As we charge into 2022, it’s time to bust a few myths about insurance cover. Here are five common ones that hopefully won’t surprise you.

Myth 1: Home insurance protects my home-based business.

Not necessarily. You should still check your policy for coverage even if clients don’t visit your home-based business premises as an exclusion may apply when it comes to claiming on your home insurance. The best protection is business-specific cover, which would cover areas such as: public, product and cyber liability, business interruptions, injury or property damage, income protection and machinery replacements.

Myth 2: General liability insurance is a one-size-fits-all solution.

This cover does protect you from loss, damage or injury to a third party arising from your business operations. However, you won’t be covered if a customer sues you, such as when there’s a privacy breach from your computer being hacked. Neither is your business protected if an employee is injured at work or they’re wrongly dismissed.

Myth 3: Our subcontractors have their own insurance, so we don’t need it.

It’s worthwhile checking your subcontractors have their own public and products liability insurance before they work for you. Make it a condition before they sign on. That will protect them, not you. If they injure themselves at your workplace due to your inadequate workplace safety setup and workflow, they may be able to sue you, resulting in a claim on your public liability insurance.

Myth 4: My personal vehicle insurance will cover my work use.

While personal car insurance may cover you for occasional business use of your vehicle, it won’t cover vehicles mainly used for the business. This is because business vehicles involve increased risks, as they are used more often, usually in heavier traffic, and on unfamiliar routes. Allowing your staff to drive your car or their own for business purposes may leave you and them out of pocket if they need to claim, whilst commercial vehicle insurance protects you from any legal claims arising from accidents while driving, where you or your employee are at fault.

Myth 5: It’s best to undervalue my property/assets because it’s cheaper.

Undervaluing your property and assets may allow for cheaper premiums, but you’ll have to pay the shortfall in increased excesses if you need to make a claim. So, in the long term, it’s more expensive and riskier. If you must rebuild your premises after a disaster, underinsurance could also leave you having to compromise on the size and fit-out unless you have funds to bridge the gap.

If you would like to know more about busting these myths and your business insurance needs, please CLICK HERE or contact us for more information.