Business Protection Insurance

What would happen to your business if one of the owners suddenly died or suffered a serious illness?

Could you afford to buy their share?

If not, the affected owners family might sell their shares to a competitor or someone else completely unsuitable.

This can be disastrous for the long term survival of the business you've worked hard to build.

Business owners are usually the life-blood of the firm, with staff relying on their experience and knowledge.

Their sudden loss can heavily impact morale, leaving staff worried about the future of the business and their jobs.

Shareholder and Partnership Protection is a type of insurance that gives surviving business owners the money needed to buy the affected shares.

It can help ensure you keep control of the business and give staff confidence that their jobs are safe.

The money also ensures that the deceased owner's family are looked after and receive full market value in exchange for their inherited share of the business.

You probably already protect many of the important things that keep the business running smoothly, like property, fleets and stock.

So it makes sense to insure your most valuable assets, your business owners.

For help with setting up Share or Partnership Protection, please speak to your financial adviser.

Business as usual can suddenly become very difficult if one of your key employees, someone the business heavily relies on, dies or suffers a serious illness.

How long could your business survive without them?

Different types of businesses will have different key people. They could be your best performing sales person, a software engineer, one of the business owners.

And the risks associated with losing a key person can include:

• Production being stopped.
• Sales targets being missed.
• The loss of important business contracts.
• The business might have to pay large penalties if goods or services aren't delivered, and your bank might lose confidence business loans can be repaid and demand the debt is cleared.

Key Person cover is a type of insurance that can protect the survival of your business. It pays out a lump sum if your key employee dies or is diagnosed with a critical illness.

You can use the money to:

• Clear business debt that would have to be repaid due to the loss of a key person.
• Help cover recruitment costs.
• Make up any loss in profits and keep the business running whilst you're looking for a replacement.

Key Person cover can give your business the breathing space needed during a period of instability and uncertainty.

To find out more, please speak to your financial adviser.

If you’re considering death in service life insurance for your employees then Relevant Life cover could provide a smarter tax efficient and flexible solution for the business and your staff. 

Relevant Life cover is a type of life insurance that allows companies to offer death-in-service benefits to employees and directors the company pays a salary to. Its set up and paid for by the company and then placed in trust for the employees chosen beneficiaries. 

If the employee dies during the policy term, the insurance pays out a tax free, lump sum amount of money via the trust to those chosen people. 

Benefits of Relevant Life cover include:

Premiums are usually treated by HMRC as a tax deductible business expense. This means they can usually be offset against the company’s corporation tax making it a tax efficient way to offer staff life insurance, and the premiums don’t form part of the employees remuneration or benefits package. So they don’t have to pay income tax from National Insurance contributions on the premiums. 

Because the policy is placed in trust any money paid out shouldn’t form part of the employee’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. Also because the money is paid via a trust it can be paid very quickly, helping ensure your employees families and loved ones are looked after when they need it most.

For more information on this type if death-in-service life insurance for your employees, please speak to your financial adviser.