Monday 17 June 2013

General Liability Insurance: A Life-Saver for Small-Scale Business!

General liability Insurance is for not for small players; it is only for Big Players!” – “Only large corporations require such policies” – “I own a small business, so I have nothing to risk; why take out insurance coverage?”

Do you present the same arguments when someone suggests you to get your (small scale) business insured? – If the answer is yes, then it is high time to change your stance!

From day one since the whole concept of insurance came into existence it is widely believed that insurance is for risk-takers.

It is believed that such insurance plans are for someone who earns millions and has so much that a single instance of loss becomes irreplaceable – This isn’t true anymore!

No matter whether you head a million dollar company or a small scale household business – you are always at “risk” of getting into a financial or legal mess. With the lawsuits becoming a commonplace thing, any business owner can be faced with loss due to property or personal damage and can even be slapped with legal notices or compensation claims.

Once into the legal tangles, you may have to part way with your hard earned money in one way or another. And this becomes the last blow on your still-infant, small scale business; it is only with a strong monetary reservoir that you can turn things into your favor.

General Liability Insurance certainly acts as a protective padding; it mitigates the harmful effects of financial setbacks. You ask “how?” – Alright let’s take up an imaginary situation: You own a small manufacturing firm – Faulty machinery causes fire in the factory; and everything reduces to ashes – Though no one suffers any injuries – you still have to bear immense financial loss due to damaged property.

In the wake of such a grim situation; insurance provides a strong monetary back-up. In fact, you get a good amount with which you can again set up your business.

Apart from covering you from “property damage”; it even covers (financially) you, even if you are slapped with a legal notice or have to pay heavy compensation claims. There are many chances that due to your service or product, you may unintentionally cause grave personal harm.

Let us see another example – Somewhat similar to the above narrated situation: There is a fire in your factory – and it causes severe and fatal bodily injuries to the people working – You have to either pay for their medical expenses or in the worst case even pay a hefty amount as compensation.

These “liabilities” are covered by a general insurance plan, which helps you to quickly recover monetarily and hence the impact would be much less than expected. Your limited funds will not be directed in paying for damaged, lost or stolen property, neither will it be wasted away in settling the compensation claims.

Studio Coverage - Do I really need it?

For a professional musician, having a fully-equipped and modernized studio is perhaps a great achievement! Tess was on cloud nine when she got an opportunity to set up her own music studio – She has put all her savings and energy. But then one day, she woke up to the find her studio in flames. It was extremely devastating – It ruined her mental and financial health. This would probably be averted if she had got herself an insurance policy that provides complete Studio Coverage.

Yes! Tessy’s problem would be mitigated a little or at least she would have dealt with the immense financial loss had she had taken out an insurance policy.

Just like Tess, there are a huge number of musicians for whom musician insurance is not very important. In fact, as far as insurance policies are concerned, most of them either “under-estimate” such policies or they are (over) confident that nothing bad would happen. For them the question always pops up – Do I really need insurance?

Well, insurance coverage is not only for those people who risk their lives, but for anyone who just doesn’t want to end up in an economic mess.

Therefore, it is always wise to have Musicians coverage – It acts like padding – It lessens the ill-effects of the accidents that cause immense damage to the studio and the property within.

Financial recovery becomes the biggest concern like In the case of Tess, whose studio ended up in ashes. She had put all their savings in buying the place, the instrument and all modern amplifiers, equalizers and what not! For once, she would think to start afresh, but then what about the capital.

An insurance policy provides “financial assistance”. Here, she can easily start afresh with the “monetary help” from her insurance company. The policies provide a protective cover, which bears all your monetary liabilities in wake of any unfortunate incidents. As with Tess, she would got at least some part of the initial capital back, if she would have taken out a Studio coverage policy on time.

The bottom line of narrating this incident is just that it is always better to be prepared then being sorry! Being an optimist is one thing and being careless is other. Getting yourself insured will not just help you to come out of the whole financial mess, but even makes it possible to again build up the entire thing.

Lest you believe that Studio Coverage is not only for the “Studio Building”; it covers everything! Right from the structure to the musical instruments, expensive gadgets for sound mixing and other property, you need not have to worry. The insurance plans are just as necessary as anything to ensure that you are at minimum risk of losing everything.

