BUSINESS INSURANCE
There are many different types of optional covers with business insurance.
These covers can range from inclusions for Business Property, Theft, Glass Cover, Business Interruption, Money, Machinery Breakdown, Electronic Equipment Breakdown, Tax Audit, General Property and Employee Dishonesty.
Comparing business insurance between different companies can be overwhelming if you’re not sure what to look for.
PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE (BROADFORM LIABILITY)
This cover can be included within an ISP policy for some smaller businesses. For some larger businesses, or where more specialised cover is required, we can help you arrange a separate Broadform Liability Insurance designed specifically for Civil Contractors or Earthmoving Contractors.
Public Liability insurance provides protection if someone makes a claim against You, the business or its employees when damage to third-party property or personal injury has been caused by your business activities.
INDUSTRIAL SPECIAL PLANT (ISP)
Industrial Special Plant (ISP) cover, also known as Mobile Plant and Machinery Insurance is a type of policy designed specifically for civil construction, earthmoving contractors and in some cases tradesman where the business revolves around mobile, self-propelled machinery such as excavators, skid steers, loaders, roadmaking and paving equipment, dozers, telehandlers, EWP’s, cranes, drills and augers.
An ISP policy will provide you with any protection for recovery of undamaged vehicles, the costs of hiring alternative plant, cover for your machinery whilst on dry hire, or, damage by employees who are misusing your equipment.
An ISP policy can also cover equipment that you hire in. Most companies that hire you equipment will include a damage waiver, but, those damage waivers usually don’t extend to theft which can leave you and your business with an uninsured loss not insurable on a motor vehicle insurance policy. The Hired in Plant insurance cover can be a specified list of equipment or a broad blanket cover for all equipment you hire up to a specific limit.
COMMERCIAL MOTOR / FLEET
We understand the importance of making sure you have the right cover for your commercial motor vehicles in place be it cars, trucks or trailers.
Whether you operate 1 vehicle or a fleet of 50+ vehicles, commercial motor vehicle insurance helps protect your vehicles from accidental theft to damage and has been designed with the common risk exposures of commercial drivers in mind.
We highly recommend business owners consider the benefits of arranging commercial vehicle insurance if they use their cars, trucks and trailers for business purposes.
PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE
Professional Indemnity insurance is designed for professionals who provide a specialist service or advice, providing protection for financial loss and legal costs in the event of a claim. This claim may be a result of an actual or alleged negligent act, error or omission whilst providing your professional service or advice.
If someone alleges that you’ve made a mistake, overlooked a critical piece of information, misstated a fact or they have misinterpreted you in the course of your work, and this results in a financial loss for your client, then they may take legal action against you to recover these losses.
Professional Indemnity claims can arise from simple things like:
- Giving incorrect advice
- Faulty designs
- A miscalculation
- Incorrect diagnosis or treatment
- An act, omission or breach of duty
- Engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct
- Loss of documentation
- Inadvertently defaming someone
- Failing to meet a deadline
- Not meeting your clients expectations
Professional Indemnity insurance is designed to protect the assets and reputation of your business in the event of a claim.
MANAGEMENT LIABILITY INSURANCE
As the director of a company, you can be held personally liable for decisions you or your staff make on your behalf in the running of your business. These decisions may result in an alleged breach of employment law (harassment, discrimination, bullying, unfair dismissal), trade practices act, environmental protection, or workplace health & safety laws. A directors liability or management liability insurance policy generally protects the company and any innocent parties by paying for defense cover to defend against such allegations against you as a director and / or the business entity.
CYBER CRIME AND CYBER LIABILITY
This type of insurance is equally important to you as it will be to your customer. A business insurance policy doesn’t cover loss or damage arising from Viruses, Trojans, Hacking, Ransomware or most other cyber crimes. That’s where a Cyber Crime and Cyber Liability policy comes in.
A Cyber Crime policy generally has three parts.
- Cyber Crime cover for your Assets.
This part of the policy responds to the damage to hardware or software assets as the result of a cyber breach. Whether this is the costs of unlocking or replacing a machine locked by cryptolocker, regaining access to your website after it is hacked, or locking and recovering data from hardware that has been stolen or lost.
- Loss of Income following cyber crime.
The loss of income section of a Cyber policy is as the name suggests. The consequential loss of income or extra costs incurred by a business following that Cyber Breach. This extra cover is not typically included when you take a “Cyber Extension” within your Professional Indemnity Cover or Management Liability cover. It is only available with selected insurers.
This cover is however one of the most important inclusions for any business that runs an online store to protect their revenue generated by their online store, it really is like a business insurance for online shops or online stores to protect the asset and the consequential loss of income.
- Cyber Liability
A cyber breach into any network usually involves a breach of data or a loss of data. If this data belongs to someone else, such as a customer of yours, it can result in you being liable for whatever costs are incurred by that customer as a result of that breach.
In Australia we also have strict privacy laws that extend to customer data. A breach of customers data can also result in fines or penalties. This is another reason to take the Cyber Liability cover as part of your Cyber Insurance protection.
Your coverage may generally include cover for expenses and restoration costs relating to the following:
- Data breaches including theft or loss of client information
- Network security breaches
- Business interruption/Consequential Loss costs
- Forensic investigation into the cause or scope of a breach
- Data recovery costs
- Cyber extortion
- Crisis management costs (to protect or mitigate damage to your businesses reputation resulting from a cyber event)
- Loss and legal costs, including fines and penalties resulting from a third party claim for data or network security breach against your company
MOTOR TRADES INSURANCE
Motor trades insurance covers a variety of professions and aspects within the industry including mechanics, electricians, motor vehicle dealers, car traders and more. We understand your industry and will go the extra mile to ensure you are protected with the most suitable cover for your individual business in the automotive trade industry.
