Commercial Insurance: A Quick Guide

Whether you have owned your property for years or you’re currently in the process of setting up a new venture, commercial property insurance is an essential purchase that will protect your property, supplies and equipment from harm. Whether you own an office, shop or site, damage to your property could result in a loss of trade and income. However, with a commercial insurance policy you can be safe in the knowledge that your business and its assets are protected against unforeseen circumstances.

How your premium is calculated

There are a number of different rating factors that will affect the way that your premium is calculated, including:

• Your postcode
• Your security
• The type of building
• What the building is used for
• Risk prevention measures which you have/have not taken

Common packages

There are a number of different strands of business insurance, not all of them relevant to every business. Some insurers will create packages to cater to the needs of specialist enterprises, such as:

Surgeries and clinics policies

Buildings and contents, public and employer’s liability cover and property damage all tend to be compulsory covers on a standard surgeries and clinics policy. Whether you are a doctor, dentist or a vet you will need to tailor-make your insurance to provide the right protection. By their very nature, a clinic or surgery will clearly have very different business needs to those of a standard shop or office. Business owners will need a specialist policy to reflect the unique needs of their enterprise.

Retail/ shop insurance

Although shops come in all shapes and sizes, there are certain precautions which every enterprise should take, and which every good retail insurance policy package should include, such as: public liability; employer’s liability; shop building; shop stock and contents; and business interruption.

Tradesman’s insurance

The term tradesman covers a variety of professions – plumbers, electricians, carpenters, builders and decorators. The last thing that a trading business wants to face is an insurance claim for property damage or injury to a client. Policies should include public liability cover and personal accident cover, and should also be tailored to protect any relevant tools and equipment necessary for the performance of your job.

How to choose a policy

It is a product of human nature that we all want to save money where we can, but scrimping on your policy could be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make. Here are some tips to help you choose the most cost-effective policy without compromising on its functionality.

• Get comprehensive cover.

Get all of your cover from the same place, rather than getting cover for public liability from company A, and employer’s liability from company B. This will save both time and money. Look at businesses such as One Sure, which offer tailor-made policies to cater to specialist enterprises.

• Increase your excess

Most policies come with a compulsory excess. You could consider increasing this to lower overall costs – just make sure that you would be able to afford the higher excess if you needed to make a claim.

• Risk management

If you have a good risk management programme, then most insurers will reward you by offering a more affordable policy. Look at Business Continuity Management, a process which provides a framework to ensure the resilience of your business and the continuance of your ability to trade following a disruptive event.

As a business owner, insuring your company is vital to ensure that unforeseen circumstances fall short of being catastrophic. Even if you possess the very best business flair and acumen, the failure of a supplier, or a fire or flood that puts you out of action for months on end, could still ruin everything you’ve built. But you don’t have to be helpless in the face of disaster – purchase the most suitable insurance cover for your enterprise and shield yourself against ruin.