Business Insurance
With the right cover, your business keeps running no matter what happens to you, your key people, or your assets. We work with you to understand the full picture and put the right structures in place.
The NZ Picture
Most small business owners know they should have cover in place. Most don't have enough — or the right kind. These numbers show why it matters.
Cover options
Business insurance falls into two broad camps: cover for the people in the business, and cover for the assets and liabilities of the business. Most businesses need both — and many are underinsured in at least one area.
If a shareholder can no longer participate in the business due to death, terminal illness, total permanent disability, or long-term disability — this insurance funds the buyout. The business receives a lump sum to purchase the affected shareholder's shares, keeping ownership exactly where it should be.
Most SMEs hinge on one or two people who hold it all together — the rainmaker, the technical expert, the person clients trust. Key Person Insurance protects the business against the financial impact of losing that person suddenly, covering recruitment costs, lost revenue, and the time needed to transition.
If you're a business owner or self-employed, your ability to work is the business's engine. Business income protection replaces your income if illness or injury takes you out of action — keeping the business alive and your drawings paid while you recover.
Health cover for your entire team under one policy — employer funded, cost-shared, or employee-paid at group rates. Gives your people fast access to specialists, diagnostics, and surgery, bypassing public waiting lists. A genuine staff attraction and retention tool, with better rates and more lenient underwriting than individual policies.
If you manufacture, sell, or install goods — or provide advice or designs for a fee — public liability and professional indemnity cover protects you against claims that your product, work, or advice caused harm or loss. One claim without cover can be business-ending.
Directors and officers act on behalf of a company and can face personal liability for decisions made in that capacity. D&O cover indemnifies both the cost of defending claims and any resulting settlements — protecting the individuals who lead the business.
From phishing and ransomware to employee error, the consequences of a cyber incident can be severe — business interruption, data recovery costs, regulatory fines, and liability to customers. Cyber insurance is increasingly essential for businesses of all sizes handling customer data.
If your premises are damaged and you're forced to close, the bills keep coming even when the revenue stops. Business interruption cover replaces lost profit and covers ongoing fixed costs — giving you a financial runway to recover and reopen.
Your business depends on its physical assets — equipment, tools, inventory, and stock. Sudden or accidental loss or damage to these can halt operations. Plant and stock cover gets you back in action quickly without depleting cash reserves.
Renting out a commercial or residential property brings unique risks — damage, loss of rent, and liability. Landlord protection covers you for the things standard house insurance won't — including malicious damage by tenants and loss of rental income during repairs.
Deep dive
Most SMEs are more fragile than they look. One person's absence can halt revenue, damage client relationships, and create a recruitment crisis — all at the same time.
A key person is anyone whose absence would materially impact the business's ability to operate or generate revenue. That might be:
The business owner or principal who holds the key client relationships
A technical specialist with rare skills that would take 6–12 months to replace
A salesperson or account manager who generates a disproportionate share of revenue
Anyone who personally guarantees business loans or credit facilities
Key Person Insurance pays a lump sum to the business. The business decides how it's used — typically to cover one or more of:
Recruitment & training
Finding, hiring, and getting a replacement up to speed
Lost revenue
Bridging the gap in profit while the business adjusts
Debt repayment
Settling any loans personally guaranteed by the key person
Business continuity
Keeping operations running during the transition period
How much is enough? A common starting point is 2–5× the key person's annual remuneration, or 12–18 months of the profit they generate. Your adviser will help you work through the right number for your specific situation.
Deep dive
For business owners and the self-employed, your income and the business's cash flow are the same thing. ACC only covers accidents — not illness. And serious illness takes out more business owners than accidents do.
ACC doesn't cover illness
ACC steps in for accidents. Cancer, heart disease, mental health — the leading causes of long-term absence — are not covered. Income protection fills that gap.
Business-specific structures available
Cover can be structured to pay drawings, fixed business overheads, or both — keeping you and the business financially stable while you recover.
Waiting period options
Choose a waiting period of 4, 8, 13, or 26 weeks. A longer wait = lower premiums. If you have reserves, a 13-week wait is often a good balance of cost and protection.
Premiums may be tax-deductible
For business owners, income protection premiums structured as a business expense are generally tax-deductible. Talk to your accountant — and your adviser will work with them to get the structure right.
