Being a business owner gives you a lot of responsibilities. You don’t just look after your business, but your employees and family as well -you need to give each the right protection. Why? If you, your employees, or your loved ones suffers an injury, illness, or death, there could be serious financial consequences in addition to the emotional stress.
Insurance can give you protection for the business itself, such as making up any shortfall in profits if your business loses a key person. Moreover, it could boost your employees’ morale because they know that you are looking after their well-being. It would also help you retain and hire the right employees.
If you look around, there are a variety of insurances offered by different providers. Each one has their pros and cons. To find the right insurance policy for your business can be a long and arduous task. To jumpstart your insurance shopping, the best way to find the insurance that would complement you is to identify what your needs and goals are. When you begin to point out what your needs are, it would then be easier to look for a solution to that need.
Determining Your Insurance Needs
You, as the business owner, know what coverage is enough for your business because you know what your costs and obligations are. The insurance policy you choose will make the difference between security against unforeseen losses and paying such losses out of your own pocket. If you don’t think that the premium you will be paying outweighs the losses and risks you are facing, then you might not want getting yourself insured. However, you must also bear in mind that such losses, if unprepared, can have catastrophic results.
You must not only consider the amount of insurance you want to have, but also what is insured if there is such a loss. To gauge the insurance with the possible loss, there are five key factors that are usually the basis of all insurance claims.
- The Person – Is the person involved in the injury included in the policy?
- The Property – Is the property you are making a claim with included in the list of properties declared?
- The Peril – Is the cause of loss covered in the policy?
- The Exclusions – Is the cause of the loss excluded in the policy?
- Conditions – Does the cause of loss or accident meet the conditions or under any limitations under the policy?
Each question must be brought to consideration when determining what type of insurance you want to carry. Then, you can make an inventory of the things for which you want protection from loss.
With this knowledge in mind, you can then ask a financial adviser for insurance that fits your needs and budget. You can also ask him what strategy is needed so you can get the most out of your insurance.
What Is the Right Insurance for Your Business?
When you talk about insurance for your business, it would prove to be a rather broad topic as no two businesses are the same. But no matter what policy there is in the market, it all boils down to one thing – protecting your business against risks.
So before getting a policy, you have to look at the different risks your business might encounter in the future. Basically, business insurance can be grouped into three divisions or category.
- Assets and Revenue Insurance: This includes protection for the machinery and equipment used in your business, your business premises and its contents, employee dishonesty, and loss due to business interruption.
- People Insurance: This type of insurance, as the name suggests, provides protection for your employees and you. It includes workers’ compensation, personal illness and injury, and superannuation.
- Liability Insurance: This protects you for any negligence or damage done to a client or customer. This includes public liability, professional indemnity, and product liability.
Insurance for Your Employees
Getting your employees covered could be more of a profit for you than a loss. When employees know that you have them covered, it can increase their morale, which in turn, increases efficiency and productivity.
Just like business insurance, employee insurance provides adequate protection for your employees. OnePath offers group life insurance which is subdivided into three categories to give business owners more flexibility to choose which type of protection their employees need.
Group Life Insurance: This type of insurance policy is ideal for businesses which have at least 75 employees working in it, and those who have corporate and industry super funds. Getting your employees under this policy attracts the best and retains the right people in your business. Under OnePath, this type of insurance is further grouped into three specific sub-categories or products.
- Group Life Insurance pays a lump sum if your employee dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
- Group Salary Continuance pays a monthly benefit of up to 75% to an employee who is unable to work because of an illness or injury.
- Group TPD pays a lump sum to an employee who has been totally or permanently disabled.
Maintaining a business requires a lot of focus and effort. Thus, any interruption, like accidents or death, can cause a negative impact on your business. Having the right protection for your business and for your employees can help soften that impact and lets you focus on the more important things.













