How to reduce your business insurance costs

/in /by

More expensive premiums, higher excesses and narrower coverage are set to become an insurance reality for many Australian businesses. Here’s how SMB’s can prepare for a hardening market.

Australian businesses have benefited from a soft insurance market for some years now, but it’s time to prepare for a change.

We spoke with Steadfast Broker Technical Manager, Michael White about the cyclical nature of the market, the factors that drive it and how you can prepare for a harder market.

What is a hard or soft insurance market?

The nature of the market is driven by the availability of insurance , explains White.

“If there’s a lot of capital coming into the insurance market, it’s easier to get cover – so in a soft market insurers will chase business,” he says.

A soft market can therefore mean lower insurance premiums, discounts, broader coverage, smaller excesses,  narrow exclusions and insurers writing more policies with higher limits.

A hard market, on the other hand, is experienced when there is a decreased availability of insurance capital.

With decreased availability can come higher premiums, lower policy limits, bigger excesses, wider exclusions, narrower policy coverage and less competition between insurers.

Which pockets are hardening?

Certain parts of the Australian insurance market are showing signs of hardening already.

“We’re certainly seeing insurers not supporting certain kinds of risks such as for directors and officers generally, but in particular, D&O Side-C coverage for investor claims,” says White, referring to products that protect companies from claims made against it and its directors and officers.

High-risk property is also becoming harder to place.

“These are property risks where they have a lot of issues around the building – buildings that are unoccupied, poorly maintained or generally in a distressed condition,” White says.

Professions and businesses with a history of losses are also likely to find it harder to secure the kind of coverage they’re seeking, White adds.

The two main ways you can take advantage of a soft market are through locking in savings on premiums and excesses, or by securing higher policy limits or broader cover now if you will need it later.

Taking advantage of a soft market

The two main ways you can take advantage of a soft market are through locking in savings on premiums and excesses, or by securing higher policy limits or broader cover now if you will need it later.

“For example, if you have cover for $5 million and you know you are soon going to need it expanded to $10 million, it may be easier to get now and cheaper in the long run,” White says.

Your insurance broker may also be able to lock in future renewals on a favourable basis.

How to prepare your business

There are two main ways in which you can ready your business for a hard market.

The first is by factoring in increased costs. If you’re aware of the cyclical nature of the insurance market, you have probably been taking advantage of its current state and may have prepared by saving for the inevitable: more expensive premiums, higher excesses, lower policy limits or narrower coverage.

If not, start factoring in these costs now.

“The cost is going to be significant,” White says. “So businesses must budget for the increases if they want to maintain their cover.”

The second way is by having a long term relationship with a good insurance broker. No matter what stage of the cycle the market is at, a good broker will understand it and your business, have good long-term relationships with insurers and be able to secure you the best cover for your individual circumstances, as well as being able to advise on likely future changes to insurance costs.

A good broker is also invaluable in a hard market when policy wordings are narrower, limits are lower and excesses are bigger  – as we’ve previously discussed, brokers can be  your advocate should a claim be rejected.

For expert advice on insuring against the risks your small business faces, talk to us today.

Important note – the information provided here is general advice only and has been prepared without taking in account your objectives, financial situation or needs.

Four steps to appeal a rejected insurance claim

/in , /by

Few things are more devastating in business than thinking you’re covered for a loss only to find out your insurer has rejected your claim. Here’s how to appeal that decision.

Just because you’ve received bad news, doesn’t mean you should give up.

There are a number of avenues for appealing such a decision, and a good broker can be your best ally.

How you appeal a rejected insurance claim depends on the nature of the rejection, which usually comes down to one of two things.

“It’s either rejected because it doesn’t fall within the operative clause or an exclusion applies. So that’s a wording type issue,” says Steadfast’s Broker Technical Manager, Michael White.

“Or it might be a factual issue.”

White provides the example of a rejected claim for storm damage to a property – the owner may claim that damage was the result of a storm, while the insurer argues that the damage is caused by gradual deterioration.

“It’s hard to believe, but lots of people make claims when they don’t actually have insurance,” says White. “Or they’ve insured their business but they haven’t insured themselves for theft or business interruption.”

1. Broker advocacy

If your claim is rejected, your broker can be your advocate.

“You should be getting the broker’s opinion on whether there’s any grounds on which you can challenge the rejection,” says White.

If the rejection is based on a factual issue your broker may be able to help secure competing factual evidence, reports and documentation.

“For example, the insurer is going to rely on the building report – they don’t actually go out and look at these things themselves – so you could consider getting another building report,’ White says.

If the rejection is based on an exclusion, a Steadfast broker can reach out to White for his technical expertise.

“I’ll tell them whether they’ve got a grounds for arguing it or not,” he says.

2. Internal dispute resolution

If your broker can’t get the insurer to overturn the decision, the next step is requesting your insurer launch a formal internal dispute resolution process.

The internal review structure varies between insurers, but all are legally required to review the decision within 45 days. In some instances, they may choose to overturn their original decision based on a fresh look at the claim.

If not, they must give reasons why they have rejected your claim.

“Again, your broker can be your advocate throughout this process,” says White.

3. External dispute resolution

If the outcome of the internal dispute resolution process is unsatisfactory you then have every right to pursue an external scheme.

From 1 November 2018, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority will handle disputes over rejected insurance claims. If you’re making a complaint before 1 November 2018, it should be lodged with the Financial Ombudsman Service Australia. Thereafter the Australian Financial Complaints Authority will be handling disputes.

However, these bodies only have jurisdiction over certain insurance products and require other criteria to be met. Here is what’s within the scope of FOS and AFCA.

4. Court proceedings

For insurance matters that do not fall within the jurisdiction of FOS or AFCA, your final recourse is to launch legal proceedings.

“The final option is pursuing the matter in court or, depending on what state you’re in, you’ve got the Fair Trading Tribunal,” White says.

No claim without cover

While the steps we’ve outlined above may very well help you overturn an insurer’s initial negative decision, there’s very little that can be done if you don’t have appropriate insurance in the first place.

“It’s hard to believe, but lots of people make claims when they don’t actually have insurance,” says White. “Or they’ve insured their business but they haven’t insured themselves for theft or business interruption.”

Contact us for expert advice on insuring against the risks your business faces.

Important note – the information provided here is general advice only and has been prepared without taking in account your objectives, financial situation or needs. 

Risk Broking

Pay your business insurances by the month

/in , /by

Cash flow is the key to survival of any business. Without sufficient cash flow it becomes very difficult for even the most profitable business to avoid financial disaster, or at the very least achieve its true potential.

When economic times are challenging, business leaders should be seeking ways to improve their cash flow and preserve their working capital at every opportunity. One of the easiest ways to do this is by paying your business insurance by the month through a premium funding facility arranged by your insurance broker.

Premium funding companies lend you the amount required to pay your insurance premium and pay it on your behalf. You then repay the premium funding company in monthly instalments over a period of typically 10 months.

The premium funding company charges a flat interest rate on the amount of the premium that is fixed for the term of the loan. And as the loan is secured by the insurance policy in most cases, no security is required. This ensures that applications are simple and processed quickly – usually within 24 hours.

The interest charge is usually tax deductible as a business expense.

Talk to us about preserving your business cash flow with premium funding.