Insurance your small business

From Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Good commercial insurance can give you peace of mind both personally and professionally.

Contents

Why do I need commercial insurance?

Types of insurance

Take good insurance for your business

Why do I need commercial insurance?

Your business may have many assets: vehicles, offices and equipment, stocks, employees or partners, and greatest importantly, yourself. To guard these assets and your business against potential risks, you must obtain insurance.

All companies take risks, but taking too much or neglecting to protect yourself is not a good idea from a business perspective. Could your business survive if one of your partners dies or becomes disabled? Would you have sufficient cash to deal with an alternative situation in your company? Actual often, the answer to these problems and other queries about risk is "no."

This text will help you understand the many types of insurance that exist to protect you and your business from any liability related litigation.

Types of insurance

Insurance needs vary widely, and it is best to seek the advice of a broker or insurance agent who is conversant with your kind of business. Below are various types of insurance that may apply to your business.

Insurance for Owners, Partners, and Key Employees

The loss of a key person can have devastating effects on your business and your livelihood. Various types of insurance can help protect your business and family from potential risks:

Life Insurance - This insurance protects your family in case something happens to you. It is particularly crucial for individual companies because the owner is personally liable for all of the company's debts.

Disability Insurance - This insurance provides income for a period if you can not work because of an injury or illness.

Associate Insurance or Associate Share Buyback Contract - This insurance delivers you with the essential funds to buy back the share of one of your associates if it dies, thereby continuing to operate your business.

Critical Illness Insurance - This insurance provides you with a lump sum benefit if you have a critical illness.

Employee Insurance - If you rely on certain key people to help run your business, it would be useful to protect yourself against the loss of these people.

Ask your accountant which insurances are deductible as business expenses and which ones you will have to pay for yourself as an individual.

Insurance for commercial properties and income

You must protect your assets and income in the event of a disaster or emergency that destroys some or all of your company's premises and assets. Here are the different types of insurance you can get:

Property Insurance - This insurance will cover the property and buildings of your company in the event of destruction or damage caused by elements such as fire and other disasters.

Personal Insurance - This insurance covers the goods you store on your company's premises. If you are a renter, the owner probably has property insurance, but you are most likely to have your property insurance. If you operate your home business, you will likely need separate insurance for your business assets.

Business interruption insurance - If you have to temporarily close your business because of a fire or other disaster, this insurance will cover your loss of income until your business resumes.

Vehicle Damage Insurance - You will have to ensure all cars in your commercial. If you use individual vehicles for profitable purposes, do not forget to inform your insurance company.

Liability insurance

Errors can occur. You, your staffs, your gear or your dealers could be the source of errors that could hurt your customers, employees or any other person doing business with you. To protect your business from legal action, should this happen, you should consider purchasing these types of insurance to limit your liability:

General Liability - This insurance covers the risk of injury to your customers and employees on your premises.

Product Liability - This insurance provides coverage if your products are defective or cause serious injury to their users.

Professional Liability - This insurance protects you if a client sues you for error, omission or negligence while performance qualified facilities.

Cyber Liability - Defends in the incident of a lawsuit arising from a breach of electronic security that involves the compromise of personal or business information. This may include situations related to the theft of devices containing organizational, customer and employee data or similar data.

Accounts Receivable Insurance

A customer who does not pay can put you in a bad situation. You consume to pay your staffs and providers, and you are stuck because you have to pay for the goods without getting the corresponding income. This insurance, also known as credit insurance, can protect you if a customer goes bankrupt or refuses to pay.

Risks are often higher when it comes to export markets. The government provides export insurance services, including accounts receivable insurance, to cover a range of uncertainty.

EDC Credit Insurance - Portfolio

Ensure your accounts receivable against business risks.

Health Insurance

Providing that health insurance to your workers can be a vital factor in employing and retentive employees. You can request information from a broker or insurance company about group plans that provide extended health and dental benefits for your employees.

Take good insurance for business

Being assured concerning uncontainable the proper insurance for your professional will provide you with concord of mind. To discussion doable insurance choices for your business, interaction an insurance agent to help you find or implement a plan that suits you and your business. You can also contact your local Chamber of Commerce or Industrial Association; some organizations offer their members lower rates for their commercial insurance.

Insurance Bureau of Canada - Business Insurance

Having the right insurance could be essential to the survival of your business. Check out the options that are available to you.

Key factors for the success of online insurance

What are the strategic parameters that a company must master to succeed in the online insurance market via the internet? In additional arguments, pardon are the key success factors (FCS) that condition a company's success over its competitors? It is essential for a company to identify the FCS that govern the sector in which it operates, this allows it to understand which levers it will have to act to be efficient.

So, let's identify the key success factors that will enable a company to compete in the online insurance market.

BRAND AWARENESS

 As a first step, the notion of "brand" is a decisive factor that will take into account the consumer to choose his insurance online. Awareness of the brand is indeed an essential component that determines the trust a consumer will give to a website. Aware of this key factor of success, some insurers like Macif have chosen an umbrella brand strategy. Keeping Macif in the name of its web brand "IdMacif" the mutual demonstrates that the weight of the brand is essential.

The new brand "IdMacif" thus benefits from the reputation and image of the umbrella brand. This strategy offers many advantages; it allows in particular not to push back the dead point until the brand is known. It also makes it possible to divide by three the investments in communication. Moreover, if the risk of cannibalization exists as on any market, it seems low.

PRICE AND INSURANCE RATES

The price is the first criterion for choosing an insurance product on the internet. As we have seen previously, the online insurance market assumes in most cases a price positioning. Insurance comparators, which are becoming more numerous, accentuate this trend by making it possible to quickly compare several insurances on different criteria, notably that of the price.

To be competitive in the online insurance market via the internet, the insurer must provide powerful underwriting tools and offer very low prices while maintaining the technical result. It seems that players already well established "off-line" are more likely to enjoy a strong and sustainable competitive advantage.

THE QUALITY OF THE OFFER AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SERVICE

As with any purchase, quality remains a central element in the selection criteria. Indeed, even if the positioning is often low cost, the level of quality of the offer must follow and meet a certain level of requirement. Regarding insurance, assistant services often reflect the level of quality of the product offer. The more comprehensive the support services, the more efficient and quality assurance to the consumer.

As a result, online services are becoming more comprehensive, and the insured can easily manage his online options via the interface of his account. The quality of management is also a key element for the consumer since it is one of the few contacts he will have with his insurer. It is important for the insurer to communicate on the quality of this management, particularly by highlighting the reputation of the parent brand.