Australian Immigration Daily News

You probably already know that running a business can be rewarding, challenging, but at times it can also be incredibly stressful. While you are driving your own direction and the upside can be great,   there are a lot of outlays to make and deciding where to direct your limited resources (time and money) can be tricky.  It’s no surprise that it can be tempting to put your money toward areas that are going to generate revenue and put off spending in other areas. But hold on! There are some serious considerations to think when it comes to insurance.

While on the surface insurance can look like an expense it is more of a protection plan – looking after your business' livelihood should the unfortunate occur (and keep in mind that unforeseen could be costly).

The variety of incidents and claims that a small business can come up against vary markedly – you need to consider it’s not just accidents like slips and falls but also through to claims for property loss or damage, disasters and even cyber threats.

To help you work through some of the aspects we’ve listed some considerations.

To start with is insurance mandatory for your business?

It’s important to note that as a migration agent in Australia you are required to hold Professional Indemnity for at least $250,000 (section 292B of the Migration Act 1958).   This will help protect you against claims made for incorrect advice you may give out to your clients. As a benefit for Migration Alliance members, BizCover offers a discount of 38% on your Professional Indemnity Insurance – simply note MABIZ001 when you quote with us.

Also, if you rent business premises, public liability may be a requirement from your landlord.

The need to protect yourself and your assets?

Regardless of whether your landlord requires you to hold public liability insurance, it should be a consideration if you have clients or other members of the public coming to see you or you visit others during the course of your business.   Unfortunately society is becoming more and more litigious, and as business owner you could be in the firing line if someone injures themselves or damages their property in the course of you going about your business.  

A major question - how would you keep your business going if you suffered a serious incident?

Unfortunately sometimes in business serious stuff happens. If your office was damaged by a major incident such as a fire, how easily would be able to get back to work and service your clients?  If the answer is not very quickly, consider business insurance for cover of contents and equipment, or business interruption insurance.

The business of tax audits

You may have recently seen or read that a recent focus of the ATO is random audits of 100’s of small businesses across Australia. Unfortunately even if your books are in top condition the audits themselves are generally time consuming and can be very stressful.  Time spent working with the ATO to giving them the information they need can mean taking your eye off your business and time away from the day to day running.   This is where having cover for Tax Audit can help you cover the cost of a professional to help you through this process.  You can read more about the focus on Tax Audits in this article: http://www.bizcover.com.au/insights/tax_audit_prep/

The rise of cyber crime

Understandably there are many small businesses who think their business is too small to attract cyber criminals. The truth in today’s world however is that size doesn’t count and all sized businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable – in fact almost 70% of Australian businesses experienced a cyber attack of some form in the last 12 months.

Hackers are on the lookout for businesses of any size with valuable data they can sell on the black market. The reason they are interested in small business is that the websites of small business are more vulnerable and are often used as loopholes to breakdown the security of other businesses. So they can become an easy target for things like customer data, intellectual property and bank account information.  Cyber insurance is an important part of your risk management plan as it provides protection against the expenses and legal costs associated with data breaches.

When setting up insurance it’s so important to get the right policies in place upfront. A quick review and check through the above points can help you get set up right to start with as well as to ensure your business is covered appropriately from a risk perspective. While you work through this process visit www.bizcover.com.au  who will be able to help you compare a range policies available to you and ensure you get the best price possible.

Copyright 2016 BizCover Pty Limited

BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975; AR 338440) is a corporate authorised representative of Mega Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 37 098 080 418; AFSL 238549). Please note that BizCover acts as the agent of the insurer in respect of the insurance products offered on this website and not as your agent. Any advice does not consider your individual needs. You should consider if the insurance is suitable for you and read the Product Disclosure Statement or policy wording before buying the insurance.