Businesses are being urged to review their insurance policies as Queensland marks one year since the January floods
January 20, 2012
Businesses are being urged to review their insurance policies as Queensland marks one year since the widespread flooding which ravaged the south-east last January.
According to the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), one in every 500 businesses will suffer from a natural disaster in Australia while 43 percent of businesses that experience a natural disaster never reopen.
“This is a timely reminder to Australian retailers that they’re operating in a land of fire and floods, and the consequences of cutting down on insurance costs means they could find themselves underinsured,” ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman says.
“Many retailers find out too late they don’t have the insurance cover they need to rebuild their businesses after a fire or flood, which is a sad realisation given they could have recouped their business by insuring to the full value of the business,” Zimmerman says.
He says that the benefits of insuring to the full value of the business outweigh the costs if and when disaster strikes, and suggests that retailers engage the assistance of an insurance broker who has specialised knowledge.
“An insurance broker is also able to incorporate business interruption insurance into an insurance policy, which puts the business back in the same financial position as it was before the loss- given retailers have to pay employees, meet customer needs, pay off debt and maintain a lifestyle this is more than worth considering.”
Zimmerman adds that ARA Insurance Services will perform a health check for new members of the ARA and existing members upon membership renewal.