Turnover
If you’re in the retail business your turnover can affect the rating on your policy as turnover is indicative of footfall and the more the footfall in your premsies the more likely it is that someone may be injured.
Music / dancing
If you’re in the leisure sector like pub/ restaurant / hotel – things like dancing / live music events have a bearing on the insurer’s acceptance of your risk. The combination of music dance and alcohol is one that insures don’t generally like!
Occupation
Your occupation is a critical driver of the insurance rating for liability insurance.
Unfortunately in business insurance not all occupations are treated as equals – So if you are involved in what insurer considers as high risk ( eg construction / nightclub / tree feller then you pay considerably more for your cover . Conversely low risk occupations like those quote on our online site www.publicliability.ie for consultants and the like are rated very favourably by insurers for employers and public liability insurance.
Funny enough even within a given occupation you can have additional rating factors – Like a teacher who teaches music might be considered less risk than a teacher who teaches music and undertakes performances with their students – performances attracting additional charge because of increased risk with an audience in slips trips and falls.
The length of time or experience you have in the occupation may be a factor in some liability insurance – particularly in the higher risk occupations. More experience may mean a better risk – Not so much a factor in the low risk occupations like consultants.
Number of employees
Number of Employees has a bearing on your employer’s liability insurance and of course what work they actually undertake – Insurers arrive at an employer’s liability quotation by charging premiums generally on the wageroll of a company and they apply a percentage rate to the wageroll attributable to the various category of employees.
So in small company there may be just the one category of employee but in a larger company there may be a number of different categories of employee occupation and so the insurer charges varying rates depending on the wageroll and category of employee.
Geographic Location
Your geographic location can affect your rates, too – but not very often.
If your business is located in an area prone to high crime rates you may be charged an extra premium – but this generally is more applicable to property insurance – however geographical location can have a bearing if for example you have a business located abroad as the premium will reflect, apart from the above, the general claims culture and settlement process in the territory you have the business.
Limits and Deductibles (Excesses)
The higher you want the limits for your policy the more your policy will cost.
In certain policies and occupations taking an increased deductible or excess may lower the premium you pay. Generally this only applies in the more hazardous occupations and to larger businesses. (A deductible or excess is the amount you pay before your insurance benefits kick in.
Products liability
If you sell manufacture alter or repair goods then you may want product liability cover. Products liability is designed to protect you should you sell alter repair goods that cause injury to someone and they end up suing you – Products liability premiums will depend on what it is you do and what industry you are in/sell to – Also the territories you sell to and what turnovers you have for the various products. Products like medical devices / drugs / products in the motor aviation nuclear industries would all be considered high risk and special extra information is often sought.
Claims History
Previous claims is often a red flag for insurers but not in all cases. Some insurers evaluate claim histories on a case-by-case basis and a once off claim does not mean that they will not quote you. In certain instances it can be proven that a business takes more precaution if they have had a claim. If you could prove that you took further care to mitigate losses following the claim an insurer might consider you a better risk.
Risk Management
If you can demonstrate good risk management practices it can influence an insurer to accept your business at a competitive premium over an exactly similar business which doesn’t have the same good risk management – this is probably not a factor in a one man bad operation and becomes more a factor the bigger the business is.
Follow us for some great Risk Management tips for business over the coming weeks on our Facebook and blogs.