Insurance is incredibly important, especially for growing businesses. Businesses are vulnerable to external and internal factors that could hurt their bottom line. Insurance helps offset this, as insurance can help address these risks and minimize the damage to your business. Considering its importance, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the different types of insurance that you’ll need. If this is something that you’re interested in learning more about, read on for a beginner’s guide to insurance that your business needs.
Employer’s Liability insurance
It's possible for an employee to suffer an illness or injury related to their duty but not covered under workers' compensation insurance. For example, a worker who is injured in a traffic accident while leaving the office at the end of a workday may claim that the accident was caused by an action that required them to be at work, even though he or she was on the road and not in the office. To be an employer of choice and keep your employees feeling secure, you could offer employers' liability insurance as an additional benefit. It could cover employees who suffer illness or injury that result from job-related accidents when workers' compensation doesn't cover them.
Director’s and Officer’s Insurance
Businesses inevitably grow to a certain point, at which they need to be structured differently. A partnership can become a corporation of any size, where the people who shoulder responsibilities are referred to as officers. These people include executive directors, who handle large or complex matters; non-executive directors, who provide overall oversight; executive officers, who execute plans; and the company secretary, who ensures the company complies with its obligations, along with others.
Now, no one wants to be placed in a position where they could suffer financially because they did their job. By providing directors’ and officers’ insurance, a business owner can protect key staff members or board members from legal action by competitors, employees, regulators or shareholders. It also means they can be reimbursed for any legal costs.
Business Interruption Insurance
As a business grows and becomes more popular, its fixed costs tend to increase, and any interruption to the smooth functioning of the business becomes more expensive. The profits from running a small café may only be a few hundred dollars, but if it suffers from a blackout, that represents lost profits, along with an increase in expenses to keep the staff and food refrigerated.
If something happens that forces you to temporarily close up shop, your revenue will likely plummet during the shutdown period. However, you’ll still have to pay for all of your usual business expenses, such as wages, rent, and whatever else. Business interruption insurance covers those costs as well as lost revenue.
Cyber Insurance
Ransomware attacks, in which cybercriminals encrypt files or entire computer systems, are frozen until their ransom is paid, and data theft can be devastating. These attacks and thefts cost businesses, especially smaller ones with limited information technology (IT) budgets, plenty.
A ransomware attack results in a business’s files being encrypted, which makes it hard for the business to access its files. Businesses are particularly vulnerable to this type of attack because many businesses contain important data that could make it hard for them to operate if the data were inaccessible. It’s estimated that, globally, ransomware caused US$5 ($A6.5 billion) in damage in 2017.
Conclusion
We hope this article proves to be useful when it comes to helping you understand all the insurance cover that businesses need. When it comes to protecting your business and your interests, you’ll never want to leave things to chance. By utilizing insurance, you can mitigate losses and minimize risk.
New Wave Insurance works with several insurance providers to bring you the best possible solutions. We are one of Gold Coast’s premier insurance brokers helping businesses find the right insurance vehicle for them. If you're interested in taking out a business insurance policy, our team is ready to assist you. Contact us today to book a free 15-minute consultation!