Professional Indemnity is insurance for a business that is going to be providing some advisory or consultation service, where its employee will be giving professional advice on the company’s behalf. Professional Indemnity will protect your business from any liability arising from third party losses sustained due to the negligence of you or your employees.

Credit Insurance will protect your business in the occurrence that customers fail to pay their invoices, however the risk involved for the insurer means that credit insurance can be difficult to obtain unless your business has been up and running for some time. Legal expense insurance will help cover your business for legal cost incurred in the event of a legal dispute.

Public liability provides legal cover and protection against any third party claims for loss or damages that have occurred during the course of your business; this is often a wise choice of insurance for businesses that involve the public, for instance retailers or leisure facilities. Product liability is necessary for any business manufacturing products; it protects the business against claims that the products you manufacture are faulty and have caused loss to the owner.

Premises Insurance is necessary to provide cover against fire or any other perils; however ensure that you thoroughly check your policy details and are aware of what exactly your premises is covered for. Office insurance will provide cover for office equipment such as computers; faxes etc depending on your office requirements, and similarly factory Insurance will provide cover for machinery and equipment, as well as fire and theft etc within your businesses factory. If you work from home, home office insurance will provide cover for the necessary office equipment; often home office insurance is not included in house insurance so do not make any assumptions.

Employer’s liability is necessary if you have, or intend to have, employee, and will protect you against any claims for bodily harm or death to employees that have occurred during the course of employment. Fidelity insurance will protect you against any losses suffered from employees acting fraudulently or dishonestly. Should a key employee suddenly be unable to work through death or disability key person insurance will cover their direct replacement which may require specialist training; when taking our key person insurance ensure you obtain detailed advice on what it involves and what will be covered as it requires detailed knowledge.

Business travel insurance, as with ordinary travel insurance, will provide cover for the loss or damage of business equipment during travel. Check the policy as business travel insurance can also include the costs of emergency couriers for the delivery of replacement items; and some will cover for the unexpected occurrence of illness or death whilst on a business trip covering the costs for another employee to take their place. Commercial motor insurance will insure your liability to others in the case of a car crash or other motor vehicle incident. This includes death or injury to anybody (but not death or injury to employees while they are working, as they are covered by employer’s liability insurance).

Are you a contractor or thinking about becoming a contractor? Do you know about the different types of insurance protection you need to ensure that your business is able to grow and prosper the way you want it to? If not, then you need to read up on contractor liability insurance because you need it in our sue happy society.

This insurance will help to protect you from any accidents, contractual liability, and more. You could not even imagine some of the things that have happened that have caused frivolous lawsuits that have put people out of business. Just the cost of the lawyers to defend you can be enough to put your business in the poor house.

Whether you select to cover yourself for one, two, or three million dollars you need to have liability insurance. You need to factor in how much you are at risk when choosing your insurance and your agent should be able to help you along the way. The worst thing that could happen is you have an accident, get sued, and go out of business because you did not get contractors liability insurance.

This insurance will only benefit you because not only will it protect you from lawsuits and cover some or all of the lawyer bills, but it can also protect those that work under you from accidents as well. The problem now is that lawyers are so good at what they do that they can sue over just about anything and win.

You should also make sure that any sub contractors you hire also have contractors liability insurance or at least general liability insurance. If they are carrying insurance, then your risk of liability will be reduced and so will your insurance rate. Usually the general contractor is not responsible or liable for the sub contractor’s mistakes, but if the sub contractor has a lawyer that has any knowledge of the law they can find a way to hold a general contractor liable for neglect and this is where liability insurance becomes imperative for everybody.

Oh, the joy of running your business out of your home! As a sole practitioner consultant, I enjoy the benefits of working from home. No rent, no office politics, no standing in line for the bathroom. I also love my five-second commute, with no traffic to avoid except my dogs.

If yours is one of the many home-based businesses that seem to be growing in number with advancing technology, insurance may not always be at the forefront of your mind. You’re not required to get building insurance, and you might not use your auto in business beyond driving to appointments. The reality, however, is that you have exposures that often aren’t considered and definitely aren’t adequately protected in your homeowners insurance.

I would like to raise your awareness in three areas of concern for every home-based business:

1. Liability

Are you a consultant or other professional who doles out advice or publishes information? You may need professional liability insurance. If you can be sued for the information you provide or the things you say and write, don’t be caught without this coverage. I recommend no less than a $1,000,000 limit. Many companies specialize in this type of insurance, so contact a broker or check on the Internet. I warn you, it doesn’t come cheap; however, neither does a lawsuit!