Team health cover
Group medical cover is a health insurance scheme a business takes out on behalf of its employees. Instead of each person arranging their own policy individually, the business acts as the policy holder — accessing better rates, more lenient underwriting, and a simpler experience for everyone on the team.
For employers, it's a genuine staff attraction and retention tool — and one that pays back through faster recoveries and reduced time off. For employees, it means skipping public waiting lists and getting fast access to specialists, diagnostics, and surgery when they need it most.
The business pays a single consolidated invoice — one bulk payment covering all enrolled employees. Premiums are calculated based on the average age and gender profile of the group, not on any individual's health history. This is typically billed monthly or quarterly and sits as a straightforward business expense.
New employees are added to the scheme without individual health questions — they receive the same automatic acceptance terms as the rest of the group. Most schemes accept from five employees upward.
Core cover typically includes specialist consultations, diagnostic imaging, and surgical procedures — the treatments where public waiting lists are longest and the financial cost of going private is highest. Optional modules can extend this to GP visits, dental and optical, and serious condition cover for more comprehensive benefit packages.
Dependant cover is also available — employees can add their partner and children to the scheme, often at additional cost that can be funded by the employer or paid directly by the employee.
There's no single right model — it depends on the business's budget and how it wants to position the benefit. Common approaches include fully employer-funded cover for employees (the strongest retention signal), a cost-sharing model where the employer covers employees and splits the cost for dependants, or a voluntary arrangement where employees access group rates themselves.
Employer-paid premiums are treated as a taxable fringe benefit for employees under FBT rules — worth factoring into the cost structure and discussing with your accountant.
What happens when someone leaves the business?
When an employee leaves, they have the option to convert their group policy into a personal policy — keeping their cover without going through underwriting again. This is known as the continuation option, and it's one of the most valuable features of a group scheme.
No new underwriting. The employee carries across on the same acceptance terms they had through the group scheme — no health forms, no medical exams, even if their health has changed since they joined.
Employee pays from that point. Premiums transfer to the departing employee — they take over the cost personally, at individual policy rates, but without the underwriting hurdle they'd face applying cold.
Time-limited window. The option must be exercised within 45–60 days of leaving employment (the exact period is specified in the policy). After that window closes, standard underwriting applies to any new application.
Conditions apply: the continuation option is available provided no benefit is currently being claimed under the group policy, and the employee is remaining in New Zealand.
Pre-existing conditions often accepted
Group schemes assess risk across the whole workforce — not individual by individual. Pre-existing conditions that would be excluded or loaded on an individual policy are frequently accepted at standard terms through a group scheme.
New employees added automatically
Staff joining the business are enrolled into the scheme without individual health questions — their cover starts immediately, on the same terms as the rest of the group. No paperwork burden on the employer.
Faster recovery = less time off
Quick access to diagnostics and treatment means employees deal with health issues before they become prolonged absences. The business benefit from faster recoveries often outweighs the premium cost.
A meaningful retention tool
In a competitive hiring market, employer-funded health cover is a tangible, valued benefit — not just a policy number. It signals long-term investment in your people and differentiates you from employers who don't offer it.
Also important
Beyond the people-focused covers, most businesses need protection for their assets, liabilities, and operations. We work with specialist commercial insurers to cover the full picture.
Protects you against third-party claims for bodily injury, property damage, or financial loss arising from your business activities. Professional indemnity is essential for anyone providing advice, designs, or professional services — covering both legal defence and any settlements.
Company directors and officers can face personal liability for decisions made on behalf of the business — from employment disputes and regulatory investigations to shareholder actions. D&O cover protects individuals and the company from the cost of defending and settling these claims.
Covers first-party costs (business interruption, data recovery, ransomware response) and third-party liability (if your systems are breached and customer data is compromised). As cyber threats grow, this is increasingly a non-negotiable for any business handling sensitive data.
If a fire, flood, or other insured event forces you to close, business interruption cover replaces lost net profit and covers fixed ongoing expenses (rent, loan repayments, wages) during the recovery period — typically purchased alongside material damage cover.
Covers physical assets — machinery, tools, inventory, and equipment — against accidental damage, theft, and breakdown. Essential for any business that relies on physical assets to operate.
For property investors and business owners renting out premises: covers loss of rent, malicious damage by tenants, legal liability, and the gap that standard house insurance leaves open. A critical policy if tenants are your main income source.
