Understanding Insurance
With so many different types of insurances out there, covering all different aspects of business and life, we thought we would help you understand insurance just that little bit better. We want to make sure you’ve got the right product to protect your lifestyle.
A Business insurance package can provide broad financial protection for a range of small to medium-sized business types. Your insurance solution can include some or, all of the following options:
- Fire and other damage – Your building and business contents are covered from certain specific events including fire, storm (not flood), lightning, impact by vehicles, explosion and earthquakes. Accidental damage cover is automatically included.
- Burglary – If someone breaks into your premises using forced or violent entry, you can be covered for the theft of stock, other business contents and electronic equipment in your building.
- General Property – Cover for items of your choice such as mobile phones and laptop computers, whether you’re in the officer or anywhere in the world.
- Business Interruption – Business Interruption insurance covers you for loss of gross profit or gross rentals following an interruption to your business, which was caused by an insured event, including fire or burglary.
- Glass Breakage – You’re covered for the replacement value of broken glass including the cost of temporary shuttering, replacement of signwriting and repair of plastic signs. Any stock damaged by the broken glass is also covered at the cost value.
- Public & Products Liability – Your legal liability for personal injury or damage to property due to an occurrence connected with your business is covered where you are at fault.
- Fraud & Dishonesty – You are covered for the loss of money or goods due to any act of fraud or dishonesty by your employees, whether they are acting in collusion with others or alone. This fraud or deception needs to be discovered during the insurance period.
- Goods in Transit – Loss or damage to your goods in transit is covered against specific events.
- Money – You’re covered for loss or theft of money from certain locations. Any loss of money caused by accounting or clerical errors or theft from staff is not included.
- Equipment Breakdown – Your mechanical or electrical equipment is covered, as well as specific electronic devices.
- Tax Audit – Your professional fees, including legal and accounting fees, associated with a business tax audit, are covered.
Public liability insurance will cover all claims against your business (except those covered in the next section) which have resulted in injury or damages to a client or member of the public.
Your insurance will cover:
- Your legal costs
- The plaintiff’s legal costs
- Any damages awarded to the plaintiff
There are certain industries where you will need a more heavily tailored approach to your public liability insurance. For instance, media and entertainment, real estate, health, and construction. Have a chat to us about your options and what you need to cover for your particular industry.
Professional Indemnity covers you for those cases when mistakes resulting from negligence, omissions, and errors arise – cases where you’ve breached your professional duty that result in your client’s injury or loss. Those accidental mistakes that we sometimes make in business that can end up being really costly if we’re not insured properly.
While these aren’t criminal complaints, there still may be civil lawsuits brought against you or your company.
Professional indemnity insurance will protect against claims arising from:
- Breaches of confidentiality
- Breaches of duty
- Defamation and/or libel or slander
- Breaches of various Australian laws including the consumer, fair trade, trade practice, and competition acts
- Loss or damage of important documents
- Actions of dishonest employees
- Copyright and/or intellectual property infringement, if accidental
If you sit on the board of a private organisation or indeed any business, then you should contemplate taking out Management Liability insurance. Management Liability insurance is designed to protect the owner and director of a business, and anyone else who is a director of the business, from the risks and exposures associated with running a company.
Claims against a Director or Officer or their business could include:
Bullying Harassment
Breach of duty Occupational Health and Safety
Defamation Theft by employees or contractors
Discrimination Unfair dismissal
Fraud
Management Liability insurance can typically protect against some or all of these risks:
- Damages and claimant costs awarded against you
- Legal fees
- Investigation costs
- Civil fines and penalties
- Representation costs where you are legally required to attend an inquiry or investigation regarding company affairs.
