There are a myriad of insurances available to businesses that can be tailored to their needs as new risks emerge such as cyber attacks.
It is important in any business to "Have a "Plan B"" - see our post so entitled for further detail.
Insurance can serve this purpose well, being a practical if not legal necessity for most businesses nowadays, as can be the case for public liability, professional indemnity and motor coverage.
Yet insurance renewals are often treated at best as an important administrative exercise and at worst as an annual chore.
It is, however, important to proactively review policies regularly to ensure they are fit for purpose, as there can be nothing more stressful to business owners than facing an uninsured claim which could put the entire future of the business at risk and, in some cases, result in personal liability on the part of business controllers.
You might only hear from some brokers when renewal is approaching, yet others can be excellent sounding boards for day to day business challenges.
If possible, identify and utilise those brokers who are proactive, communicate regularly, understand and are visibly interested in the business and who are thus open to making such a contribution, as they can be a valuable cost effective asset to the business team.
Take, for example, the instance where a business spends a great deal of internal time, money and resource exploring the possibility of offering, and defining, a new service, only to find out afterwards or at point of insurance renewal, that the upgrade of insurance required to provide that service renders the offering non cost effective. Having a broker who could have been approached for advice in advance could have saved a small fortune.
Then there are the many types of insurance available to consider. It is unrealistic to expect a business to take all on offer after shopping around for the best deal, but equally it is important not to dismiss some less recognised forms out of hand or because they are not a strict legal requirement.
Examples of lesser known policies that can be extremely valuable are cyber insurance and credit insurance.
Cyber threat insurance can be especially reassuring where, for example, a sole trader or small business has limited internal firewall security in place.
Listen to a broker explain the benefits of policies such as these before dismissing them out of hand.
And it assists to pay attention to any free policy add ons that may prove useful in time when selecting the best policy, instead of decision making being guided by price alone.
Effective insurance management can be assisted by having one senior point of contact within the business, part of whose role is to understand the insurance position of the business fully and flag any risks as and when they arise during the course of ongoing business. This might form, for example, part of the role of a compliance director or risk manager, who the business could consider providing formal external relevant training to.
And of course make sure you are acquainted with policy premium payment dates and broker notification conditions for the bringing of claims. Missing payments or failing to notify can void claims and spell disaster, as the insurer may not agree to accept coverage and conduct of any claims, leaving the business with the stress, cost and resource drain of defending any legal proceedings itself - see our post entitled "The Dangers of Litigation to Stressbusting™" for further comments relevant to this point.
Insurance issues affecting everyone individually in a business are explored in our previous post entitled "Wills, Insurance, Powers of Attorney & Life Planning as Stressbusting™ Essentials".
If you are affected by anything contained in this post and would like us to assist or make an introduction to a specialist who might be able to as appropriate, feel free to reach out to us in confidence via our "Contact" page.
Please see our Legal Notices section for further relevant info.