Month: January 2012

Most businesses operating in Victoria will either require public liability insurance or could certainly benefit from it.

Public liability insurance helps to protect many Victorian businesses of all different types by insuring them against the financial damages of property damage or personal injury. Without the cover, many businesses would not survive such an event.

Public Liability Requirements in Victoria

The requirement for businesses to hold public liability insurance in Victoria is generally no different to the requirements in any other Australian states, however there are a few minor differences.

For example, plumbers in Victoria are required by law to hold public liability insurance, and the policy must include a special extra known as consumer protection insurance. This type of cover is unique and is only available from certain insurance companies.

This requirement doesn’t just cover plumbers who are based in Victoria, but all plumbers who conduct work within the state regardless of where they are based.

What is Public Liability Insurance

Public liability insurance helps to protect businesses in Victoria from financial damages relating to property damage or personal injury caused by the business to a third party. Personal injury can also include death.

Where you are liable for damages relating the someone’s financial loss, the insurance provider will cover the costs of the claim provided that it falls within the guidelines of your chosen policy. Of course you should refer to the PDS (Product Disclosure Statement) to ensure your chosen policy meets all of your needs before taking out the cover.

Public Liability Cost in Victoria

The cost of public liability insurance in Victoria is generally quite similar to most other states, but there are a few exceptions. Sometimes the cover will be higher or sometimes lower, depending on the insurer’s claims history in Victoria.

Stamp duty also differs between the Australian states, so the stamp duty paid on insurance policies in Victoria will also have a minor impact on the public liability insurance premiums Victorians pay.

The cost of your public liability insurance also depends heavily on the type and size of your business, but this is generally not impacted by the state or states that you conduct business in.

Public Liability Insurance Quotes

There are a number of ways for Victorian businesses to obtain quotes on their public liability insurance.

In the past many business owners dealt with a local insurance agent or broker. Today, and increasing number of businesses are going online to find the best quotes and advice on their public liability insurance.

Here at the Public Liability Insurance Australia website we help businesses in Victoria and all over Australia by finding them the best quotes on the public liability cover. We do this via our network of insurance experts located around the country.

If you would like to obtain a public liability insurance online quote we can certainly help. Simply complete our online form and you will receive your quotes via email or phone depending on your preference.

For more information on public liability please follow the links around our website or contact us to be put through to an insurance professional.

For many of us, public liability insurance is simply another expense that we have to pay as part of running our business. It makes sense then that you’d want the cheapest cover you can get.

Obtaining cheap public liability insurance has become easier thanks to the internet and online quoting websites that allow you to compare the public liability insurance cost between the various insurance providers.

Before we get into working out the cheapest public liability cover, we need to take a look at what this type of insurance actually covers for our business.

The facts on public liability

Public liability insurance is a fairly straightforward product when looking at its core features. Essentially the policy is designed to protect you from the financial consequences resulting from property damage or personal injury caused by your business.

Every public liability policy will cover this basic requirement, no matter how cheap the policy may be.

There are a number of extra benefits available with public liability insurance, but if you are simply looking for a cheap policy you’re probably not too concerned about extra benefits. If you would like to know about these options you can check out this handy guide we put together on the extra benefits available with public liability insurance.

The cover is generally available in amounts of $5 million, $10 million and $20 million, the more cover you require the higher the premium will be. If you are looking for cheap public liability insurance then $5 million cover will be the obvious option, but you still need to ensure that will be sufficient cover for your needs.

Is a cheap policy cheap in the long run?

Our own research with various businesses showed that many tradespeople did not actually care about public liability insurance, and were only taking out a policy to meet the requirements of their job. In this case the cheapest policy was always the favoured option.

Some businesses were more interested in the cover than others, particularly when the business owner and/or management understood the risks to their business, their employees and their own families.

We are all for helping Australian businesses find the cheapest public liability insurance, but it needs to be the cheapest policy that still needs all of the needs and objectives of the business. There is a big difference between the cheapest policy, and the cheapest suitable policy.

How we can help

Here at Public Liability Insurance Australia our mission is to make it easier for every Australian business to find the right insurance coverage for their needs.

In some cases this will mean a cheap public liability insurance policy, but our insurance experts will still work with you to ensure that you are taking out the right cover for your needs.

We’re all for the cheapest cover, and we’ll help you to find it, but the most important part is to ensure that any cheap public liability insurance that you take out is going to meet your needs when you need it most – at claim time.

To obtain a quote on your public liability insurance please complete our online quote request.

Getting quotes for public liability insurance is much easier thanks to the internet, and by comparing quotes you could save yourself hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year.

Back in the old days the only option for taking out public liability insurance was to use a business insurance broker. You would have to make an appointment and take time out of your day to meet with them, and you would have to rely on the broker to make the right recommendation and not be swayed by commissions.

