Our corporate insurance advice covers Group Insurance and Business Insurance. Group Insurance allows employers to provide insurance plans for their staff, including options for Income Protection Insurance (most common), Life Insurance and TPD (Total & Permanent Disability) Insurance. Business Insurance mitigates risk to businesses and provides stability, in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as death or disablement of owners, key people or guarantors.
With Group Insurance, employers pay insurance premiums through a central plan, and staff are covered for the term of their employment, or until a predefined date. Group Insurance is available for employers with as few as 15 staff, up to large enterprise companies. Premiums are based on the number of staff and the workforce profile.
Business Insurance is intended for businesses that plan to continue trading after the death or disablement of the nominated key person. The insurance may be purchased by the business, or individuals within the business, depending on the purpose. Business Insurance is purchased in addition to other forms of personal insurance, such as Life Insurance.
Asset Protection Insurance enables a business to repay loans of a company upon the death or disablement of a key person or guarantor, allowing the company to retain its assets (including property, equipment and acquisitions), and to protect any sources of guarantee (such as the family home). This is critical in the event that loans are called in by banks or lenders.
Ownership Protection Insurance helps fund equity transfer between the business owners upon the death or disablement of an owner. This ensures that the business can have a clear ownership and leadership structure going forward. This is particularly critical for partnerships, allowing the surviving partner(s) to buy out the shareholding from the family/benefactors of the former partner if needed. It also allows family businesses to be equitably restructured among the remaining family.
Revenue Protection Insurance helps to stabilise business revenue and to meet replacement costs, in the event of death or disablement of a key person. The key person often has unique skills or knowledge, requiring extensive training or hiring of staff, or even closures of certain aspects of the business. Customers may also switch to other businesses in the absence of the key person. Revenue Protection Insurance helps provides a stable revenue flow while these issues are resolved.
Group Insurance can represent an attractive benefit for staff, helping employers to hire and retain key personnel. Many plans also offer special features and incentives which encourage your workforce to stay healthy and active. Group Insurance plans also commonly have advantages over individual insurance policies:
- Group pricing premiums are generally cheaper than individual insurance premiums
- Policies may be available to individuals who would be declined or have higher premiums under retail insurance policies.
Business Insurance provides stability and protect for the owners, shareholders and staff of a business, and their families.
- As a key person, in the event of your death or disablement, you can ensure your family will either have steady ongoing business revenue (via Revenue Protection and Asset Protection), or their stake can be smoothly acquired by remaining business partners (via Ownership Protection).
- As a business owner, in the event of the death/disablement of a partner, you can quickly and safely resolve the business structure,with insurance allowing you to buy out the stake of your partner’s family or benefactors, while also protecting revenue and assets.
- As a business owner, in the event of the death/disablement of a non-owner key person (such as a director, or key manager or staff member), you can insure against losses in revenue or loans being called in.
- For staff of a business, Revenue Protection and Asset Protection allows the business to continue trading as a going concern, protecting their jobs. This also helps mitigate the effect of uncertainty on the business’ revenue.
There are a large range of Group Insurance and Business Insurance products available from many different Insurers, and the pricing, benefits and pitfalls of these products differ considerably. Detailed negotiation is needed to secure the best deals, while ongoing administration and claims management can consume significant time if not handled efficiently.
Perera Crowther Financial Services can help with the following:
- Explain in detail how Group Insurance or Business Insurance can benefit your business
- Find the best plans, considering price, features and insurer reputation
- Negotiate with insurers to secure optimal pricing
- Design information and communications for staff to increase awareness of the benefit
- Provide ongoing advice and support to staff as questions arise
- Provide ongoing regulatory and compliance advice
- Continually monitor the market for better plans
- Support claim handling and resolution when incidents arise.
We offer our strategic advice and tender services using a transparent fee-based schedule, which takes into account the size of your workforce, the specific services requested, and the term of ongoing support. This is in addition to the insurance premiums paid to the insurer, from which we will receive a commission for our product placement, review and claims handling services.
