your business’ policy from the moment you hire your first employee.
Vehicle insurance
All business vehicles must have compulsory third party insurance to make sure that any damage done to another vehicle will be covered in the case of an accident. Comprehensive insurance will cover any damages to the business vehicle as well. If your employees use their personal cars for business reasons, it is best to discuss how to cover against accidents occurring during work hours with an insurance broker.
Business interruption insurance
If your employees are unable to conduct business due to a natural disaster or catastrophic event such as terrorism, your business will be covered against loss of profit. This type of insurance is especially necessary for farmers, who can lose entire fields of crops due to natural disasters.
Cyber insurance
Cyber insurance is necessary for just about every business these days, as an online presence is unavoidable. Cyber insurance will protect your business against hackers and the virtual leaking of sensitive information.
Goods in transit
Will cover any products to or from your business while they are in transit by rail, vehicle or ship within Australia or internationally.
All of these policy packages differ dramatically and it can be difficult to find the right policy for your individual business. This is why it is best to speak to an insurance broker who will assist you in covering your business only for what it needs. Contact Allsafe today so that you can rest assured that your business is safe from risk.
