Insurance: the most effective risk management plan
Insurance has grown from the natural instinct of traders since the earliest times to apportion risk, but the earliest known written source was carved on a Babylonian obelisk monument dated to the early 18th century BC. The code of King Hammurabi included several laws that were explicitly designed to treat issues related to risk.
The Greeks and Romans developed a maritime law that included insurance-related concepts to allow shippers to share the risk of their activity with other investors, while the medieval guilds in Europe operated a form of risk sharing by compensating members affected by a disaster, accident or robbery.
In the late 17th Century, a London coffeehouse owned by Edward Lloyd became the main meeting place for sailors, merchants and ship-owners. Merchants would present a copy of the ship’s cargo and investors willing to cover risk of loss would sign at the bottom of the document stating that they were prepared to assume a percentage of the risk. The world’s first insurance market was born.
Nowadays any risk that can be quantified can potentially be insured. Entrepreneurial activities cannot prosper if one slip or twist of fate could wipe out your business assets – or, if they are also on the line, your personal assets.
Recognising the risks in all areas of your business – management, technology, delivery, marketing, contracts, personnel and any potential adverse consequences of your product or service on customers or the public – is the first step in effective risk management. With specialist business insurance in place, you can focus on establishing your new business with the knowledge you’re protected.
Professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance, employers’ liability insurance, directors’ and officers’ insurance, key man insurance, legal protection insurance, cyber and data risks insurance and office insurance are all examples of policies that can help to create a risk-free environment in which a business start-up can flourish.
Other forms of insurance can also offer significant advantages to employers who are seeking to attract and retain staff. Private medical insurance, for example, can help ensure that employees have speedy access to healthcare, getting them back into the workplace and reducing the impact on productivity. It offers greater control of when and where treatment is received and demonstrates to employees that their health and wellbeing is viewed as a priority.
Sovereign Insurance Services (SIS) has evolved into a centre of excellence for both corporate and private client insurance. The strength of the Sovereign brand combined with the expertise and experience of the team has helped us secure relationships with leading insurers, providing real peace of mind, professionalism and an efficient claims handling service.
SIS will work for the Sovereign client, not the insurer, to obtain the most suitable insurance products at the most competitive pricing levels available in the markets. It will also ensure that you are not paying for insurance that you don’t need.
Please contact us to learn more about protecting you and your business.
