Article by latest.insure

Wouldn’t it be simpler and easier if you could insure your whole business with a single policy?

There are two types of insurance that can do just that. This article will demystify industrial special risks insurance (known as ISR) and Business Pack Insurance, so you can consider which umbrella protection suits you best.

ISR insurance explained

Industrial special risks insurance is a great fit for fast-growing businesses, particularly those with expensive assets and which use specialised plant, equipment, or products. It covers:

• Property damage – malicious or accidental – often including internal and external glass breakage
• Natural disasters, weather events, fires, and removing debris afterwards, etc.
• Property in transit
• Theft
• Business interruption such as when you can’t access public utilities you need to operate
• Loss of land value, emergency or temporary accommodation and landscaping
• Rewriting your records, and more.

ISR cover has much flexibility to customise your cover to the unique needs of your business – ask us to outline what’s available. It will compensate your business if it’s costlier to operate, yet your turnover is down after a crisis. Usually the physical loss or damage needs to be covered by the policy before business interruption cover applies. This means you’ll reduce your downtime yet still have a cash flow until things return to normal. Importantly, there’ll be no grey areas about what’s covered and what’s not. We’ll look at your risk profile, the declared value of your assets, plus revenue and advise you on the amount of cover and premium.

Your other option: business pack insurance (BusPacks)

Business pack insurance is exactly as it sounds – a policy that cherry-picks elements from a number of different cover types. It gives you wide protection you can tailor to what your business needs. Areas that may be covered include:

• Property
• Business interruption
• Burglary and money
• Glass
• Liability
• Employee dishonesty
• Machinery breakdown
• Electronic equipment
• General property

Know the differences

At face value, ISR and business pack insurance sound similar, but they’re not.

ISR is your go-to policy for complex business setups. That’s usually companies with assets valued at between $5 million and $100 million. ISR cover can be tailored to the unique needs of your business. It’s perfect for companies that have multiple locations and operate across a number of diverse industries. ISR cover is sometimes called ‘all risks’ because technically, it covers everything except specific inclusions. But you’d know all policies have some exclusions, so won’t offer blanket protection.

Meanwhile, business pack insurance is ideal if your operations turnover less than $5 million per year.

We can demystify your policy options. For instance, if your business is on a growth trajectory and becoming more complex, and you expect to surpass an annual turnover of $5 million, then ISR cover may offer superior protection. It’s considered the widest and most flexible policy for business property.

Apart from the $5 million threshold, here are the differences in a nutshell: ISR is akin to all risks insurance, while business pack insurance is more about cherry-picking what you want to be covered. Let us guide you on which option works best for your risk profile.

For information, resources and advice from trusted business insurance brokers in Melbourne, call McKenzie Ross Insurance Brokers on (03) 9691 2222.