Insurance World

If you manage a small business you’ll dread the possibility of a member of your team being be taken seriously ill or dieing. Apart from the personal upset, your business would be hit hard. Sales or production could take a dive, key skills could be lost and the general pace of the business could fall. All this costs the business money.

Insurance is available to offset those financial risks, risks that can be especially serious for smaller businesses. After all in smaller businesses other employees can’t be moved across to fill the gap - there’s simply no one spare. So the problem remains until the person either returns to work or is replaced.

If the person is off sick with a serious illness such as a stroke or a heart attack you simply don’t know when, or if, they’ll return to work. It could be a month, six months even a year or more. Management is then caught in a cleft stick. Do you take on a temporary employee, contract out or recruit a permanent employee? Or are you forced to tread water and wait for matters resolve themselves? That’s risky. And how much will all this cost the business in terms of extra overheads, lost sales and profit?

Keyman Insurance has traditionally absorbed these very real financial risks but nine out of ten small businesses still don’t carry that insurance. It’s either because they haven’t addressed the problem or they’ve found Keyman Insurance to be too costly.

A Simon Briault, a spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses said, “In an ideal world, small firms would be insured against everything, but reality demands the businesses prioritise threats and occasionally take risks”.

But there is a cheaper alternative. It’s called Group Critical Illness Insurance. And it’s about half the price of normal Keyman Insurance!

With Group Critical Illness Insurance, the management decides which employees to insure and how much to insure them for. The business then pays the premiums and receives any lump sum payout. A claim can be made as soon as any of the insured employees are diagnosed with any critical illness which is scheduled within the insurance policy. As you would expect heart attacks, strokes and cancer are the biggest three biggest reasons for a claim but the full list of insured critical illnesses is much longer. For example, kidney failure, meningitis, paralysis and even blindness.

The important point to realise is that to make a claim, the insured employee must survive at least 28 days after their critical illness is diagnosed. (Some insurance companies have now reduced this to 14 days so please check before you buy.) Therefore, if the employee were to die before the end of the survival period, any claim would be invalid. In that context, it’s not as comprehensive as full Keyman Insurance – but at around half the price of there has to be some compromise!

Simon Burgess, the MD of British Insurance says: “Group Critical Illness Insurance is a real alternative to full Keyman Insurance - and at around half the cost, it’s great value for money. If managers find Keyman Insurance too expensive there’s little excuse for not covering the biggest part of the risk with Group Critical Illness Insurance. Don’t pay the price for apathy”.

Nowadays auto insurance is the ideal way to ensure a good life for yourself and your expensive vehicle. Auto insurance keeps safe your huge amount of money spent on your automobile. But on the same hand, auto insurance is also quite expensive. However there are different types of auto insurance policies available today. It is at an individual’s discretion which policy he can afford to adopt.

1.
Fully Comprehensive Auto Insurance Policy Types- though this policy is the most expensive one yet it is the most widely adopted type of auto insurance. This is so because the insurance provides compensation or covers all sorts of cases such as theft, accident, wear and tear etc. If unfortunately an accident occurs where you were not at fault while the other driver who did the accident does not disclose his and his insurance details; you ought not to worry. For being a policyholder of the fully comprehensive program, you can register an insurance claim against your insurance company. But while taking this policy one essential thing should be borne in mind. There are a few auto insurance companies that do not insure your vehicle 100% of its value but of 80% or so. Even though many companies defend their policy as a measure to prevent themselves from fraud cases etc. yet try your bets to find the agency that insures your vehicle 100%.

2.
Third Party, Fire and Theft- this type of insurance is basically meant for those car owners who have had finished their car loans but still admire, cherish their car and have great sentiments attached to it. This policy is somewhat akin to the fully comprehensive one but not identical to it. For like the latter the former covers cases of theft, accident, fire etc. but in case of an accident you can receive compensation only when you were at fault and had hit another car. So if any other car hits yours or you by mistake bang t in the garage, the insurance company will not come to your financial aid.

3.
Third Party Insurance- it is the insurance that is the cheapest of all and covers only cases of accident where you were at fault and hit a third party. The insurance company is not to be contacted in case of any other mishappening with your vehicle. This insurance policy is generally preferred by those who own an old and less pricey car or any other vehicle.

4.
Specialized Car Insurance- is basically for cars categorized as classic, those that are 25 years old. These cars are insured as classic and so accordingly they have their requirements and services. The classic car insurane policy can be said to be as good as the comprehensive one but the only drawback associated with it is that it limits the policy taker to a limited number of road miles he can drive in any given year.

Ultimately it is at the discretion of every individual which policy he desires to take. It is advisable to sort out one’s requirements and budget and also make a survey of the auto insurance policies in the market before actually grabbing a policy.