Do clients or vendors come into your home office? Your personal liability coverage is not set up to protect you for business-related activities. Depending on your business, a businessowners policy (BOP) can often properly protect your liability at a small cost.

Let’s talk about your auto. Even if you’re only driving to meet a client off your premises, your business is exposed while you are behind the wheel. How? If you cause an accident while “on the job,” and you’re incorporated, your business will be brought into a lawsuit. If your business is incorporated, make sure you include Non-Owned & Hired Auto Liability on the General Liability portion of your BOP.

Please note – If you’re not eligible for a BOP because of the type of business you operate from home, you can still get a General Liability policy.

2. Property

Every home-based business is going to have some business property. Whether you have products in your garage or furniture in your office, you need to insure business property outside of your homeowners insurance, which limits the value of business assets. You can adequately insure your computer, furniture, inventory, and artwork through the BOP mentioned earlier.

3. Life and Disability

Hopefully, your overhead is low and your income is up. Protect your ability to maintain that income with disability insurance and protect your family against the loss of your income with life insurance. Talk to your accountant about making these policies business expenses by paying for them through your business.

Believe it or not, you are more likely to become disabled than to die by the time you hit 65 years of age. Depending on the nature of your career, you could lose your ability to bring in income AND become a source of additional expenses. Most disability carriers require you to have two years in business before they will offer this policy, but that shouldn’t stop you from looking into it when you can.

Here’s your homework: Take the time now, after reading this article, to assess your insurance situation. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you aren’t in danger of losing everything. So just like any business would, consider what could be catastrophic to your business and then take steps to transfer the risk to an insurance company. Use higher deductibles where possible to keep costs down.

If you need additional help understanding and addressing your specific needs, feel free to contact an insurance consultant like me. As a consultant, I don’t sell insurance. I help businesses find the right insurance at the right cost and show them how to position themselves to be most attractive to insurance companies.

Obtaining small group health insurance coverage for business owners can be difficult and time consuming. Most companies choose to work with an insurance broker to simplify the process. It is important, however, to work with an independent broker (or agency) who is licensed with several insurance carriers. A knowledgeable broker will allow the business owner to compare several plans from competing companies. Using an independent representative also allows for easy transitions should the company need to change carriers in the future.

Claims Experience will Increase Rates

One major claim against a group health insurance policy can cause a significant monthly or yearly rate increase to the business owner. At this point, the administrator might consider changing plans to a competing carrier in order to reduce premiums. In many cases, a new health plan will allow for similar coverage at a lower rate while not sacrificing benefits.

Additionally, recent legislation passed by Congress allows business groups to purchase high deductible health insurance coupled with a health savings account. These plans are also known as HSA’s. Qualified health savings accounts (coupled with high deductible insurance) are usually less expensive and will also provide tax advantage for the insured and/or the business purchasing the coverage.

Maintain Key Employees with Favorable Benefit Packages

Offering an attractive a benefits package is an integral part of any successful business plan. Owners need competitive benefits to maintain key employees and to attract new hires as operations expand. Business owners, however, also need to balance their health, life, dental and vision benefits with the costs associated with such plans. Gaining access to several competing insurance illustrations can make this possible for an employer group.

In summary, maintaining necessary benefits while keeping benefit packages affordable is a balancing act for most companies. An experienced agency or independent broker can help to make this process a comfortable one for the business owner.

Running a workshop is a lot different to running an office or shop based business. But, some general insurers may try and sell the same basic business insurance policy to you that they might try to sell to the office down the road or a shop in the next street. You don’t have to be a genius to realise that you all have different businesses and you may well, therefore, find a better solution with a policy – such as specialist workshop insurance – that takes this into account.

There’s nothing wrong with standard commercial insurance but many small businesses will simply find that this kind of policy may give them cover they don’t actually need and/or makes them pay extra for what they do need. So, what might a specialist workshop insurance policy give you as an alternative?
the ability to pick a packaged off the shelf policy that better covers your actual insurance needs according to the type of business you run; the ability to add features and benefits if you need to at a competitive cost; the ability to keep costs low by buying what you need and not just what you are given. So, for example, your workshop tools may be really important to you from an insurance point of view. But, a general policy may not offer you enough cover, especially if you use specialist tools as part of your business. Or you may have to pay a lot extra to get this kind of feature in the first place.

