Why would a tradie need an Insurance Broker?

There are so many potential benefits during the year, but the one that is most relevant to most tradies is that you don’t have to deal with a cell centre.

Every Trade Risk client, no matter how small in size, has their own designated account manager. If you need anything at all, you can call or email your account manager and know that you’ll be looked after.

This save you time by not having to wait in a call centre queue, and gives you the confidence that you’re dealing with a local expert every time and not potentially an outsourced call centre.

Claims

This really falls into the “during the year” category, but is so important that it deserves its own category.

There are multiple benefits as a tradie having an insurance broker at the time of a claim – especially a trade insurance broker.

We’re on your side

If you purchase your business insurance direct through an insurance company, in the event of a claim it’s you against them.

Of course they have to do the right thing, and in most cases it will probably be all okay, but if things get a little grey they’re going to be on their own side, not your side.

When you use a broker, you have an expert on your side. Although we have great relationships with the insurance companies, we always on your side and will fight for the best outcome for you.

We could give numerous examples of where we have fought against an insurance company because we weren’t happy with their claim offer, and have secured a better result for our client.

We’re experts in the trade

Talking more specifically about TradeRisk rather than general insurance brokers, our other big advantage is that we only deal with tradies. Of course we don’t know how to build a deck or install solar panels, but we know how to deal with the typical claims that come from these activities.

Our higher level of understanding when it comes to trade businesses and our greater level of experience with trade related claims enabled us to fight for the best outcome for you.

How much extra does it cost for a tradie to use an insurance broker? One of our first jobs as your insurance broker is to find you the most competitive premium for cover which is appropriate for your business.

So if we can find you a more competitive premium than anyone else, including the direct insurers, then we’re actually saving you money rather than costing you more!

There’s also the time – and therefore money – that we can save you by doing the running around for you.

You might be able to spend half a day getting quotes and researching policies to save an extra $50, but how much has that time cost you? A couple of hundred if it’s stopping you from doing what makes you money.

Of course you could do it much more quickly, but then you’re just comparing prices and not comparing the policies. What happens when you have a claim declined because the policy wasn’t right for your business activities? Is that worth risking your home over if you get it really wrong?

Because we’re experts in the trade industry we can find you competitive rates much more quickly, and you can have the peace of mind knowing that we’ve recommended the right policy for you.

Is it worth it for a one-personal trade business? You might think that your trade business only needs an insurance broker once it has grown a little larger.

Afterall, why would a one-man business need an insurance broker when you can just buy a cheap policy online through one of the direct insurance companies?

Whilst we do look after trade businesses with multimillion dollar revenues, the majority of our 4,000+ clients are actually sole traders.

That’s right. Sole traders. We look after thousands of sole traders and one-person companies, and many of them have been clients for years and years.

They stick with us because they know how we can save them time and money, and they know that when things go wrong they won’t be on their own – they’ll have the Trade Risk team fighting in their corner.

So no matter how small or large your trade business is, we would say it is absolutely worth having a good insurance broker, and especially one that specialises in trade insurance.

How to get started

The best way to get started is to simply talk with us. If you have no more than five staff and only need public liability and tool insurance, we can help you online. You can receive an instant online quote and purchase your policy fully online.

If you’d rather speak with a real person we can do that too. Simply call us on 1800 808 800 and our team will be here to help.

For larger trade businesses with more complex needs our team of insurance brokers can assist in a variety of ways. We look after most of our clients via phone and email, or if you’re local to Brisbane we can visit you or you can come to our office.

We are passionate about helping business owners with their trade insurance needs, and like most of our clients we are also a 100% family owned Australian business.

Get in touch with us to see how we can help you.

www.traderisk.com.au 1800 808 800

A Business Success Story

My wife and I have just returned from a three-week road trip in Queensland (the only place Queenslanders can travel at present due to the border closures) and as one of our stops on route was Townsville, I thought I would catch up with a mate of mine. I met him many years ago at a Dulux Accredited Conference and the reason I want to highlight this person in particular is because he has done extremely well for himself, even though there have been those ‘Ups and Downs’ which many of us have had.

Anthony Williams grew up in Ipswich, which is around 40kms west of Brisbane. After he left school in Year 12, he developed some anxiety and depression issues, but his love of reading helped him cope with this and it made him into a very, confident person. For instance, when Anthony looked for employment, he would do some background work on the company first, find ways to improve it and then say to the interviewee, ‘You need me! I can help your business’.

As well as completing a Cert 3 in Catering, Anthony also finished an apprenticeship in Stone Masonry, but as his passion was to start a business of his own, he realised how much money was required to purchase tools and stock, he decided against it. So at the age of 23 he made the decision to do another apprenticeship, and this is where his painting career began.

He worked for an extremely good boss in Brisbane’s Bay-Side area where he learnt a lot about business, and of course, how to paint well. In 2006, Anthony and his wife moved to Townsville and in 2009, started his dream of running his own business. His first contract was a re-paint of a house which he completed by himself. The second was a much larger property where he knew he would need assistance; this is where he took on his first employee.

As in all ‘start-up’ businesses, finding constant work can be difficult. He placed adverts in the local paper and in the Yellow Pages (hard copy and online) but it was his ‘door-to-door’ marketing to display homes and builders that proved to be the most successful. Now we all know that builders tend to become your main source of income when starting a business and for this you need staff to get through the work quickly. Within six months, Anthony had enough work to keep 15 painters employed.

50 YEARS A HOUSE PAINTER

This book contains 36 topics of industry related knowledge and information which will help you in the way you operate your business.Topics under headings of; Business Checklist, Staff, Marketing and Sourcing Customers, Professional Behavior, Successful Operation and Looking Ahead.Highly recommended by Jason Osborn, Dulux Business Development Executive as; ‘A very easy interestin g read, that combines industry facts and great topics.’