hands up! if you read your insurance policies
It is safe to say that most business owners do not read their insurance policy documents!
To be fair they are pretty unreadable and not unlike, at least in complexity and length, the terms and conditions that we quickly scroll down and tick when signing up for a new software service.
The big difference of course lies in the severity of the penalty if your claim is not settled as expected.
Whether that is because you have misunderstood what risks you are covered for or you have not met your contractual obligations to insurers.
On the basis that you know your business better than anyone else, taking time to carefully read through your insurance policies means that you will be able to:
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clarify terms in your insurance policy that you don’t understand
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amend conditions that you cannot comply with
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mitigate policy limitations imposed on you by your insurers
Our short videoscribe below is called "Hands Up! If you read your insurance policies"
It aims to familiarise you with the basic anatomy of a multi-risk tech business insurance policy, even though there are no agreed formats, and provides simple guidance about what to look out for and where:
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Policy Schedule
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General Definitions
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General Conditions
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Claims Conditions
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Policy Endorsements
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Section Definitions
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Insuring Agreement (What is Covered)
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What is Excluded
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Section Endorsements
In a nutshell: we strongly recommend that you only interpret your coverage using the full policy document not just your "Policy Schedule” part or other summaries.
One major insurer has recently suggested that the majority (65%) of tech businesses, who use a broker, do not have the appropriate level of cover in place based on their unique requirements. Goodness knows what the figure is for tech businesses that go direct without access to a broker!
As specialist tech insurance brokers, we believe we are firmly in the minority "get it right" camp, as we put maximum effort into tailoring your policy wordings to your risk profile. But as we are always one stage removed from managing your risks, we do believe that you should know for yourself what your insurance contracts say.
Putting the same care and attention that you put into negotiating the terms and conditions of a Service Agreement with a customer will prevent disagreements and disputes with your insurance company.
Especially in today's challenging insurance market where capacity is being withdrawn, coverage becoming narrower and premiums are being increased.
Hands Up! If you read your insurance policies
we can provide quotes and arrange cover for these essential insurance policies:
1. Professional Indemnity Insurance
(also known as Professional Liability and Tech Liability cover)
Insures you for claims arising out of wrongful acts, generally resulting from mistakes or failure to perform.
Covers loss under civil law including by reason of an error, omission or negligent act committed in the conduct of the business during the policy period.
2. Cyber Risks Insurance
(first and third party coverage available)
Insures you for costs to restore information following a data breach incident, covers costs incurred as a result of an extortion attempt and indemnifies you against third party claims following failure to properly handle, manage, store or destroy data, transmission of a virus, defamation and infringement of intellectual property.
3. Directors & Officers Liability
(also known as D&O cover)
Insures personal and other liabilities in relation to running a business for directors, officers, supervisors, managers and others.
Covers Directors and Officers Liability allowed by law and corporate Liability with optional extensions for Employment Practice Liability, Pension Trustees Liability and Crime.
4. Intellectual Property Rights Insurance
(infringement and pursuit cover available)
Insures you for defence costs and judgements in respect of your Intellectual Property such as secret trade material, designs, domain names, copyright, trademark or patent (inventions) infringement claims.
IP cover available for first party loss of profit and increased cost of working where you have infringed other's rights.
5. Legal Protection Insurance
(also known as Legal Expenses cover)
Insures individuals or the business itself, in respect of legal costs associated with specified legal actions such as a HMRC tax enquiry, employee dispute, health & safety issue, property damage, tenancy agreement dispute and contract dispute over supply of services.
6. Property Loss or Damage Insurance
(also known as Material Damage cover)
Insures you for damage or loss to your property (including buildings if relevant) and/or equipment that you use in the course of your business whilst in an office, home or on another site anywhere in the world.
7. Business Interruption Insurance
(Loss of Revenue, Loss of Profits and/or Extra Expenses cover)
Revenue Loss cover insures your loss of income for the selected Indemnity Period.
Additional Expenditure insures you for additional costs incurred to continue operations while your property is being repaired or replaced after damage by a covered cause of loss.
8. Employers Liability Insurance
This is a compulsory insurance that indemnifies you for the cost of compensation for employees’ injuries or illness whether they are caused on or off site and where former employees may become ill as a result of their work.
9. Public & Products Liability Insurance
Insures you for legal defence costs and compensation that is awarded, following injury caused to a third party or damage caused to third party property arising out of declared activities.
10. Personal Accident Insurance
Insures compensation for death or bodily injury caused by accidental, violent, external and visible means, to any principal or employee noted in the policy either on a named basis or, for larger groups, on a job category basis.
Cover can be arranged for working hours only or full 24-hour cover.