And, many small businesses don’t actually own their own premises but rent them. Many general insurance policies may assume that you own your building and, as such, that you will need buildings cover as part of your policy. If you rent your workshop then in most cases your landlord takes responsibility for insuring the building. (Though you will of course need to insure your contents yourself).

Now you can see the benefits of looking for a specialised workshop insurance policy, what else do you need to consider?

One feature that may well worth looking out for in your workshop insurance policy is public liability insurance. This kind of cover protects you in the event that somebody sues your business after an accident or injury that happens on your premises or as a result of you being engaged in your business. Some insurer will offer this cover as standard with all their small business insurance policies, meaning one less element of cover for you to worry about.

So, if you are considering workshop insurance, a specialist insurance intermediary may be able to help you get all the benefits you really need, and at a competitive price too.

Owning a holiday park should be fun – you are your own Boss, you get to meet lots of different people and indulge them in your very own hospitality. Of course though, as with any other business, there are things you need to do behind the scenes to ensure that your livelihood keeps running smoothly. One of these things is holiday park insurance.

So what do you need to consider when looking for insurance for holiday park owners?
 
First of all, it should be noted that policy features and benefits can vary among insurers, so it is important that you are happy that you fully understand what the policy cover entails. If in doubt, speak to your provider or view the policy documents – if available – online.
 
The main areas of insurance that you may wish to look at to ensure you are protected may include things like:
Cover against loss or damage caused by flood, fire or theft; and Liability insurance – employers’ liability and public liability etc.

Under the first element of cover you may find benefits such as:
stock cover; loss of rent and revenue; business interruption; and buildings and contents cover.
Liability insurance
 
For liability insurance, there are several different types of liability insurance that may be available to you as a holiday park owner. However, possibly the two most common you may wish to focus on are public liability insurance and employers’ liability insurance.

The first typically provides financial assistance in the event that a claim is made against you or your business by a third party for loss, damage or injury that occurred on your premises. The ‘third party’ need not just be a guest, it is potentially anyone who visits your premises from the gas meter man to a supplier.

Employers’ liability insurance is typically a legal requirement if you have employees – though there are exceptions to this. You have a legal duty to protect your employees against any hazards while they are in the work place. Should one of your employees have an accident or contract an illness as a direct result of their job, then they may but not always be within their rights to sue you. In these instances, employers’ liability insurance as part of the holiday park insurance cover may be able to help you with financial assistance.

What to consider when choosing your cover

When looking for your cover, do note that some holiday park insurance providers may offer the cover you need as standard, while others may provide only basic cover, meaning you may have to pay for extra protection. This is something you need to think about when looking for your insurance – ie what the policy offers and what cover you actually need.

Finally, getting the most suitable holiday park insurance for you may take a little time and effort as you research your options. Using the internet may help speed up the process and give you access to online providers of the cover. 

Business owners might not know that accidents that occur within the business establishment can have bearing when it comes to Business insurance policy premiums. The higher the risk of your employees getting injured, the higher the premiums which is also the same with the higher the risk of the jobs they do, the premiums also go higher. Employee training and re-training assures your employees are knowledgeable in proper procedures when it comes to job related skills. A business owner cannot simply say that the employee is at fault and that there is no worry for they have insurance. Accident avoidance is a continuing process whereby business owners assure that their employees are safe with the right gear (protective equipment), proper skills and support facilities in case accidents do happen. Most accidents that end up in emergency rooms are so insignificant that they could have been treated at the jobsite without need of a visit to the ER. Proper safety equipment could lessen the need for these minor injuries which accumulate as points against you increasing your insurance premiums. So, Safety First, so you prevent injuries and premium increases.

Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) insurance, also known as HGV insurance, is a type of coverage policy which will protect the owner of a heavy goods vehicle. These types of vehicles transport large goods all over and necessitate a special type of insurance policy to protect the owner, driver and those whose items are entrusted to the business owner. There are a few things you should know about this type of insurance policy, especially if you are an HGV owner.

HGV Policies Protect Many Aspects of This Business

With an HGV policy for insurance, business owners can rest easy with the knowledge that their heavy transport is protected on the road and even when parked. Heavy goods transports can face issues such as accidents, theft and more. Having this insurance in effect will protect the goods should they be stolen, the vehicle in case of accident damage and the driver and those around the HGV in the case of injuries from an accident or other medical issue.

