Business Insurance packs explained

A Business Insurance Pack is designed to cover your business’s assets and equipment against events such as fire, storms and theft. Professionals and small businesses have varied needs when it comes to the assets they need to protect, and a Business Insurance Pack can be structured to meet these varying needs.

Below, we’ve outlined the various sections of cover under a Business Insurance Pack, and explained what they cover in more detail…


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Let’s learn more about Business Insurance…

A Business Insurance pack provides ten sections of cover to choose from depending on your business’s requirements. Let’s look at each section in detail and understand what it covers…

Section 1 Property

This section covers your business premises including Buildings and Contents or Stock kept at your premises.

Building:
This cover is available if you own or have contractual requirements as a tenant to insure the building. The policy will pay up to the cost to repair or rebuild the building if it is physically damaged, lost or destroyed by events such as fire, storm, earthquake, or malicious damage.

 

 

How can I work out the sum insured for my Property (building)?
The sum insured you nominate under your property section should reflect the cost to rebuild your building completely. This not only means the cost to rebuild the property itself, but additional costs such as removal of debris, architect & engineer fees and council fees. If you're unsure of how you can calculate this, a professional valuation may be of help to ensure you are insured for the correct amount.
What happens if I underinsure?
If you take out cover for Property, Business Interruption and Electronic Equipment, your sum insured must reflect new replacement value of the assets. If you do not insure for new replacement value, it means your assets may be underinsured, and in the event of a claim, the amount you are paid can be proportionally reduced in line with the amount you are underinsured

Contents:
Contents includes all contents at the premises including equipment, furniture, and any fixtures and fittings that remain at the premises. When determining the value to insure, an asset register kept by you or your accountant can be a good starting point.

 

What does Contents include?
Contents includes all Items owned by you which are kept on your business premises, but do not form part of the building structure - imagine tipping your clinic building upside down - everything that would fall out PLUS any fixtures and fittings which belong to you are classified as 'contents'.
What is the difference between Property and General Property under your Business Insurance policy?
The Property section allows you to insure assets that are located at the premises you conduct your business from, (the premises that is listed on your policy schedule) - ie the building contents and the building itself. General Property is intended for goods that you take away from your business premises, such as your laptop and mobile phone.

Stock:
Stock means all stock in trade, your merchandise and packaging at the premises, including raw materials, work in progress and property of others held on consignment.

Section 2 Burglary

This section covers your Contents, Stock and other property that is at risk of being stolen from the premises by forcible or violent entry. If you select this cover, you will be required to nominate a sum insured against the relevant property that you need cover for. In deciding the sum insured, consider what items within your business premises could easily be taken, such as stock, laptops, or other equipment.


 

 

What is the difference between Property Section and Burglary Sections of the policy?
Assets and items insured under the Property Section are covered for insured events such as fire, storm, earthquake and lightning damage. If you’d also like these to be covered for theft from the premises, then you will need to select the Burglary option.

Section 3 Glass

The Glass section provides cover for the actual cost of replacing and fixing glass into its frame or in its usual location at your premises if it is broken accidentally or damaged. It can cover windows, glass doors, showcases and glass counters.
 

 

 

Can I take out Glass cover if I’m a tenant?
Yes, sometimes tenancy agreements may require you to take out insurance for the glass at the premises. In the event of a claim, you may be required to provide a copy of your lease agreement.

Section 4 General Property

This policy section provides cover for the cost of repairing or replacing items that suffer accidental physical damage, destruction, or loss. Some of the items that can be covered under the General Property section are portable items such as your laptop, mobile phone, tablet and other equipment such as a massage table, gym equipment, therapy items.

 

 

What is the difference between Property and General Property under your Business Insurance policy?
The Property section allows you to insure assets that are located at the premises you conduct your business from, (the premises that is listed on your policy schedule) - ie the building contents and the building itself. General Property is intended for goods that you take away from your business premises, such as your laptop and mobile phone.

Section 5 Business Interruption – Income section

This is an important cover section since it is able to cover your loss of income if you’re unable to operate your business due to any insured damage that happens at your premises. Remember, insured damage means damage to your property when both the property that is damaged and the cause of the damage is covered by your policy under one or more of the following cover sections: Property; Burglary; Money; Glass or General Property; For example, if your business contents are damaged by a fire, and you’re unable to operate while they are being repaired or replaced, then during the time you’re out of action, your loss of income will only be covered under Business Interruption section if your policy included cover for the contents.

Section 6 Money 

The cover available under this policy section is not just limited to cash, but also includes cover for bank notes, currency notes, negotiable cheques, authorised gift vouchers, and more.

