Reviewing your business insurance

Insurance is something that most business owners set and forget. They simply don’t think about insurance unless they need to use it. Like your business, your insurance needs will change over time. It is a good idea to review your coverage periodically to make sure that you are not paying for insurance that you don’t need and, more importantly, that your assets have adequate protection.

When to review your business insurance

As your business changes so do your insurance needs. Here are a few specific situations where you should always review your insurance policy:

• Change in size – If your business has grown or shrunk dramatically your insurance needs will change as well. Factors like hiring more employees or adding locations will likely impact your coverage needs.
• Location change – When your company moves locations you may need more or less coverage than you currently carry simply because different locations carry different risk factors.
• New innovations or technology – if your company implements the latest and greatest innovations or technology it is a good idea to look at your coverage to ensure that these new innovations are covered.
• Annually – even if you haven’t experienced any major changes in the last year it is still recommended that you evaluate your business insurance annually. In doing so you can close any gaps that you might have missed previously, and you also have a chance to evaluate your premiums or shop around.

What does a business insurance review include?

During the business insurance review process, you and your insurance broker will sit down and evaluate a number of components related to your business. Most of this evaluation comes down to risks and how to mitigate risk with insurance.

• Personnel Review — You should review whether you have gained or lost employees or if you are allowing people to work from home.
• Equipment Review – if your business has purchased vehicles, computers, machinery, or any other piece of equipment after your last insurance review you may need to update your coverage.
• Technology Review – Living with the internet provides additional costs and risks for business owners. You will want to ensure that you have insurance protecting against hacking and reducing your liability in case of a breach of security.

Business insurance review for remote and hybrid teams

Many businesses have shifted some or all of their operations to remote or hybrid arrangements over time. If part of your team now works primarily from home, connecting via video call rather than in person, that shift is a strong trigger for a review. To support remote work, you've likely purchased additional technology — items like laptops, microphones, and software packages. Some of these changes may be permanent, others temporary, but either way, your coverage should reflect your current setup.

Conducting a business insurance review when your team shifts to remote or hybrid work can save money and ensure you're covered for new liabilities. For example, you may not need as much liability coverage on your building itself if fewer employees are using it day-to-day. However, you may want to shift that coverage to your technology instead. This ensures your premiums are going towards the parts of your business that actually need protection, rather than paying for coverage you no longer use.

Wrapping up

Up-to-date insurance protects the business that you have worked so hard to build. Conducting a business insurance review annually or after any major changes in your business is a good way to save money on premiums and to ensure that your business is not leaving anything to chance.