Explore the key types of insurance we arrange for Australian businesses, property owners, professionals and more complex commercial risks.
SME business packs bundle core coverages such as property, theft, glass, money, liability and business interruption into a single policy. For larger, more complex or multi location risks, industrial special risks cover can provide broader protection and more tailored wording.
These covers matter because most businesses can absorb a small loss, but very few can absorb a major property loss followed by months of reduced revenue and ongoing fixed costs.
Real Example: A manufacturer suffered a major electrical failure that shut production. The ISR wording responded not only to repairs, but also to temporary mitigation costs that helped keep supply contracts alive.
Public and products liability insurance responds when a business is alleged to have caused personal injury or property damage through its operations, premises or products. It can also cover legal defence costs and damages where covered.
Many leases, contracts and tenders require this cover, but even where they do not, one serious injury or property damage event can materially affect both cash flow and reputation.
Real Example: A retailer faced a claim after a repackaged product allegedly injured a customer. Liability cover funded defence costs and the eventual settlement.
Commercial property insurance protects buildings, fitouts, contents and stock from events such as fire, storm, impact, malicious damage and theft. It can also extend to loss of rent, business interruption and additional costs to comply with updated building codes during reinstatement.
If you own or rely on a physical premises, even under a lease, property cover is critical because leases often shift repair and reinstatement costs onto tenants in ways they do not expect.
Real Example: After a small fire, a tenant discovered the lease made them responsible for plate glass and fitout reinstatement. Their property policy responded and prevented a direct out of pocket hit.
General property insurance protects portable business assets away from the main premises, such as tools, laptops, mobile devices, instruments, stock samples and specialist equipment. It is designed for assets that move with your people, your vehicles or your work.
This cover is especially relevant for trades, surveyors, consultants, mobile professionals, photographers, engineers and any business that depends on equipment being out in the field.
Real Example: A contractor had tools and testing equipment stolen from a locked vehicle overnight. General property cover funded replacement so the project could continue with minimal delay.
Management liability insurance is designed for private companies and can include directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, statutory liability and crime related cover. It helps protect directors, officers and the company itself against management related claims and investigations.
It is one of the most commonly overlooked covers by small and mid sized businesses, despite the fact that regulatory, staff and shareholder related exposures often arise long before a catastrophic property loss does.
Real Example: A former employee alleged unfair dismissal and adverse action. Management liability cover contributed to legal defence costs and settlement negotiations.
Professional indemnity insurance protects businesses that provide advice, design, specification, consulting or other professional services. It responds to allegations that an error, omission or misleading advice caused a client financial loss.
This cover is critical for consultants, brokers, engineers, designers, accountants, advisers, IT professionals and many other service based businesses.
Real Example: A consultant was accused of providing incorrect specifications that caused a costly project delay. Professional indemnity cover funded defence costs and supported a commercial resolution.
Cyber insurance can protect against incident response costs, business interruption, data restoration, cyber extortion, privacy liability, network security liability and regulatory exposure following a cyber incident.
It is no longer just for large corporates. Smaller businesses are often more exposed because they have weaker internal controls, fewer backup systems and less tolerance for downtime.
Real Example: A business was locked out of core systems after a ransomware event. Cyber cover funded forensic specialists, legal support, customer notification and income loss during the outage.
Motor fleet insurance protects business owned vehicles and can be structured for mixed fleets that include passenger vehicles, utes, vans, trucks and specialist vehicles. It can also include windscreen, towing, hire car and downtime related extensions depending on the wording.
Fleet placement is often heavily influenced by claims history, driver profile, vehicle mix and repair support, so a broker can add real value by negotiating both coverage and claims management outcomes.
Real Example: After a multi vehicle incident, a fleet client relied on prompt repair allocation and coordinated claims handling to keep drivers on the road and reduce disruption to operations.
Construction and contract works insurance protects projects while works are underway, including materials on site, materials in transit, temporary works and liability exposures associated with the build. Depending on the project, cover can also extend to existing structures, principal supplied materials and plant.
Builders, developers, owner builders, principals and trades often need this cover not just for risk transfer, but to satisfy lender, contract and head contractor requirements.
Real Example: Heavy rain damaged partially completed works and stored materials before handover. Contract works cover responded to the project loss and helped keep the programme moving.
Machinery breakdown insurance protects insured equipment against sudden and accidental mechanical or electrical breakdown. It can also be paired with deterioration of stock or business interruption extensions where equipment failure directly affects production or temperature controlled goods.
This is particularly important for manufacturers, food processors, cold storage operators, workshops and businesses reliant on specialised plant.
Real Example: A refrigeration unit failed and threatened temperature sensitive stock. Machinery breakdown cover contributed to repair costs and associated loss mitigation.
Marine cargo and freight insurance protects goods while they are moving domestically or internationally, and can respond to physical loss or damage in transit, general average exposures and some associated storage risks depending on the wording.
Importers, exporters, wholesalers and businesses reliant on inbound inventory should not assume their suppliers, carriers or freight forwarders carry enough insurance for their interests.
Real Example: A shipment was water damaged during transit and the cargo owner discovered the carrier's liability recovery was inadequate. Marine cargo insurance covered the shortfall and avoided a major stock funding gap.
