Every manager is concerned about protecting his company from disasters that can always disrupt his business. So the choice of professional insurance adapted to the type and size of the company is a crucial decision. Compulsory or optional, professional insurance differs according to the trades concerned, the risks to be guaranteed or the extent of the desired coverage.
Summary
Compulsory professional insurance
In some cases, professionals have no choice. Certain professions must in fact take out professional indemnity insurance. These are so-called regulated professions, the exercise of which is conditioned by the possession of specific diplomas, the issuance of approvals or registration with a professional order. In this category, we find health professions, legal professions and even chartered accountants.
Professional civil liability insurance covers all damages and losses caused by the company to a third party. The ten-year guarantee insurance is another compulsory professional insurance.
It concerns the building and construction trades. It covers, for ten years, certain damage caused to the building. To be covered by this insurance, these construction defects must threaten the very solidity of the building or render it unfit for use.
In addition, companies are required to take out specific civil liability insurance for their entire vehicle fleet. This obligation extends to all types of vehicles, whether cars, motorcycles, construction machinery or even industrial trucks. On Assurancedesmetiers.com, qualified professionals share their professional insurance expertise with you.
Basic protection
Apart from the situations already mentioned, professional insurance remains optional. However, it is obvious that a business leader has every interest in protecting his company against the risks and hazards that can threaten his activity.
Even if his profession does not oblige him to do so, he will do so first by taking out professional liability insurance. It represents, as we have seen, the basic guarantee for the company. In this respect, operating civil liability represents an interesting extension of cover. It indeed covers the entrepreneur in the event of damage caused to third parties in the course of an activity organized by the company, but occurring outside the service itself.
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If the entrepreneur wishes a more extensive guarantee, he can choose a multi-risk professional insurance. As the name suggests, it offers full coverage. In this case, in fact, the premises of the company, the goods or the professional equipment are covered. This insurance also includes the manager’s civil liability, compensates for operating losses and offers legal assistance. Depending on the contracts, other guarantees are also provided.
More targeted guarantees
Other professional insurance policies have a more specific purpose. Some allow optimal protection of professional premises. This insurance intervenes, to compensate you, if your premises are affected by a fire, an explosion or a flood. Other events that generate losses can be taken into account, such as natural disasters or acts of terrorism.
In addition, a business manager may be required to engage his personal civil liability. This will be the case if he commits a serious fault separable from the performance of his duties. If, in this case, he has taken the precaution of taking out directors’ liability insurance, he will not have to start his assets to compensate any victims.
Following a disaster, the activity of a company can be interrupted. In this case, taking out insurance covering operating losses can provide you with essential assistance. It allows you to pay salaries or loan interest and to meet all the costs necessary for the resumption of activity.
Computing has gradually extended to all areas of business activity. The protection of computer equipment is therefore crucial. There is, again, a specific insurance, which guarantees your computers against damage that can deteriorate them. It even makes it possible, most often, to take charge of operations aimed at recovering computer data.
Companies whose activity may be harmful to the environment are liable for any damage. It is therefore in their best interest to take out environmental liability insurance, which covers them in the event of a problem.
How to choose professional insurance?
The type of insurance chosen will vary first, most often, depending on the type of activity carried out. Certain professions, such as regulated trades or construction trades, are required to take out a certain type of insurance. Other contracts are more suited to artisans or farmers.
It is then necessary to assess as accurately as possible the risks that, given its activity, the company may run. If, for example, the activity of the company is very dependent on computer equipment, or if it can involve risks of pollution, it will be necessary to choose a type of professional insurance adapted to these particularities.
This done, it is important to read the contract very carefully, so as to verify that the guarantees offered cover the risks envisaged. Most often, the amount of compensation is subject to a cap. This is another point which should attract your attention. During the reading of the contract, do not miss either to locate the paragraph devoted to the deductibles. These sums payable by you are fixed or calculated according to the importance of the claim.
Before choosing your insurance, also pay attention to the exclusions of guarantee it includes. In this regard, each contract provides for specific exclusions, which it is important to be familiar with.
Finally, the cost of professional insurance is of course a decisive selection criterion. It is difficult to set an average price, because it varies between companies. It depends in particular on the size and turnover of the company, as well as on its status and sector of activity.
The cost of professional insurance is also conditioned by the nature and level of the guarantees provided for in the contract. The amount of compensation provided by the insurance may still play a role in determining its cost. It will be higher in particular if the amount of the deductibles is lower or if the ceiling of guarantees is higher.