Regular insurance and risk related solutions we assist our clients with within the Motor Trades industries to help protect you from potential loss in the event of a claim that arises during your normal course of business are:
PUBLIC & PRODUCTS LIABILITY FOR MOTOR TRADES
Public & Products Liability insurance section provides protection if someone makes a claim against You, the business or its employees when damage to third-party property or personal injury has been caused by your business activities.
Public & Products Liability cover is also extended within a Motor Trades Policy to include Rectification of Faulty Workmanship as standard.
BUSINESS PROPERTY
Business Property section cover for buildings, contents, machinery and plant, should represent the full replacement price. The sum insured on stock and customers vehicles/accessories should also represent the full value at cost price.
Insuring for the correct values is important on this section as underinsurance penalties apply in the event of a claim if you are insufficiently insured.
THEFT
The Theft section covers theft of contents, stock, tools, customers vehicles and accessories and employees tools due to forced entry to your business premises.
You can select a sum insured that you think will be adequate to suit your situation on this section and the insurer will pay claims up to that amount.
GLASS
The Glass section covers breakage to any internal or external glass that forms part of the building or fit-out.
If you are renting a premises you may need to check your lease or rental agreement to see if you are responsible for any Glass breakage.
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION
The Business Interruption section covers loss of income due to a claim under the Fire & Perils section.
You can select either the full Gross Profit or Weekly Benefit option. We will discuss these options with you to see which option suits your business requirements best.
CUSTOMERS VEHICLES
The Customer Vehicles section covers customers motor vehicles on your property that are either stolen or damaged. Cover is also available for accidents when the insured or an employee of the insured needs to drive the Customer’s vehicle from one section of your property to another or even test driving on public roads.
MONEY
The Money section covers the businesses money (cash) on the premises, in a safe, In transit and/or at home. You will need to specify where you want Money covered.
MACHINERY & ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT BREAKDOWN
The Machinery & Electronic Equipment Breakdown section covers the cost of repairs to electric motors and electronic equipment due to an unforeseen breakdown that is not related to normal wear and tear.
You can insure individual items as there may be some items which could be expensive to repair that you need this particular cover for.
GENERAL PROPERTY
The General Property section covers you for Mobile Tools and Equipment that you take away from your premises and/or in transit. This is particularly relevant for mobile mechanics and for those who attend customers vehicles away from their premises.
TRANSIT COVER
Transit Cover section covers goods in transit to and from your premises in the event of an accident, fire or overturning of the conveying vehicle.
PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY FOR MOTOR TRADES
Professional Indemnity section covers your liability in relation to any advice you give or any forms you may complete such as Roadworthy Certificates and Motor Vehicle Inspections.
It is important to note that claims under this section are admissible on a claims made basis i.e. it covers not when the incident happened but when the claim is made against you.
BUSINESS VEHICLE COVER
Often Motor Trades businesses have vehicles they use in the business or have loan vehicles for customers. These can be insured either for full comprehensive cover to third party property damage only.
EMPLOYEE DISHONESTY
The Employee Dishonesty section covers embezzlement of business monies by employees. If you have an employee paying and collecting your bills you may need to consider this to protect you in the event this scenario actually happens to you.
TAX AUDIT
This covers the cost of your accountants fees in the event of a tax or GST audit. Speak to us or your accountant about this to ascertain if there is a need for this in your business.
MANAGEMENT LIABILITY INSURANCE
As the director of a company, you can be held personally liable for decisions you or your staff make on your behalf in the running of your business. These decisions may result in an alleged breach of employment law (harassment, discrimination, bullying, unfair dismissal), trade practices act, environmental protection, or workplace health & safety laws. A directors liability or management liability insurance policy generally protects the company and any innocent parties by paying for defence cover to defend against such allegations against you as a director and / or the business entity.
TRADE CREDIT INSURANCE
Trade Credit Insurance provides cover for your unsecured debtors in the event that your debtor becomes insolvent or unable to pay their debt to you whilst within your credit terms. The policy can provide up to 90% of the outstanding income owed to you. This is not a type of invoice factoring but an insurance policy that responds to one specific debtor if they are unable to pay. This will be particularly important if you choose to wholesale your goods to other business providing them with credit terms in which to make a payment after they have placed their order.
For some savvy business owners, this type of insurance can be used to help them grow by underwriting the risk associated with supplying to large corporate customers who require credit terms often at 90 days end of month as part of their conditions to supply. This type of insurance helps reduce the risk that this new large customer won’t make payment when the time comes.
There are of course other policies that may be suitable for your business. Whilst the above policies are commonly taken, we also understand that no two businesses are the same. We will help you understand what cover you should consider may be appropriate for your business.
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Find out how we can find the best solution for your situation.
QUICK LINKS
Ironbark Insurance Pty Ltd endorses the Insurance Code of Practice. To obtain a copy of the code, click here.
Ironbark Insurance Pty Ltd
9 / 4 Dalton Street, Upper Coomera Qld 4209
PO Box 622, Ormeau Qld 4208
Ironbark Insurance Pty Ltd ABN 12 166 969 213 AR 452670 as Authorised Representative of PSC Connect ABN 23 141 574 914 AFS Licence No 344648.
The information provided by Ironbark Insurance Pty Ltd on this website is for general information purposes only, it is not a substitute for professional advice. You should always consider the PDS/Policy wording before making a decision. Coverage may differ based on specific clauses in individual policies. For our services and remuneration details, refer to the FSG on our website or by requesting a copy.
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