If you choose to get insurance, your broker will take your risks to the market to find the right cover at the best price. Brokers must be registered to operate. Search the Financial Service Providers Register to find out if they are.
To speed up the process of getting insurance, useful steps to take before meeting a broker include:. Use this checklist to make sure you identify all your assets — and get the most value from each one. Discover useful actions that will help you control risks, protect people and meet your legal responsibilities.
Scammers and fraudsters use all kinds of tricks to steal from small businesses. Skip to main content Skip to page navigation. In association with. Insuring business activities. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email. Find your risks. Working out what your risks are means answering two important questions: What could go wrong at work or with my business?
Have I got it covered? Common risks include: fire or natural disaster, eg floods, earthquake theft, eg equipment stock damage loss in transit IT crime or hacking injury or property damage caused by your products or services product recall employment dispute health and safety breach. There are also risks you may not realise insurance can cover, including: losing a key staff member a sudden drop in revenue being sued.
Types of insurance. Assets Asset insurance can cover theft and damage items you own and use for work, eg computers, furniture, tools and stock. There are two main types: Indemnity: The most common policy type, which takes wear and tear into account when paying your claim.
Replacement: This pays full costs of replacing an item. Commercial property One of the most common form of business insurance. After the Canterbury earthquakes, insurers now want more information before agreeing to earthquake cover, including: when the property was built what, if any, strengthening work has been carried out what ground it is built on, eg reclaimed land or bedrock its seismic rating.
Common business assets checklist Continuity and contingency planning. Liability Useful if you do work for other organisations. Commercial vehicle If you use a vehicle for work, you should at least have third party insurance. Cyber Cyber security — and the risks to your business — is a broad area covering data breaches, website hacking and IT scams. Protecting business data Contract work This covers you for extra costs while doing alterations to your business premises, eg accidental damage.
Marine There are different types of marine insurance for personal and commercial vessels, eg cargo or fishing. Marine insurance external link — Insurance Council of New Zealand Other types of insurance Travel: Commonly used to cover employees going overseas for work, eg for lost baggage, missed flights or emergency medical care. When to think about insurance.
When setting your insurance budget, think about the cost of NOT having the right cover. Your insurance policy. Disclosure By law you must give your insurer all details they ask for, and any other information that may influence your policy, eg about workplace accidents or past claims.
Excess This is the amount of money you agree to pay towards fixing something, eg damage or a claim against you. A suitable excess level depends on: how much risk your business has how likely risks are to occur what the potential cost of losses are.
An insurance broker can help you find the right level of risk for your business. Managing risks If something goes wrong, you must do your best to put things right.
General liability insurance and commercial property insurance are good places to start. Commercial auto is important if you have cars, trucks or vans that you use for business. A business owners policy BOP is an affordable way to get essential coverage for a small business.
General liability insurance, commercial property insurance and business interruption insurance are all included in a BOP. Lucy Lazarony is a personal finance writer and journalist. Prior to freelance writing, she worked as a staff writer for Bankrate for seven years. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida and spent a summer as an international intern at Richmond, The American University in London.
She lives in South Florida. Select Region. United States. United Kingdom. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team. Lucy Lazarony. Editorial Note: Forbes Advisor may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn't affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Read more. Our Guides. Get A Quote. Clear Blue Insurance. Complaint level Extremely low. Best financial strength rating A- Excellent. Get A Quote Via Simplybusiness. Farmers Insurance. Best financial strength rating A Excellent.
Complaint level Very low. Frankenmuth Insurance. Cincinnati Insurance. Westfield Insurance. General liability insurance gives a business protection against liability claims such as bodily injury and property damage to others. There is no one-size-fits-all professional liability coverage. Each industry has its own unique concerns that should be addressed.
Property insurance covers equipment, signage, inventory, and furniture in the event of a fire, storm or theft. However, it doesn't cover mass-destruction events like floods and earthquakes. If your area is at risk for these issues, you'll need a separate policy. Another exception is personal property that is very high value and expensive—this is usually covered by purchasing an addition to the policy called a "rider.
If you're operating a home-based business , inquire about additional coverage for equipment and inventory. If your business manufactures products to sell, product liability insurance is very important. Any business can find itself named in a lawsuit due to damages caused by its products.
Product liability insurance protects a business in such cases. Any vehicles used for business should be fully insured. At the very least, businesses should insure against third-party injury, but comprehensive automobile insurance will cover the vehicle in an accident, as well.
If employees are using their own cars for business, their own personal insurance will cover them in the event of an accident. One major exception is if a person is delivering goods or services for a fee, including delivery personnel. Business interruption or continuation policies are a type of insurance that is especially applicable to companies that require a physical location to do business, such as retail stores or manufacturing facilities.
Business interruption insurance compensates a business for its lost income during events that cause a disruption to the normal course of business. Corporate Insurance. Business Essentials. Car Insurance. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
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