Insurance? It Just Makes Good Sense
7 April 09Some people say insurance is for pessimists. But you won't hear much optimism from small to medium enterprise (SME) owners caught short on insurance cover.
Some property owners in fire-ravaged Victoria this year have learned the hard way that underinsurance can have devastating consequences. The same thing happened to Canberrans in 2003.
Policyholders whose coverage has not kept up with the times all too often find themselves out on a financial limb.
If something went terribly wrong at your business, would you have adequate insurance cover to continue trading with minimum disruption, or indeed continue trading?
Last year the Insurance Council of Australia surveyed SME owners about their level of coverage. There were some sobering findings.
These included:
- 26% of SMEs are non-insured. They do not have any form of general insurance at all. 7% don't even know if they're insured.
- Sole traders have the highest rate of non-insurance, with 40% operating their business with no general insurance.
- Of the SMEs that purchase general insurance, 94% indicated they considered that they were adequately insured. This means that more than a third of all SMEs do not have adequate insurance.
What can go wrong at your business? What risks should you have adequate cover against?
You can save yourself much heartache with a strategic insurance program, based on advice from a good insurance broker. That's us!
Here are some forms of insurance commonly used by SMEs. Consider the list a starting point, because businesses have their own particular risks relating to the nature of their industry and other factors:
Business interruption; burglary; employment practices liability; engineering equipment; fire and perils; goods in transit; keyman insurance; loss of money; motor insurance; personal accident, illness or disability; products liability; professional indemnity; public liability; and workers' compensation.
More specific cover is available against glass or sign breakage; perishable food or other stock deterioration; computers and computer records; business machines and equipment; legal expenses/tax audit; fidelity guarantee; product recall; credit/bad debts.
Again, this list is by no means exhaustive.
Some organisations, especially larger businesses or companies carrying on specific types of high-risk work, often require their own specially designed insurance and risk management programs.
We can provide these services too, designing the policies, negotiating them with insurance companies and then placing the cover with one or more firms.
Give us a call. We will match your risk exposure to a suitable policy or policies.
T 1300 886 842 F 1300 933 678 M PO Box 1399 Mooloolaba QLD 4557 W http://www.allinsure.com.au/
1 National Insurance Brokers Association article, IAA – Insurance Today, Autumn 2009