Every entrepreneur knows how volatile success can be. In the process of building and developing a business, the founder faces a lot of factors independent of him: people’s actions, a situation in the industry, political and economic weather in the country and the world, natural disasters, various emergency situations, etc. All this can negatively affect the company’s work and its revenue. Therefore, business insurance is one of the most important criteria to ensure the success of your company.
Property insurance
One of the most popular types of insurance is property insurance.
The property of the company includes its own or leased premises, equipment, raw materials, trucks and cars, office furniture, and everything that the business uses in general.
I recommend first to take property insurance because there are a lot of risks associated with it – fire, water pipe accidents, theft, earthquake, and others.
All possible negative aspects can and should be described in the insurance contract. If the company is engaged in logistics, in this case, cargo insurance is the most important. On the road, during the delivery of the goods, an accident may occur, the transported products may be stolen, and the carrier will be obliged to compensate the client’s expenses. If you have insurance, all expenses will be paid by the insurance company, if the incident is specified in the contract.
Unforeseen troubles can occur even in a rented office that you have been renting for more than 10 years: the wiring may suddenly catch fire, a pipe may burst, theft may occur, and you will have to pay the damages.
You can insure company property in the following cases:
- fire and explosion;
- accidents in the water supply system;
- illegal actions of other people;
- breakdowns;
- bumping into moving objects;
- natural disasters;
- act of terrorism.
Depending on the field of business, you can choose the most likely cases and ensure the company from them.
Liability Insurance
The company’s products or the services it provides may harm third parties. If the injured party sues, you will have to pay substantial compensation. Therefore, I recommend not saving on liability insurance.
First, I would advise you to insure the liability of owners or tenants of premises. If a person injures himself at your company’s premises, you will be liable for the harm. This can happen if, for example, you decide to decorate the doorways for the holiday by hanging bulky and heavy decorations that could fall on one of the employees and cause injury.
Other types of liability insurance:
- Manufacturer liability insurance for the quality of goods, works, and services. This type of insurance saves in case of harm to the health or life of the consumer of your goods or services.
- Executive liability insurance. If the top management makes the wrong management decision, and this entails negative consequences for the company’s reputation or large financial losses, the insurer will be obliged to pay.
- Event organizer liability insurance. Any event is associated with risk, so I advise you to take insurance, especially when it comes to a major festival or concert.
Personnel insurance
The most popular type of employee insurance is VHI. In the 3rd quarter of last year, this type of insurance was the leader in terms of premium growth.
Companies, especially large ones, use health insurance as a way to attract and retain valuable personnel. Even if employees rarely go to doctors, they will be happy to get good insurance. In addition to VHI, there are international health insurance, cancer insurance, and various life insurance programs. Such policies are issued by business owners and companies who want to retain their top managers for a long time.
As for companies working in the field of construction or production, here the risk of injuries among employees is the highest. I recommend such companies to ensure employees against accidents and illnesses. In the event of an insured event, the victim will receive payment for treatment and compensation for the time of disability.
The cost of accident insurance is affected by:
- the type of the company’s business;
- the number of insured;
- protection duration: around the clock or only during business hours;
- selected risks;
- insurance amounts.
Cyber risk insurance
If, as part of its activity, your company owns large amounts of personal data of third parties, such as banks, MFPs, mobile operators, taxi services, etc., then you must take care of cyber risk insurance.
This type of insurance is not yet as widespread in our country as in the United States or European countries but is gaining popularity every year. In the case of a hacker attack, important information about customers may appear in the access of violators, and this may threaten you with massive claims for impressive amounts.
I recommend that businesses primarily take care of property, employee, and third-party liability insurance. It all depends on the type of activity of the company and its capabilities.