Would your business survive the loss of a key employee?

If you’re the owner or director of a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), you will know that losing one of your key employees could have significantly detrimental consequences for the business. In a survey just published by Legal & General, 40% of SME directors said that their company would cease trading in under a year if they lost the business owner or a key employee. And yet 50% of SMEs do not have any cover in place. Is your business one of them?

What is business protection insurance?
Business protection can help protect your business from financial losses incurred as a result of an owner or key employee dying or being diagnosed with a terminal illness which makes it impossible for them to work. So your business can continue to trade by ensuring that key individuals can be replaced, debts can be repaid and shares can be purchased from the deceased owner’s estate.

Which of the following would damage your business the most?
1. Photocopier breaks down.
2. Vandalism of premises.
3. Company car stolen.
4. Computers stolen.
5. Business owner dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Are you insured for the most damaging event?
Photocopiers have servicing agreements, your premises and computers are covered by buildings and contents insurance, your company car by motor insurance. But is your most valuable asset – you or your business’s owner – covered?

What questions should I ask?
Take a few minutes to run through the following 7 key questions which might help you decide whether you need business protection or not.

1. Does my business rely heavily on one or more key individuals?
2. Could my business survive without those individuals?
3. What could go wrong if the business owner were to die or be diagnosed with a terminal illness?
4. How would I – or the board of directors – retain control of the business?
5. Is there a documented agreement in place about what would happen?
6. How much money would I need to keep the business going?
7. Where would that money come from?

Next Steps
It pays to consult a specialist business protection insurance adviser like Marchwood IFA. We can’t protect your key employees from injury, illness or even death, but we can protect your business from the after-effects.

If you’d like to find out more about whether you need business protection insurance – and about its benefits and limitations – please contact us on 01243 532635