As a business, it is absolutely essential that you have the right cover in place to protect your business. The specific type of insurance that you will need will differ depending on the industry you are operating in and the nature of your business, so working with a broker will help you to get the right cover. However, we will be covering the four main types that businesses will usually invest in. It is easy to get complacent when things are going well for your business, whether it’s a side hustle or a 20-year-old business, but that is the perfect time to invest in cover as protection for when things don’t go to plan.
Commercial Property Insurance
The first type of insurance businesses often invest in is commercial property insurance, which covers the cost of repairs for your business premises. Every policy will be different, but this generally covers things like fire, theft, natural disaster, leaks etc. If you have any kind of commercial property, such as offices or stores, then this is essential. Even if you think you could afford to make repairs, that might not be the case in the future, so protecting the business now is the best way to go about this!
Trade Credit Insurance
If you are a business who trades on a credit basis, then you need trade credit insurance! With this, if you provide a product or service to another business and they don’t pay their debts, it would be covered, so you wouldn’t be out of pocket. There are so many different types of credit insurance, such as whole turnover insurance, you can insure a specific account if it is particularly big or high risk, or you could insure international trade specifically.
As this is a complex area of insurance that requires a policy to be very specific to the needs of your business, it is best to work with credit insurance brokers who will be able to find you the right cover at the best price. Also, trying to chase credit insurance claims can be a long and tiring process, so when you work with a broker, they will do the work for you!
General Liability Insurance
Another type of insurance that many businesses’ need is general liability insurance, which protects your business against general risks. For example, if someone is injured on your business property or your products cause damage in any way, this type of insurance would cover the costs of medical bills and solicitors fees. Accidents happen very regularly unfortunately, and even if you think your business is low risk in this way, you should still look into general liability insurance as you would be surprised at what can happen! It is also important to have liability insurance if you are ever going through a move, as accidents often happen and you want to make sure you’re protected.
This area of insurance can be broken down into public liability, product liability and employers liability, so again, it would be worth working with a broker to make sure you have the right cover for your business specifically should anything go wrong.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Last but not least, we have professional indemnity insurance, which covers the cost of compensating clients for loss or damage as a result of negligence or poor advice from you or your business. This will cover legal costs and expense and also any damages or costs that may be awarded to the person claiming. However, any losses incurred by reputational damage are not covered on the most part.
Overall, you may not predict that any of these things could be an issue for your business, but a small investment could potentially save your business in the future! Now is the perfect time to make a positive change for your business and future proof.