Personal Insurance
Business Insurance
Industry Insurance
What Business Insurance Covers
Business insurance covers damage to property and assets, legal liability to third parties and loss of income for Australian businesses hit by unexpected events.
Most business insurance is built from sections you choose. Property and contents cover repairs and replacement. Lost income is picked up by business interruption insurance. Directors and officers are covered by management liability insurance. Together these sections keep a business financially stable when incidents occur. It sits within our business insurance range at Fortis Risk Solutions. Industry packages for restaurants, retail shops and warehouses start from the same sections.
Business Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
What Business Insurance does not cover
A business pack is built from the sections you select, so the first gap is usually a section nobody took up. Beyond that, business insurance wordings share a common set of exclusions:
- Wear and tear, rust, corrosion and gradual deterioration of buildings, stock and plant
- Faulty workmanship or design, and the cost of putting the defective work itself right
- Deliberate or fraudulent acts by you, a partner or a director
- Injury to your own workers, which sits with WorkCover rather than the liability section
- Ransomware, data loss and system outages, which need a separate cyber policy
- Loss of income after damage where no business interruption section was selected
- Premises left unoccupied beyond the period stated in the policy
FRS lists what you actually do, store and rely on, then reads each exclusion against that list, so the sections you hold match the business rather than a standard template.
How Business Insurance premiums are set
Business insurance is rated section by section and then packaged, so the price reflects both the size of the exposure and the quality of the risk behind it. The usual factors:
- Annual turnover and wages, which drive the liability and interruption sections
- Sums insured for buildings, contents, stock and plant, and whether they sit at replacement value
- Trade or occupation, since a workshop doing hot work is priced well above an office
- Building construction, sprinklers, alarms monitored back to base and the standard of locks
- Location, including flood mapping, bushfire exposure and local crime rates
- Claims history over recent years, including claims that were later withdrawn
- The excess you accept and the limits chosen for liability and interruption
Underwriters price what they can see. FRS presents the risk properly, with photos, protection details and a clear description of the trade, so a well run business is not rated as an average one.
How to claim on Business Insurance
Most disputes come from late notice or lost evidence, not from the wording. Tell us early, even when you are unsure the loss is worth claiming. The FRS process:
- Call FRS as soon as the damage or incident happens, and before you agree anything with a third party
- Make the site safe and stop further loss, keeping damaged items where it is safe to do so
- Report theft, break-in or malicious damage to police and note the report number
- Do not admit liability if someone is injured on your premises, refer them to us
- Send FRS photos, invoices, quotes and any written demand, and we lodge and manage the claim with the insurer
- We push the assessment along, check the settlement against your business insurance wording and record the lesson for renewal
The notification steps and contact details sit on our make a claim page.
Business Insurance compared with Industrial Special Risk (ISR)
| Question | Business pack | Industrial Special Risk |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Named sections you select, such as property, theft, glass, money, liability and interruption | Broad physical loss or damage to declared property, with interruption written alongside |
| Who buys it | Shops, offices, cafes, trades and most small to medium businesses | Manufacturers, warehouses and groups holding larger asset values |
| Typical trigger | An insured event listed in the section, such as fire, storm or burglary | Any physical loss or damage at the site that is not excluded |
| Sits with | Cyber, motor and management liability policies | Marine cargo, construction and liability policies |
Most businesses start with a pack and move to an ISR policy as asset values grow, or when a lender or head contractor asks for a broader wording. FRS runs both quotes side by side when the numbers are close.
Business Insurance FAQs
There is no standard answer. The right cover depends on your industry, size, contracts, assets and risk profile. Most businesses start with public liability insurance and a property section, then add business interruption. Professional indemnity and cyber insurance follow where you give advice or hold customer data. Larger operations with high-value assets move up to ISR insurance. We work out your risks first, then structure cover around them rather than ticking boxes.
An insurance broker works for you, not the insurer. We help you:
- Identify and explain risks in clear, straightforward language
- Compare insurers beyond price alone
- Negotiate terms and claims outcomes
- Act as your advocate when something goes wrong
That advice is what turns a policy into cover you can rely on at claim time.
Many businesses insure on outdated asset values, rough estimates or last year's figures. Underinsurance can cut a claim payout sharply, most often on property damage and business interruption claims. We review sums insured with you properly, including replacement cost, escalation and the interruption period you would actually need.
Growth in turnover, new locations, new services or overseas operations can all affect your cover. If insurers are not told, a claim may be reduced or declined. We check these changes with clients through the year, not only at renewal, so the policy keeps pace with the business.