Businesses and organizations in Africa can be liable for various financial risks like property damage, legal liabilities, and employee-related risks during operations. Incidents like these can set your company back and can even lead to partial or complete closure.

By having a business or company insurance policy, a business owner can mitigate a lot of these risks. In most cases, it is often the core component shielding you from losing your company and main source of income.

What is Business Insurance?

It is a type of insurance policy that helps protect a business’s financial assets, intellectual property, and physical location from unforeseen events that can lead to huge financial losses. Simply put, business insurance helps manage your company’s risks.

However, deciding to get business insurance is only half the battle. It is just as important to know what types of business insurance are available and which ones you should get for your company.

So when you buy a company insurance policy, the insurance company like Priority Insurance Co. Ltd in Ghana helps cover the cost of the losses insured to your company. These losses will be covered up to the limits of your insurance policy and in accordance with your policy terms.

Business Insurance Importance

Business insurance plans can be especially useful for new business owners who do not have prior experience with business risk assessment. These plans help protect your company — and you depending on the type of business insurance — from professional and legal liabilities like fire, theft, general third-party liabilities, worker compensations, medical expenses, etc.

All of these damages can require you to pay out of pocket if you have not insured your company. These can be quite expensive, so it is advised that you get your business insured to mitigate these costs.

Types of Business Insurance Policies

• Liability Insurance Policies: Liability insurance protects your business from claims due to damages or injuries caused during business operations, by company products, or injuries or accidents that have occurred on your company premises.There are many types of liability insurance:
  • General Liability Insurance:This protects businesses against third-party legal liabilities resulting from damages and injuries to the third party, advertising injuries, personal injuries, and any injuries or damages caused by the business’s operations.
  • Public Liability Insurance: This plan covers you and your business from any damages or losses caused to a third party on your company premises.
  • Professional Liability Insurance: You and your business are covered against claims of professional negligence, errors, or omissions.Professionals like consultants, architects, engineers, lawyers, medical professionals, building designers, and accountants benefit from this type of liability policy.
  • Management Liability: This business insurance policy protects your company’s directors and officers against liabilities that are not usually covered under general and public liability policies.For example, these liabilities can be claims like allegations of misconduct directed at the company’s managers, directors and officers.
  • Contractual Liability: As the name implies, this covers you and your business from contractual liabilities resulting from you or your business entering into any contracts like leases, rental agreements, or other common business contracts.
• Property Insurance Policies: This company insurance policy covers losses resulting from theft or damage to your commercial property and its contents. This applies to personal and rented business spaces.Much like liability insurance, property insurance consists of many subtypes:
  • Building Insurance: Insures shops, buildings, offices, and other commercial properties from natural calamities, theft and other causes of property damage.
  • Consequential Loss (Fire) Insurance: As the name suggests, this business insurance covers losses specifically related to fires.
  • Sign Board Insurance: Covers accidental damages to sign boards and hoardings placed outside the commercial property. It also covers third-party liabilities in case the signboard causes damages to third parties.
  • Plate Glass Insurance: This covers damages caused to any large panes of glass on your commercial buildings, like your shop windows, glass doors, and transparent walls.
• Burglary Insurance: Covers losses due to theft of cash, jewelry and other company products. It also covers property damages incurred from the theft.
• Money Insurance: This insurance shields your business’s monetary transactions (cash, cheques, drafts, postal orders, etc.) in cases of theft, loss or accidental damage to your money during transit or when it is stored in a safe or cash counter.
• Fidelity Guarantee1 Insurance: This protects both you and your business from financial costs incurred from fraudulent acts from your employees during their employment.
• Electronic Equipment Insurance: This business insurance offers financial coverage for repairs and replacement in case of any damages caused to your business’s electronic equipment. This also covers damages to systems software.
• Commercial Vehicle Insurance: If your business owns any vehicles, it is mandatory for you to get commercial vehicle insurance. This will cover damages and losses caused to company vehicles and their owner/drivers in cases like accidents, fires, natural calamities, etc.This type of insurance covers passenger-carrying vehicles (cabs, autos, buses, etc.), goods-carrying vehicles (trucks, lorries, etc.), farming vehicles and construction and mining vehicles.
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance: As a business owner, you must purchase this insurance plan to operate your businesses in compliance with the Workmen’s Compensation Act.This business insurance policy compensates workers in case of disease, bodily injury, disability, or death caused due to accidents during their employment while performing their duties.
• Group or Employee Health Insurance: This type of health insurance plan allows employers to cover all of their employees under one health policy.These plans are significantly cheaper than individual health insurance plans and offer significant tax benefits, making them worthwhile investments. In short, they benefit you and your employees.
• Life Insurance Policies: Besides getting insurance for your business in Africa, most business owners are recommended to get a life insurance policy for employees. Companies that offer life insurance or term insurance for their employees are often regarded highly by the employees.So, if you are a business owner currently looking to buy a none-life insurance policy for yourself or for your employees, consider Priority Insurance Co. Ltd insurance policies.

Wrapping Up

Business insurance is an essential asset that can help shield you and your business from unexpected events and financial losses. Moreover, getting the right types of business insurance is one of the best things you can do to ensure your business’s longevity.

The plans stated here will give you a head start and provide you and your business with much-needed protection in today’s economy.

Written by Samuel Kwame Boadu, Founder of SamBoad