The true cost of cheap insurance

With some things you can't afford to sacrifice on quality for the sake of a few dollars. Car brakes, parachutes... and insurance. Consider, what is the true cost of a cheap insurance product for your practice, if the policy comes up short when you really need it, in the event of a claim?

Here are some of the questions you need to ask about your insurance policies.

Will I receive the full payout for damages?

It isn't enough just to have insurance, you need to have the right insurance. Guild Insurance provides full replacement cost cover, which means we fully replace your building and contents.

Other insurance policies provide cover limited to a pre-determined value, the 'sums insured' or 'limit of liability' for building and contents. While every effort can be made to determine your 'sums insured' and set 'limits' correctly, rising building costs and other factors often cause the value of your practice to increase. Limiting your insurance cover to a set figure can therefore leave you at risk of underinsurance.

It is our experience that underinsurance is often an issue in major incidents and can expose businesses to out-of-pocket expenses for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Additionally, other insurance policies often contain 'underinsurance' or 'average' provisions, which mean that even with partial damage to your practice, the insurer can assess the total value of your practice and if they find that you are underinsured, can reduce your final payout. Guild Insurance on the other hand will always pay you out to the replacement cost of the damages.

Could I afford to pay the gap?

Consider the case of NSW business owner, Espie Watt who, only three months after switching to Guild Insurance from a competitor, had his premises completely destroyed in a fire. His previous 'sums insured' for building and contents was $737,000 but the costs for rebuilding, restocking and refitting rose to $1.351 million.

If he hadn't made the switch to Guild he would have been forced to pay the gap of more than $614,000 between the 'sums insured' and the true cost of replacement. With Guild's full replacement cost cover, he was covered for all the additional costs.

Who's got my back?

Guild Insurance has been insuring veterinary practice for more than 15 years. Over this time, we've developed an acute understanding of a veterinary practice's risks and insurance needs that enables us to deliver a policy customised for veterinary practices that won't leave you short.

You never want to have to pull the emergency cord on your parachute, but you want to know that your cord would work if you had to use it. Insurance that you can rely on for support and that pays full replacement in the event of damage is the parachute cord you can't do without.

To learn how full replacement cost cover can help your practice, contact Guild Insurance on 1800 810 213.

Guild Insurance Limited ASFL Licence No. 233791.