As a business owner you don’t want to wait until you have a claim to find out how good your business insurance quote or policy is. Therefore it is important to know how you can compare one quote with the rest.
When comparing small business insurance quotes is it essential to compare the source of the quote.
For example, if an electrician wants to compare public liability quotes, a commercial property owner wants insurance for their buildings or an IT Consultant wants a professional indemnity insurance quote, what are the sources they can obtain a quote from?
Direct from Insurance companies
Small business owners can source business insurance quotes direct from insurance companies.
On the surface this makes sense to many ‘Start-up’ businesses as they perceive they can “cut out the middleman”. Prices indeed, especially for very simple risks where an insurance company has an “appetite”, can initially appear inexpensive.
On the downside insurance companies will only offer you one product – their own product. As a small business owner its then up to you to judge whether their product / policy is suitable for your business needs. Given business insurance policy Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) are typically 50 pages or more, this is a big ask for many small business owners.
Individual insurance company’s ‘appetite’ may change from year to year. So premiums can vary significantly from year to year. In some instances insurance companies will also ‘pull out’ of certain risks leaving small business owners to scramble to find suitable cover. Perhaps most importantly, when you initially make a claim there is no one to represent your interests with the insurer. It is up to you to argue your own case.
Business Insurance quotes online
Today small businesses can often source quotes quickly and easily by answering a few questions online.
This can be done with direct insurance companies and with ‘insurance platforms’ that are acting as an agent of the insurance company.
Often these online ‘Insurance platforms’ are subsidiaries of traditional full service insurance brokers. It can sometimes be hard to tell who these online platforms are representing – you or the insurance companies. You may need to read the fine print.
If you are able to obtain an insurance quote online immediately via a digitally automated response after answering a few questions online, there is a good chance that the platform is representing the insurance company and not you.
Compared to dealing directly with the insurance companies, these ‘aggregator platforms’ may allow you to obtain multiple quotes at the same time rather than just one at a time from an insurance company. However if they are representing the insurance companies the onus is on you to decide if the policy is suitable. You also may need to represent ‘yourself’ vs. the insurance company in a claims scenario.
Business Insurance Brokers Quote
Traditionally, many small business owners sourced their business insurance quotes from a local insurance broker.
The key advantage of using an insurance broker is that the business owner receives professional advice from an experienced qualified broker. The insurance broker obtains multiple business insurance quotes from multiple insurers, or for more complex risks, a broker would source suitable quote/s from specialist underwriter/s.
The insurance broker has a duty of care to the business owner to represent their interests, not the insurance companies.
The insurance broker also assists the small business owner in times of claiming.
As insurance brokers are often part of large broker networks, they can often provide base premiums that are competitive compared to the large insurance companies and direct insurance company agents / online platforms.
Insurance brokers typically charge a broker fee or administration fee. These fees can vary significantly from broker to broker. For medium and large businesses where advice and risk assessment is conducted, significant fees are appropriate, necessary and typically represent a moderate amount of the total policy values. With contractors, sole traders and small businesses, a broker fee of several hundreds of dollars can however potentially represent a very large part of the total policy.
Innovative insurance brokers offers small business owners value and service
Today it is possible for small business owners including contractor, sole trader and self-employed to have the best of the both worlds.
Small business owners can talk with a qualified insurance broker via phone, email or live chat so that they can help you obtain multiple business insurance quotes on suitable products time and cost effectively.
SMART Business Insurance brokers who are based in St Kilda Road in Melbourne help small businesses throughout Australia – including Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and all provincial towns, find suitable business insurance cost effectively.
SMART Business Insurance brokers are here to represent your interests when you need to claim, obtain competitive premiums and charge very reasonable broker fees. Whether you are a:
- Tradesman such as a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter or a concreter who wants to compare public liability insurance,
- Property owner such as shop owner, café owner or restaurant owner looking for business insurance including public liability and business interruption
- Consultant or professional after professional indemnity insurance
it is a SMART idea to talk to a business insurance broker at SMART Business Insurance broker on 1300 542 573, email info@smartinsure.com.au or enquire at www.smartbusinessinsurance.com.au about, cost effective insurance quote suitable for your business.
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General advice Disclaimer
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