Cheap insurance – deal or no deal?

Like many things, insurance is a highly competitive industry often fuelled by discount price wars. This tactic can often sway your decision when purchasing business insurance, but making sure you know what you’re getting is essential.

In this article, CORGI Insurance Services is discussing how to choose your business insurance to ensure you’re correctly covered, however competitive the premium.

You get what you pay for

Your annual insurance premium is based on the type of cover needed and takes into account any additional cover bought for extra protection. Insurance companies will compete on price for the cover you need, however others may compete on cover, offering you reduced protection with a cheaper premium. To know if you really are getting a good deal, it’s essential you compare your insurance quotes against ‘like for like’ cover, to ensure you’re not sacrificing the correct level of cover for the sake of price.

Conducting a risk assessment of your business can be vital in determining how much cover your business will need. The information provided in the assessment will help establish the actual value of your property, the level of liability cover needed and helps identify extra risks that may require additional cover, which you can then use to buy your insurance.

For example, a risk assessment will tell you if your business is in a high-risk flood area, so you’ll need to check that flood damage has been included in your policy. This can often increase your annual premium, however not being covered for this could be devastating.

Always check your policy

When you receive a quote, check through all the information thoroughly to make sure you’re provided with the correct level of cover.

If, for example, your business is located within a listed building, the rebuild value of the property will be much higher than an average property value. If your policy doesn’t provide a high enough rebuild value, and your property was badly damaged, you would be classed as being underinsured, resulting in a reduced claim payout, which could end up leaving you out of pocket.

You should also look out for any additional extras that have been added onto the policy, as it’s not always for your benefit. Don’t be afraid to question the policy.

And what about price?

If you’re offered a premium that’s noticeably cheaper than other policies, always check:

• The policy covers all types of work carried out in your business.
• The excess isn’t exceedingly high so if you claim, you’re not out of pocket.
• Your employers’ liability is based on the correct number of employees under your supervision.
• The rebuild and replacement cost on equipment and property is correct, to avoid underinsurance.

Be vigilant

When choosing an insurer, be sure to understand what you ‘are’ and ‘are not’ covered for and read the small print! If in doubt, call your insurance provider and ask them about your policy or contact CORGI Insurance Services.

Contact us…

For more information, or a free insurance quotation, contact the CORGI Insurance team on 08457 58 51 60 or email corgi-insurance@ars.aon.co.uk.