Thankfully with the development of the internet and websites like ours, it is now easy to obtain a public liability insurance quote without all the hassle and time wasting.

How is a public liability quote calculated?

The insurance companies use a range of factors when calculating your public liability insurance cost. The basic information we will need from you includes the following:

• Occupation / business type
• Annual turnover
• Number of staff (if any)
• Amount of cover required
• State you are based in

This will enable us to obtain a basic public liability quote for your business.

For many occupations and business types there won’t be any additional information required that could affect your quote, however if you or your business undertake any activities which are outside of the norm the insurance company will generally want to know more.

Even if the insurance company does require more information to provide a quote, you will generally still be able to get an estimate on the public liability insurance quote amounts.

Obtaining a quote through our website

Our website was designed with one aim in mind, which is to make it easier for Australian business owners to find the best quotes on their public liability insurance and the ability to proceed with cover with the least amount of hassle.

When you request a public liability quote through our website you will be asked a serious of questions relating to you personally as well as your business. We use an intuitive form which adapts and changes depending on your prior answers, which enable us to get all the right information to get the best quotes.

Once your information has been submitted via our website your quote request will be sent immediately to one of our network of insurance professionals for review. The insurance broker will use the latest online systems to obtain your quotes and will then contact you via email or phone (depending on your preference) to provide you with the quotes.

If you are happy with the public liability quote provided you will have the option to proceed with the cover via the original licensed insurance broker that you first dealt with. That same broker will also be available for any ongoing assistance you require, especially in the event of a claim.

Don’t pay too much for your insurance!

Too many Australian businesses continue to pay too much for their insurance cover. For many business people it is simply too time consuming and difficult to research multiple public liability insurance companies and make time to visit insurance brokers.

Thanks to our website we can make it easier for you to obtain the best public liability insurance quotes in Australia, all from the comfort of your own desk and with the peace of mind knowing that you will be dealing with a licensed insurance broker to assist you as little or as much as you choose.

For more information please contact us, or if you are ready to obtain a public liability insurance quote simply visit our online quote system and follow the prompts.

Although public liability insurance provides a huge amount of protection for businesses, the basic concept behind the cover is really quite simple. In a nutshell, the policy will cover you if you cause property damage or personal injury to a member of the public.

All public liability policies have this same feature, indeed it is what makes a public liability policy what it is! But like other types of insurance, there is a growing number of added features and benefits offered by various insurance companies to make their policies more attractive.

In today’s article we will look at some of the optional benefits and how they can help to protect your business.

Tax Audit Insurance

A number of public liability policies now have optional cover for a tax audit. For some insurers this is an extra-cost option, whilst a select few are now offering this as a standard benefit at no extra cost.

The tax audit option means that your business will be covered up to a certain amount to cover the costs of a tax audit performed by the ATO.

The costs involved in a tax audit can be huge, mainly because of the amount of time it will take your accountant to comply with the audit. And of course, your accountant isn’t going to do this work for free!

Each insurance company has a different amount that they will cover. For example one popular policy will cover the full costs incurred provided that they fall within twelve months of the original audit date.

Some public liability insurance policies also include tax audit cover for a business director’s personal tax affairs. The insurance will only cover the accounting and professional costs of an audit, and will not cover any penalties or loss of income etc.

Customer Vehicles

Being covered whilst driving customer vehicles is very important to people working in the motor trades industry, but most public liability policies do not provide automatic cover for damage caused to a customer’s car during testing or deliver.

Optional cover for driving customer cars is treated differently by the various insurers. Some policies will cover the full cost of the car, whilst another policy only covers up to $100,000. If your business deals in high-end cars you will definitely need to look at the amount you are covered for.

Consumer Protection Insurance

Consumer protection cover is a special option that can be included in some policies. For certain businesses, such as electricians in Queensland, it is mandatory to have a public liability policy which includes a certain level of consumer protection insurance.

Other Features and Benefits

Each insurer has their own special features, benefits and options extras available on their public liability insurance policies. Some of these options are included for free to make the policies more attractive, and some you will have to pay for.

Some of the extra benefits are just nice to have, but some will be absolutely vital depending on the type of business you run, and even depending on the state you operate within in the case of Queensland electricians.

Public liability insurance is mighty important to all businesses in Australia, and with the right options you could get even more benefit out of your policy without increasing your public liability insurance cost by too much, or potentially without having to pay any extra if you choose the right policy.

The best way to find out which options are available to your business is to speak with an insurance broker who knows your industry and knows which features and benefits will be of most use to you and your business.

For more information on your public liability insurance or to obtain a quote, please get in contact with us or request an obligation free online quote.