What insurance do I need for my business?

Once you have opened a new business, insurance can be one of the most important factors in ensuring you stay open.

According to Daniel Holmes, Fitzpatrick General Manager, your first priority should be ensuring you have in place the statutory insurances all businesses are required to have.

You need workers’ compensation if you have employees. Also, take care to ensure you take out this cover even if you have a proprietary limited company and you are the only employee. You need motorvehicle insurance if the business has vehicles, including CTP.

“When putting insurance in place, it’s also important to ensure assets are appropriately valued,” explained Holmes.

It’s also important to take out public-, and possibly, product-liability insurance. These policies can cover bodily injury or property damage to the public as a result of running your business and if you sell products.

Assets covered

Make sure the equipment, stock and the building are protected. This means in the event of a fire or loss causing damage to the assets you own, the cost of their replacement cost can be covered. It’s also important to have business continuity/interruption insurance so the business can keep running even after it has suffered a serious incident covered by insurance.

Fitzpatrick brokers are able to use a tool to identify risks to which the business is exposed, based on the claims other businesses in the sector have made.

“Every business has very different exposures,” said Holmes, “so the insurance a sandwich shop may need will be very different to the insurance for a landscaper or gardener.”

Experienced brokers can assist clients to determine the relative risks to which each business is exposed. But it’s up to the client, ultimately, to decide which covers to put in place.

When putting insurance in place, it’s also important to ensure assets are appropriately valued, so in the event they are destroyed or damaged, their full replacement cost can be covered.

Professional advice

The best advice is to work with a broker to establish the full scope of the enterprise’s exposures to ensure the right insurance is in place so it can continue to operate, even if the risks to which it is exposed come to fruition.

Important note

This article provides information rather than financial product or other advice. The content of this article, including any information contained in it, has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. For more information or questions on business insurance or your own policy, please contact Fitzpatrick & Co. Insurance Brokers on 03 8544 1600 or email: insure@fitzpatrick.com.au OR visit our website at fitzpatrick.com.au

For

Parties. e.g You are contracted to trim branches at a busy intersection. An unforeseen mechanical issue with a chainsaw takes longer to complete, increasing costs to the third party. This policy responds where there is no physical loss or damage to Third Parties but a Financial Loss only.

$2,00 0,000

Covers OHS & Environmental Fines. by authorities this policy covers you.

To assist with cash flow, monthly payment plans are available