Orchestra Insurance Provides a “Cushion” Effect for Any Accident!

Creating an Orchestra is indeed a great feat! – An ensemble of different artists, from varying backgrounds and talents is no child’s play.

God forbid if anything goes wrong during a performance or with the instruments or even with any of the members – all your efforts goes in vain.

It is precisely here that an inclusive and exclusive Orchestra Insurance plan comes like a relief – almost like a breath of fresh air! Since, it is not a simple act to preside over or organize an orchestra performance – One has to take care of safety of a large number of musicians, along with their instruments. If the stage collapses or the lights fall over; it can very well ruin your entire show.

The claims for injuries or loss of property can have a very negative impact on your treasury – You may have to part with a very huge chunk of your finances to pay the compensation for any damage. And therefore, it is always wise to get Musicians Coverage, which provides basic protection for a group of musicians working in an orchestra.

In case of any accidents or bodily harm caused to them, there will be immediate help from the insurance firm. In fact, most of the plans are so wide-ranging that even when you are not performing on your soil, you have your protective cover all the time.

Moreover, moving from one place to other; there is a good chance of the musical instruments getting damaged or misplaced. And in such a scenario, you and the orchestra can be in a big trouble.

But when you are insured there is nothing to worry about! Getting your orchestra insured, therefore, becomes a crucial thing, since such insurance plans will provide you with very strong protection, wherein they can get an easy and quick replacement instrument or even get a considerable amount to repay the losses.

In fact, to survive in the extreme competition; many insurance firms offer more exclusive assistance. Most of these companies offer a helping hand in any corner of the world. Thus, Orchestra Insurance will mitigate your chances of getting into huge debts. The insurance thing does sound interesting – But then the premiums would sometimes pull you back from taking it. Well, since, there are many companies providing musicians coverage plans, the level of competition have gone up. And therefore, you might find a very good firm offering an exceptionally suitable plan within your budget.

In fact, most of the plans have a provision of a premium as low as $75 a year! In short, you can find yourself completely at ease and relaxed, even when you have to go on a tour with your Orchestra.

Event Liability Insurance Saves The Day!

There is a very thin line between Being “Confident” and Being “over Confident”! – Now, Nicole was extremely (over) confident that the birthday party of the Mayor’s kid (that she organized) will go as planned and it will take her to the top. And as expected, she didn’t consider having Event Liability Insurance. It poured heavily that day and the whole thing turned into a mess!

The bottom line of sharing this experience: Since we cannot see or predict our future, it is always beneficial to have “Insurance” that insulates us from those unseen and uncontrolled set of events before it takes a toll on our economical and emotional well-being.

 Usually it IS believed that insurance is for those who risk their lives or have to deal with something dangerous – Well, not really!!! Insurance is basically to cover one against any adverse situation; more importantly makes it easy to overcome the financial loss that an accident leaves behind.

As in the case of Nicole, the rain which spoiled the event landed her in grim financial difficulties: She had to pay huge sums to the decorators, caterers and others as the property was terribly damaged. Should she have managed to get herself insurance, the disaster, if not avoided, would have been mitigated.

Like everyone else, Nicole thought that taking out an insurance policy is a sheer waste of money (?) – For her, it was like parting away with her earnings. However, one thing we all forget is that it is not parting away – In fact, it is taking some amount and putting it in a bank, which can be later used in “hard times”.

Basically, insurance lends a helping (and healing) hand – Like when any major event is postponed or cancelled or worse, when ruined due to nature’s fury. The insurance plan will immediately come to your assistance. It would reduce the unexpected financial liabilities that come upon in wake of any such emergency.

The trauma of failure may not subside; but yes, one can definitely get some relief from the immense financial burden. You will have some solid (monetary) support system with which you can rebuild your business and life.

Moreover, planning an event, especially one on a large scale, is indeed a herculean task. A lot of money and reputations are at stake – And a single incident can ruin everything. In such a situation, Event liability insurance comes into the picture. It acts like a sponge: absorbs all the ill-effects by helping you pay the extra money in case of property or personal damage.

Moreover, even in some cases of legal suits or compensation claims, the insurance makes it smoother for you to deal with later complications. In other words, it saves you a million!