If you’re a freelancer, sole trader, or microbusiness, you need the right insurance in place to cover any risks relating to your business operations.
The main types of insurance you should consider are <purple>General Liability<purple> and <purple>Professional Indemnity insurance<purple>.
<purple>General Liability<purple> (sometimes referred to as PL) covers you for Public Liability and Product Liability risks.
<purple>Public Liability<purple> insurance protects you and your business against the financial risk of being found liable to a third party for death or injury and/or loss or damage to their property. We’ll cover legal costs and any compensation claims, so you can defend yourself without going out of business.
<purple>Products Liability<purple> insurance protects you and your business if you sell, supply, deliver, or even repair goods. It will cover possible claims against you where your goods have caused injury, death or damage. Products liability insurance protects you if any of these events happen to another business or person by the failure of your product or the product you’re selling.
If you are a professional who provides advice or service to clients you need <purple>Professional Indemnity<purple> insurance (sometimes referred to as PI). This insurance protects you if someone alleges that you've made a mistake, overlooked a critical piece of information, misstated a fact or they have misinterpreted you in the course of your work, resulting in a financial loss.
The good news is that Sami can offer a combined policy with all of these types of insurances bundled together for most occupations.
The other types of insurance you could consider are:
Every business has risks – including side-giggers. You want to make sure you have the right insurance in place to cover any risks relating to your business.
Some side-giggers may think that they have coverage under their Home and Contents insurance. Quite often this is not the case as many insurers will not cover any business activities conducted from the home under Home and Contents insurance.
One of the most important insurances you should have to protect your business is Liability insurance (General Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance).
The good news is that Sami can offer a combined policy with these types of insurances bundled together for most occupations.
Refer to the section What insurance do Freelancers, Sole Traders and Microbusinesses need? for further information.
PI or Professional Indemnity insurance is designed for any professional who provides advice or services to clients.
This protects you if someone alleges that you've made a mistake, overlooked a critical piece of information, misstated a fact, or they have misinterpreted you in the course of your work, resulting in a financial loss.
Whether or not the allegation is true, Professional Indemnity seeks to protect your assets and reputation. We’ll pay for your legal defence, as well as any judgements or settlements you owe to the suing party, up to policy limits.
Any professional who provides advice or service to clients needs Professional Indemnity. This protects you if someone alleges that you've made a mistake, overlooked a critical piece of information, misstated a fact, or they have misinterpreted you in the course of your work, resulting in a financial loss.
Every business is unique. Sami cannot offer advice on the levels of cover for PI as this may not be suitable for your personal needs or objectives.
However, we suggest you consider the following when deciding how much cover you need.
Sami can provide PI protection for levels of cover from $500,000 to $5m (up to $10m for Allied Health).
This will depend on your business activity and the size of your business, as these factors reflect the potential amount of risk. The cost will also be affected by the level of cover (or limit) that you choose.
Sami can offer levels of cover for PI from $500,000 to $5m (up to $10m for Allied Health occupations).
The good news is that the cost doesn’t increase in proportion to the level of cover. For example, if you choose $5m instead of $1m, you won’t pay five times as much.
Public Liability insurance protects you and your business against the financial risk of being found liable to a third party for death or injury, and/or loss or damage to their property.
We’ll cover legal costs and compensation claims, so you can defend yourself without going out of business.
A simple example of a Public Liability risk would be a third party being injured by slipping on a wet floor at your premises.
Every business has risks and Public Liability insurance is essential if you deal with customers, suppliers and other third parties.
Public Liability insurance protects you and your business against the financial risk of being found liable to a third party for death, injury, and/or loss or damage to their property.
For General Liability (referred to as PL, which includes Public and Products Liability), every business is unique. Sami cannot offer advice on the levels of PL cover as this may not be suitable for your personal needs or objectives.
However, we suggest you consider the following when deciding how much cover you need.
Sami can provide Public and Products Liability for levels of cover from $5m to $20m for most occupations.
This will depend on your business activity and the size of your business, as these factors reflect the potential amount of risk. The cost will also be affected by the level of cover (or limit) that you choose.
Sami can offer levels of cover for General Liability including Public and Products Liability, from $5m to $20m for most occupations.
The good news is that the cost doesn’t increase in proportion to the level of cover. For example, if you choose $10m instead of $5m, you won’t pay twice as much.
Similar to Public Liability insurance, this protects you and your business against the financial risk of being found liable to a third party for death, injury, and/or loss or damage to their property.
This difference is that Products Liability covers any claims arising from your products. If you sell, supply, deliver, or even repair goods, you should have this cover in place.
The good news is that Sami will offer Public and Products Liability insurance together to ensure you are covered for both of these important risks.
If you sell, supply, deliver, or even repair goods, you should have cover for possible claims against you where your goods have caused injury, death, or damage.
Product Liability covers you if any of these events happen to another business or person by the failure of your product or the product you’re selling.
Cyber insurance protects your business in the case of a cyber security or data breach. Our policies can cover financial losses suffered as a result of a breach, costs involved in incident response, third-party liability, and more.
Cyber insurance is of rapidly growing importance for small businesses as there can be many financial costs associated with a breach, including regulator fines and litigation where personal information has been compromised.
Many small business owners believe they are too insignificant to be targeted by cybercriminals. In reality, small businesses are easier targets as they often have weaker defence or response systems.
Incidents can also include something as simple as sending a confidential document to the wrong email recipient.
Cyber insurance should be considered by every business. Our computers and phones all bear some risk of being compromised simply because they are connected to the internet.
Staff can also be unknowingly manipulated by cyber criminals to divulge information or provide access to someone they believe is legitimately entitled to it.
These events can be costly to remedy – both in terms of repairing or rebuilding your systems, and also in penalties and compensation.
COMING SOON
COMING SOON
As a solo business owner, you don’t exactly get sick leave. If you can’t work due to an injury or illness, accident and sickness insurance will help you support yourself and anyone who depends on you.
Accident and sickness insurance is a must for any solo business owner. If you have an injury or illness that prevents you from working, you don’t get sick leave or compensation like an employee.
Accident and sickness cover will help to support you and anyone who depends on you, meaning you won’t have to rely on your savings.
COMING SOON
COMING SOON