How to Get Superior Insurance: The 7 Must-Haves for Success. When it comes to securing insurance for your business, there are a variety of factors you need to keep in mind. Do you have the financial means to secure the premium? Do you have a dedicated policyholder who will manage your insurance needs regularly? And, most importantly, can you get coverage at an affordable price? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to getting cheap insurance as well as other insurance services. However, suppose you follow these seven must-have insurance requirements. In that case, it’s more likely that your company will successfully find great deals for affordable premiums.
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Have a Dedicated Insurance Agent
An insurance agent on-boarded full-time for your company’s insurance needs can take a lot of pressure off you. On top of handling the regular daily tasks involved in ensuring that you have everything you need to secure your policies, your agent can also act as a liaison between you and the insurance providers. This can reduce the number of follow-ups you have to make and help you focus on the core tasks of running your business.
This can result in enormous savings and better productivity. Suppose you can’t find an insurance agent willing to be a full-time dedicated agent for your company’s insurance needs. In that case, you may be limited to certain insurance providers. If this is the case, you will want to make a concerted effort to find other available providers. In many cases, it is possible to work with an insurance broker or third-party agency to help you find the best deals.
Yes, That’s a Required Box – Proof of Asset Protection
One of the first things an insurance broker or agent will ask you when they sit down with you is to complete a proof of asset protection (POAP) form. They are checking to make sure there is at least some asset protection in place. The POAP form is a more stringent version of a policy rider that is generally included in the policy.
In most cases, the POAP will require a minimum coverage of $500,000. On top of that, it will likely require a minimum coverage amount, i.e., a hard stop. Although asset protection is not required in all insurance policies, it is a must when securing insurance for a business. This is because if you don’t have any asset protection, the business could be taken over by a creditor in a matter of bankruptcy.
Show Good Financials
While you want to secure a policy at a reasonable price, it’s also important that you can show that you are financially able to keep the premium paid. Even if you can secure a policy at a great rate, the insurance provider may drop you when you prove that you can’t reliably pay the premiums. So, before you make the next phone call or email, it’s a good idea to look at your financials. Start with a quick scan of your business’s recent tax returns.
If there are any discrepancies or issues on the returns, resolve them before proceeding. Scanning your financials is a quick way to find any issues that could cause your application to be denied. Next, you can head to the accounting program of your choice and quickly review your company’s financials. Many accounting programs have a way to perform a quick financial analysis of your company and make sure everything looks on track.
Monitor Recent Policy Changes
One of the things you can do to ensure you get the best insurance rates is to keep a close eye on recent changes to the policies that are in effect. A new risk factor may have recently become more common in the general population. This could result in your policy being given a higher risk factor. The best way to keep track of recent changes is to set up a system to send you regular updates. You can use software like Zoho to send you email updates whenever there is any change in your insurance policies.
Evolve or Discontinue? Keep an Eye on Emerging Risk Factors
Finally, when you are out looking for new insurance policies, you want to ensure that you keep an eye on emerging risk factors. These risk factors did not exist before but resulted in a higher risk factor. For instance, a new risk factor may be associated with the type of building in which your business is located.
If that building was built in the last five years, it might now have certain construction defects that cause it to be at a higher risk factor. Keep an eye out for these emerging risk factors, and ensure that you are evolving your policies as needed. This can help to protect your business policyholders from future increases in risk.
Demonstrate That You’re A Serious Business
When trying to find affordable insurance for your business, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re a serious business. This means that you must actively maintain your insurance coverage and keep up with the reasonable costs of premiums. Suppose you leave your insurance coverage until the last minute or cancel it completely. In that case, you’ll find that you’re a lot more expensive to insure. Make sure you’re actively managing your insurance needs and that you’re keeping up with reasonable premiums.
Maintain High Standards of Service and Accountability
When you’re trying to find affordable insurance for your business, you’ll want to ensure that you maintain high service and accountability standards. This means that you should actively be keeping track of your insurance needs and ensuring that all policies are up to date and in compliance with reasonable coverage standards. If your policies aren’t up to date or are not compliant with reasonable standards of coverage, you may find that you’re costing yourself a lot of money with your insurance premiums.
Bottom line
Finding great insurance providers can take a lot of work. This can make it challenging to secure affordable premiums and protection for your financial assets. Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do to make it more likely that you find a great provider. First, you will want to ensure that you have a dedicated insurance agent on board full-time for your company’s insurance needs. Next, you will want to ensure that your financials show that you can pay the premiums. Finally, you will want to keep an eye on recent policy changes and emerging risk factors.