Managing Business Risks with the Right Business Insurance

Entrepreneurs face many challenges when operating a business: hiring employees, selling products, finding sources of financial backing, and more. Managing the challenges and risks constitutes a major element of your business. Most business risks can be managed with the right business insurance policy. Traditionally, companies use insurance to transfer these risks to an insurance company. The insurance company will then indemnify your losses when these events do occur.

Why does your business need insurance?

Though some business owners perceive insurance as a cost, it is invaluable in the instances when it is needed. For instance, any natural disasters such as a fire, flood or storm can bring an end to a business quickly. Insurance will minimize damages caused by such unforeseen events. There are some types of insurance that reflect the reputation of your company and make the owner look responsible, while others work to drastically reduce your overall financial risk.

• Liability Insurance: Liability insurance protects a company's assets and pays for obligations when there are legal liabilities. For example, if an employee gets hurt on your business premises or when there are property damages or injuries, this coverage will indemnify your business. There are two types of liability insurance: public liability insurance and product liability insurance. Public liability insurance protects your company from accidental injury and property damage claims. Product liability insurance protects business in the event a product causes bodily injury or property damage.

• Property Insurance: Property insurance protects your business premises from any potential damage or loss. This insurance covers your commercial building, business contents, equipment, and even inventories. You can repair or replace your business property, contents and equipment, if they are damaged, stolen or destroyed in a fire or natural disaster. This insurance will help your business keep operating when that property and business contents are damaged.

• Workers' compensation insurance: Workers’ compensation insurance covers medical treatment, disability and death benefits in the event an employee is injured or dies as a result of his or her work at your business premise.

• Business interruption insurance: Your business may suffer from lost income in the event of a disaster or catastrophic event. This type of insurance is applicable to companies that require a physical location to do business.

Business insurance is vital for any new venture and even successful businesses. Liability insurance and other business insurance policies will not only help you manage risks but they can also enable your business run efficiently. However, it is important to have the right business insurance in place. Contact a reputable business insurance provider to discuss your requirements.

3 Mistakes That You Are Making with Your Life Insurance Policy

Buying life insurance in a country like Singapore is one of the most important financial decisions you may have to consider. It is like leaving an inheritance for your loved ones when you die. A life insurance policy provides financial support for the livelihood of your family in the event of your passing. However, this insurance is not one of those “buy and forget” policies. You cannot just take it and forget about it until your family really needs it. If getting right coverage is important for your financial planning, then avoiding certain mistakes after you buy the right insurance policy is also vital for a secure future. Here are three mistakes you should avoid when it comes to your life insurance policy.

Forgetting to make a nomination

Singaporeans often overlook the process of making a nomination while filling their policy form. In fact, a recent survey has revealed that only 2% of life insurance policies have named beneficiaries while a whopping 98% of Singaporeans have not bothered to fill in that piece of paper. When you do not name a beneficiary, then it takes time for your family to receive the claims amount if anything unfortunate should happen to the insured. The insurer may be unable to determine a proper claimant, resulting in tussle among family members.

Mixing insurance with investment

Insurance policy and investment have different roles. Never mix them. Always keep your retirement savings and your life insurance separate. Although bundled insurance-cum-investment products do work for some customers, most people are not suitable for this bundled scheme. There is an old saying – “Stick with term and invest the rest.”The purpose of life insurance is solely for risk protection. If you have taken life insurance and you die, your nominee gets something. If you live, no one gets anything. It is a raw deal. Getting 'something' on maturity is driving many people to costly insurance plans that offer very little insurance protection. Instead of mixing investment and insurance plans, go for term insurance. It is the purest, cheapest and best form life insurance available in Singapore.

Keeping the policy on auto-renewal

The auto-renewal option offers peace of mind. Your insurance will automatically get renewed and chances of a policy lapse will not be there. However, auto-renewal can make your insurance plan more costly. As rates of life insurance products keep on changing, check on the current low rates offered by your insurer while renewing your policy. Take for example, you were a chain smoker when you bought the insurance policy, but now you have stopped smoking. Today, your insurance rate ought to be less than what you paid when you have purchased it.

To sum it up, you should always perform your due diligence before buying a life insurance policy in Singapore. Once you have decided which policy is best suited to your needs, avoid the aforesaid mistakes before and after buying life insurance to provide your family the financial support they need at an otherwise difficult time of loss.

