Just when you thought you'd sorted out your business insurance, someone asks if you've got small business liability insurance. Well, thanks so much for that, not! Who would have thought that besides insuring your stock and your business premises that there were further policies to consider?

The thing is, when running a small business in New Zealand, you're exposing yourself, your employees and your clients or customers to risk. The level of that risk depends on the services or products you provide, but it's still there regardless. By keeping informed about the small business liability insurance cover available, we can make informed decisions for our businesses.

What Small Business Liability Insurance Do I Need?

When it comes to business insurance, just like personal insurance, there are lots of options. Let's consider each of them:

• Public Liability Insurance - the absolute must have business insurance cover, public liability insurance covers you for damages resulting from your products or services. It covers you for events such as damage to your client or another person's property or belongings and financial loss, death or injury to your clients or customers.
• Statutory Liability Insurance - this insurance cover will protect you if you inadvertently breach any of the NZ statutes. This includes the Health and Safety Act, so it is well worth talking to us to ensure you are fully covered.
• Professional Indemnity Insurance - if you provide a service as part of your business, professional indemnity insurance protects you financially if you face claims resulting from your service.
• Employers Liability Insurance - as an employer, you have additional risks to sole traders. Your business can be held responsible for the actions of your employees. It is also open for allegations of Health and Safety issues, sexual harassment, theft and fraud from employees and acts of misconduct.
• Cyber Liability Insurance - as we build and work with our businesses online, we are vulnerable to cyber-attacks such as ransomware, viruses and information stealing. Cyber liability insurance will help you with the financial costs if you do suffer from a cyber-attack.

We can help you identify the right small business liability insurance for your business. We're also here to help you identify risks you may not have considered and put plans in place to minimise your financial loss from these.

Give us a call today or book a time to meet with our insurance advisors. You'll be glad you did.