Section 7 Liability 

Public Liability is designed to cover you if you’re held legally liable for personal injury, property damage or an advertising liability to a third party in connection with your business. It is an important cover for any business that involves interacting with members of the public. Before you select this cover, it is worth checking whether you may already have this cover under other policies. For example, if you hold the Aon Professional Indemnity Insurance, this policy includes cover for Public and Products Liability. If in doubt, please speak to your Aon broker who will be able to assist you.

Section 8 Engineering Plant

If your business owns engineering plant such as boiler and unfired pressure plant or pressure pipe systems, this section provides cover for the cost to repair or replace them if they suffer any sudden or unforeseen physical damage or breakdown. This section is only intended to cover such plant and equipment which are located at your premises permanently, and not those items such as computers or other excluded plant There is also an optional extension available to cover deterioration of stock in cold storage. (*)

Section 9 Electronic Equipment 

This section provides two cover options for your electronic items such as laptops, computers, and other office equipment. Material loss or damage (Part A) covers the cost of repairing or replacing the insured property that is damaged at the listed premises or within Australia. Breakdown (Part B) covers the cost of repairing or replacing damage caused by a breakdown. There is an optional extension available under both parts for the costs of restoring electronic data or software that are physically damaged as a result of insured damage that occurs to the property on which such data can be stored. . (*)


(*) All items covered under the Engineering Plant and Electronic Equipment sections must be insured for new replacement value in order to avoid the potential application of the underinsurance clause. Both the Engineering Plant & Electronic Equipment sections do not cover you for expendable items, and parts that are normally not re-used and require frequent or periodic replacement.

Section 10 Employee Fraud 

This section provides cover up to the sum insured for the value of any property, including money, belongs to you or which you are legally responsible for, that is lost as a direct result of employee fraud.

FAQs

Questions to ask yourself

Here are some FAQ's most commonly ask by peers with in your field.
How much should I insure my contents and general property for?
Your contents and general property should be insured for new replacement value. This means you need to work out the cost to replace the contents with brand new items that have a similar function, output and construction to that of the original property when it was new, or in the case of general property, the same features or features that are nearly the same as (but not less than) the item being replaced.
How can I work out the sum insured I need for my Building (Property)?
The sum insured you nominate for Buildings under your Property section should reflect the cost to rebuild your building completely. This not only means the cost to rebuild the property itself, but should also include any additional costs such as removal of debris, architect & engineer fees and council fees. If you're unsure of how you can calculate this, a professional valuation may be of help to ensure that you are insured for the correct amount.
What happens if I underinsure?
If you take out cover under the Property, Business Interruption and Electronic Equipment sections, you must take care to ensure that your sum insured or declared value reflects the new replacement value of the assets. If you do not insure for new replacement value, it means your assets are underinsured, and in the event of a claim, the amount you are paid can be proportionally reduced in accordance with the respective underinsurance clauses.
Explore more FAQs
I’ve received my documents, and my business name is incorrect, what should I do?
Please contact our team immediately to have your business name corrected. Remember that your policy should be in your registered entity’s name, and not just your trading name. All details such as ‘Pty Ltd’ as well as names of all owners/insureds must also be included. If these details are incorrect or incomplete, the claims process can become complicated, and a claim may even be denied.

I’m moving to another premises, what should I do?
If you're planning to move premises, you need to contact our team before you move to allow us enough time to update your address. If you move and don’t have your insurance updated, you could find yourself potentially uninsured, because you’ve been insuring the wrong premises.

What does Contents include?
Contents includes all Items owned by you which are kept on your business premises, (other than buildings and stock). Imagine tipping your clinic building upside down - everything that would fall out PLUS any landlords fixtures and fittings which you are contractually obligated to insure under the terms or a lease or similar agreement,

What is the difference between Property and General Property under your Business Insurance policy?
The Property section allows you to insure all of your assets that are located at the premises you conduct your business from (the premises that is listed on your policy schedule). General Property is intended to cover goods that you take away from your business premises, such as your laptop and mobile phone., to anywhere in the world unless cover has been limited to the situation shown in your schedule.

What is the difference between Property Section and Burglary Sections of the policy?
The Property section provides cover for items of property against accidental physical damage, destruction or loss and includes events such as fire, storm, earthquake and lightning. If you’d also like items of property to be covered for theft from the premises, then you will need to select the Burglary cover section.

Can I take out Glass cover if I’m a tenant?
Yes, sometimes tenancy agreements may require you to take out insurance for the glass at the premises. In the event of a claim, you may be required to provide a copy of your lease agreement.

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*All items covered under these sections must be insured for new replacement value. Engineering Plant & Electronic Equipment sections do not include cover for expendable items, or for wear & tear.