3 Times Travel Insurance Would Be a Lifesaver

Frequent travellers in Singapore will know the importance of travel insurance and how it can protect them against the unexpected events. However, for some, travel insurance is just one more expense and they often ask the question – “Do we really need it?” In actuality, buying travel insurance is a smart move. Insurance is like emergency care for when things unexpectedly go wrong while travelling in a foreign country. Here are some of the more common examples of when travel insurance would prove invaluable:

1. When You Miss Your Flight

A missed flight might occur when a traveller cannot board their scheduled flight on time due to scheduling errors or unforeseen circumstances. There are many reasons for which one can miss their flight ranging from something as simple as getting into a traffic accident on the way, to having their passport stolen, or just being too ill to travel. Your travel insurance coverage for those missed flights will reimburse you for your non-refundable trip expenses. Remember, insurance cannot cover missed flights in situations where it is due to personal negligence, like when you forget your passport, waking up late, or reaching the airport late for security check-up.

2. When you are robbed abroad

Being robbed while on holiday is always a tragic circumstance, but having travel insurance can certainly lessen the impact it has on your trip. Travelers are easy targets of pick pocketing and robbery. It has been found that 33% of all travel insurance claims are for stolen personal property. Depending on the coverage you chose, important personal possessions and essential documents like your passport could be covered by the insurance. Some policies will also reimburse you for losses that you may incur due to a stolen passport. It is still advisable to report the incident to the police, and show the police report to your insurer when making an insurance claim.

3. Medical Emergency

Falling sick or getting injured on vacation or while on a trip to a foreign land is never a good feeling. Unexpected incidents, such as breaking an ankle trying something new, your child getting food poisoning or any other medical emergency, can turn a dream trip into a nightmare. However, travel insurance can ease the pain of such emergencies and reimburse you for all costs incurred during treatment abroad. Some insurers in Singapore even offer medical travel insurance plans that specifically protect you while travelling overseas. As always, make sure to check the terms and conditions section of your insurance contract to know for which emergencies you and your family are covered for while traveling.

Travel insurance packages in Singapore are not made the same and there are many different things to consider when buying travel insurance online or from an insurer directly. It’s important to make sure you are getting the right coverage so that when you get into any of the aforesaid situations, you can get your losses covered by your travel insurance provider.

3 Tips to Follow to Save on Car Insurance

Owning a car in Singapore is already very costly, so why suffer any further expense by paying more than you need to only our car insurance? With car coverage rates constantly rising in Singapore, it seems that premium prices won’t be getting any cheaper for car owners. That’s why when buying or renewing auto insurance, it is important to know what you are actually paying for, what you get in the event of an accident and how your premium rates are being decided by the insurer. Here are three ways to avoid getting financially drained by your insurance policy:

#Tip 1: Drive safely

In Singapore, driving safely will not just save your life, but it will also lower your premiums as well. It is thus important to maintain a good driving history with no traffic violations or accident records. If you have no claims nor accidents on your record, then your insurance company will reward you for being a safe driver who is not accident-prone. Your insurer may provide No-Claims Discounts (NCD) benefits, which will increase with the number of years you maintain a clean driving record.

#Tip 2: Maintain zero points on your license

You will be rewarded for not violating any traffic rules for three consecutive years by the Singapore Traffic Police. You can request for a Certificate of Merit from Traffic Police and show it your insurer to lower your car insurance premiums. This can save you up to an additional 5% on your car insurance in Singapore in addition to any NCD savings you are already getting from your insurer. Note: Car insurers also reward more mature drivers. If you are above the age of 30 years with more than two years of driving experience, you can get up to a 15% discount off premiums.

#Tip 3: Avoid the middleman

You can get your insurance policy directly from the insurance company or through an agent. Always avoid the middleman, and you will be able to save up to 20-30% of commission markup. The best way is to get car insurance quotes online from the different insurers directly so you can compare and save on car insurance. That will also help you understand the ideal coverage for your car, the right price and possible discounts/benefits.

Before choosing car insurance in Singapore, make sure you’re knowledgeable about any discounts and savings that come with it. The aforesaid tips will help you keep more money in your pocket and save costs on your car insurance premium.