Warranty and indemnity insurance is used in mergers and acquisitions to transfer the financial risk of unknown breaches of warranties, and in some structures tax indemnities, from the buyer or seller to an insurer after completion.
It can support smoother transactions by reducing escrow pressure, narrowing seller tail risk, improving bidder confidence and helping sale proceeds be distributed sooner.
Real Example: After completion, a buyer alleged that customer contract revenue had been misstated during the sale process. A warranty and indemnity policy helped respond to the covered loss and reduced the need for a direct recovery dispute against the seller.
Trade credit insurance protects businesses against customer insolvency, non payment and protracted default on receivables. It is especially relevant for wholesalers, manufacturers, importers and any business with meaningful debtor concentration.
It supports cash flow resilience and can allow a business to trade more confidently where one major customer default would otherwise create a material balance sheet problem.
Real Example: A major customer entered insolvency owing a large unpaid balance. Trade credit insurance reimbursed the insured portion of the debt and reduced the working capital shock.
Surety bonds provide a financial guarantee to project owners, principals, landlords and other counterparties that contractual, lease or statutory obligations will be met. Common forms include performance bonds, advance payment bonds and maintenance bonds.
They can be a more capital efficient alternative to locking up cash in a bank guarantee, while still satisfying contractual security requirements.
Real Example: A contractor needed security to win a project but wanted to preserve liquidity for execution. A surety bond satisfied the principal's requirements without tying up the same level of working capital as a bank backed facility.
Product recall insurance helps businesses respond when a product may need to be withdrawn from the market because it is unsafe, contaminated, mislabelled or otherwise defective. It can cover recall costs, disposal, customer notification, crisis response and some related loss of profit impacts depending on the wording.
This is particularly important for food, beverage, consumer goods, importers, manufacturers and distributors where one event can quickly become both a financial and reputational crisis.
Real Example: A food wholesaler discovered a packaging error that created an undeclared allergen exposure. Product recall cover funded customer notification, stock withdrawal and crisis management support.
Tax audit insurance helps reimburse professional fees incurred when responding to audits, reviews or investigations by revenue authorities. It generally relates to the cost of accountants, tax agents and other approved advisers, not the tax liability itself.
Even where no wrongdoing is found, the professional cost of managing an audit can still be material, particularly for growing businesses with payroll tax, GST, superannuation or more complex reporting obligations.
Real Example: A business was selected for a payroll tax and superannuation review. Tax audit cover reimbursed the professional fees needed to prepare and manage the response properly.
Crime insurance protects businesses against losses arising from employee dishonesty, theft of money, fraud, forgery and some funds transfer fraud events. It fills a gap often left by ordinary property and liability policies.
This is a useful complement to cyber and management liability cover, particularly for businesses with staff handling payments, client money, supplier instructions or reconciliations.
Real Example: A staff member manipulated payment details over several months and diverted funds. Crime cover responded to the direct financial loss once the fraud was uncovered.
Strata insurance is designed for residential and commercial strata schemes and can include building, common contents, legal liability, office bearers liability and temporary accommodation or loss of rent where applicable.
Correct placement depends heavily on building profile, location, construction, claims history, occupancy mix and valuation adequacy. That is why early data collation matters.
Real Example: A water ingress claim affected multiple lots and common areas. Strata insurance helped respond to the building damage and associated common property issues under the policy structure.
Landlord insurance is designed for residential investment properties and can protect the building or contents, as well as rent related losses, malicious damage and tenant related risks depending on the policy.
Many owners assume their standard home insurer or strata cover will deal with everything. It usually does not.
Real Example: A tenant vacated owing rent and left deliberate damage behind. Landlord cover assisted with the insured loss and reduced the financial drag on the owner.
Flood is not something businesses should assume is adequately covered by default. Definitions, sublimits, location data and insurer appetite matter, especially for stock heavy risks, low lying sites and areas with prior weather activity.
Flood exposure can materially affect both pricing and insurer willingness, so it is important to get the wording and declared values right before a claim ever arises.
Real Example: A business near a known flood corridor faced policy wording distinctions that materially affected the potential claim outcome. Clear cover placement and wording review mattered well before the event.
Corporate travel insurance protects directors, employees and approved travellers while travelling for work. It can include medical expenses, cancellation, delays, baggage, personal accident and liability style extensions depending on the wording.
This cover is useful for businesses with interstate or international travel exposure, especially where staff are travelling on tight schedules or to multiple jurisdictions.
Real Example: An employee required urgent medical treatment while travelling overseas on business. Corporate travel cover helped fund assistance and insured travel related costs.
Personal accident and sickness insurance can help protect income where an insured person cannot work due to injury or illness, subject to the policy wording and waiting periods. It is often relevant for directors, self employed operators and key revenue generating staff.
For smaller businesses and owner operators, the inability of one key person to work can be just as damaging as a property loss.
Real Example: A business owner was unable to work for an extended period after an injury. Personal accident cover contributed to insured benefits during the recovery period.
We help clients review existing policies, identify gaps, compare insurer terms and structure cover around real business exposures, not generic assumptions.