Contracts Work / Material Damage Insurance
Contract Works/Material Damage insurance is typically for builders, owner builders and other relevant building contractors. A typical Contract Works/Material Damage insurance policy will provide cover for:
- Projects undertaken by builders, owner builders, contractors, financiers, or all parties to a contract that we agree
- New constructions or alterations and additions
- All phases of work – Preparation, construction period, maintenance period and testing and commissioning
- Loss or damage to existing structures under an insured’s care, when requested
- Loss or damage as a consequence of defective materials, workmanship or defective design, plan or specification (but not the defective material, work, item or part itself)
- Extensive sums insured
- Associated costs that result from loss or damage such as demolition and removal of debris, professional fees and others
- Further sums insured are also available for expediting expenses, contractor’s plant and machinery, tools and equipment and temporary site infrastructure
- Products liability for sale or supply of products or the completed operations (annual, multiple project policies only)
- Construction and non-construction activities (a single policy can cover both)
- Special risks such as vibration and removal of weakening supports
Commercial Motor/ Personal Motor Insurance
Our vehicles are a vital part of our lives, and our businesses. When the worst happens, and your vehicle is damaged or taken off the road, it is imperative you have a plan B.
Motor Insurance, whether commercial or personal, is your protection for yourself and your business. It can cover vehicles for damage, theft, fire and also the liability including legal costs.
In commercial cases, we are able to band your vehicles together in a policy. You still have the choice of cover – whether its comprehensive, Third party fire and theft, or just third party property damage.
We also offer a range of additional advantages to your policy, including windscreen (excess free), hire car and roadside assistance.
If you have extras added to your car, we can see that they be covered also. For example, personal effects, tools of the trade, and sign writing that is permanently fixed to your vehicle.
Cyber Liability Insurance covers your business against the expense and legal costs associated with data breaches, which may occur after being hacked or from theft or loss of client information. Thre can occur from external or internal circumstance and can even extend to cover a data breach for lost or stolen goods such as leaving a work laptop in a taxi.
Expenses can include but are not limited to the cost of business interruption, forensic investigation, data recovery, extortion (a fancy word for virtual hostage!) and crisis management costs to salvage your business reputation after a data breach from a cyber attack.
The policy also covers the financially crippling costs of defending yourself, mandatory notification costs* and other legal costs.
House and Contents / Landlord Insurance
Your home is your castle and your belongings are your treasures. But what’s a lifetime of belongings and memories worth? Your home and its contents probably represent the bulk of where your wealth lies. Your home and the items inside it are yours because of the hard work that you’ve put in across the years. We work our whole life to accumulate these assets.
The most common forms of household insurance are:
- Home insurance – covers financial losses associated with damage or loss of a property you own. Continue reading this section for more information
- Contents insurance– covers financial losses caused by the loss, theft or damage of your possessions.
- Home and Contents – policies that combine the features of both types of insurance
- Landlord’s insurance – covers the risks associated with renting out a property.
- Strata insurance – covers financial losses associated with damage or loss to a property that operates under a strata-title, company title or torrens title arrangement with multiple units.
As the name suggests, this policy is made up of numerous types of cover which are conveniently “packaged” under the one policy. An example of the types of cover included in a Rural / Farm Policy are:
- Domestic Buildings and Contents
- Farm Property
- Farm Machinery (limited cover) and Working Dogs
- Theft
- Business Liability
- Farm Motor Comprehensive
- Business Interruption
- Machinery Breakdown
and many more
Property, especially stock, does not necessarily remain exclusively at an Insured’s premises. You may deliver your stock to customers, suppliers may deliver goods to you from anywhere in the country. International Transits may also be involved. You may also transport your own equipment between locations. Marine Transit or Goods in Transit insurance provides cover for inland transit by road or rail and often extends to include inland and coastal waters.
Cover may be arranged by the owner or by the Transport Operator to protect them against their liabilities under the transport/carriers contract. International transit by sea or air is insured under a Marine Cargo policy.
“I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know how happy I am with you guys! After hitting another car and having to lodge a claim, I couldn’t believe how easy you made it. From the time i called, to my car being back on the road, your team were brilliant! Thank you!!”
Simone
Personal Car Owner