HGV Premium Rates for Insurance Vary

When you are shopping for HGV insurance you are sure to notice how much the rates for insurance vary. Certain policies which are more inclusive will be pricier than those which are basic insurance policies for HGV coverage. In order to get the best deal, shop around with different providers and see how you can get the most for your money.

HGV Coverage Will Differ Between Providers

HGV coverage will certainly differ between the different insurance companies. Therefore, when you are seeking out the most affordable insurance policy, you have to take into consideration the fact that the coverage is often different between providers and this could be why the rates vary greatly as well.

Having a proper HGV insurance policy in place will allow you to carry on with your heavy goods transport business and feel good knowing that your company is covered should any incidents arise along the way.

1. Public Liability Insurance – This will cover injury to 3rd party at or around the building site

2. Mobile Plant and Equipment Insurance – this will ensure that all your mobile plants and building equipment are protected not just at the time of damage but throughout the policy term.

3. Builder Warranty Insurance – This requires the building contractor is to obtain builder warranty insurance for every project they work on that exceeds $12,000. This is mandatory insurance so should not be overlooked.

4. Construction insurance – or contract works insurance/construction all risk insurance offers protection for people renovating, building or extending their home. This cover protects builders from most main risks that may be encountered during the construction and building process including weather related damages, fire, issues with their workers or workmanship and more.

5. Professional Indemnity Insurance: This insurance covers members of a particular profession that adhere to a code of practice and have minimum educational stipulations or requirements. This would typically cover any loss from the conduct of consultants or sub contractors if under the insured’s direction they would not be covered themselves.

6. Directors and Officers Insurance: which deals with the civil liabilities that directors can incur personally? It protects people in these positions against wrongful acts during the period of capacity

Anyone deciding to owner build their own home should ensure they are correctly covered for any accidents that may occur during the process. Owner Builders need to ensure that they have the following cover:

1. Public Liability Insurance: Again this will protect owner builders from injury to 3rd party at or around the building site

2. Personal Accident or volunteer’s workers insurance – this covers the owner builder from any injury or damage should they choose to assist the tradesmen during construction. This cover can also extend to the owner builders family/friends (up to 10 volunteers on site for a nominal premium)

Now you have all the tools you need to go out and choose the right cover!

Look through any local paper or estate agents website and you will find that the property rental market is still going strong. Admittedly, there are not quite so many buy to let owners out there after the turmoil of the past two years, but rental properties are still in demand.

Some people can still not afford to get on to the mortgage ladder, even with the drop in house prices we have seen. It is almost like a double whammy. Now that prices have dropped, the availability of mortgages has dropped considerably. In the long run this may work out to be a good thing.

Rather than people being able to get a mortgage just because they smile the right way, you now have to prove the affordability of the mortgage. With buy to let, it is even more difficult. Deposits have increased and you will only get a mortgage if you can prove that the yield from renting the property will at least cover the mortgage repayments. Too many lenders got their fingers burned from providing mortgages on properties which were, without a shadow of a doubt, priced far too high.

The landlords that are left are starting to find that things are picking up and the yields that they were getting are increasing and the length of time that properties are unoccupied are getting less and less.

One area though where they may find that their costs are increasing is with landlord building insurance cover. Many insurers are starting, very gradually, to increase their prices across the board. Over the past few years most commercial insurance companies have just been increasing premiums for businesses and property owners that have had a high loss ratio. Nowadays though, even if you have had a clean claims history, you may find premiums increasing.

If you deal through a commercial insurance broker, they should have the ability to obtain a range of alternative quotes from other insurers at renewal. If they simply offer you the existing insurer for renewal and the premium is increased by more than 5%, then you really should look around for an alternative,

Even worse than this, you may be stuck with a policy from a single insurer, dealing direct. If this is the case, they are not able to act independently and offer you different options.

You can still obtain competitive quotes, as with everything in business life though, you do need to spend a bit of time looking around. What you do need to do is speak to an independent broker. Don’t bother going to a single direct insurer, there is no choice. A broker will search the market for you, and based on the sums insured you declare and the type of tenants you have, will get you the best price they can for the widest cover available.

You need to fully declare everything you can about the risk. Insurers love information, the more they get, the better they can assess the risk at hand. A bit of preparatory work may be required from you to get all the information to hand, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Another option is, to speak to your existing provider and say that you are not prepared to accept their increased price and you want it unchanged. If you don’t ask, you don’t get – you will be surprised at how open most insurers are nowadays to reducing their renewal premium to keep your business.