Key person insurance products today: Business Loan Insurance: Many businesses borrow to grow or invest in expensive machinery or premises. On the death of a director banks often get worried and cancel overdrafts or call in loans. Business loan insurance protects your business from this issue. Executive Income Protection Insurance: In the event of a long term or permanent illness where a director cannot work anymore then paying their wages can become a burden on the business. Executive income protection give the company the required funds to ensure the director can still be remunerated. Read additional details at Shareholder Protection Insurance.
Keyman insurance can be an invaluable asset to a business, allowing them to cover the loss of valuable personnel such as Executives or Board Members. Often, premiums for keyman insurance are tax deductible provided certain criteria are met. Generally speaking, for the policy to be eligible for corporation tax relief it must be used to compensate for profit loss should a key individual die, have a limited term of 5 years or less and must not be convertible into another type of policy. Tax regulations vary from region to region however; therefore each business should speak with its local tax inspector to grow greater clarity on this matter before taking out any kind of coverage.
How Much Cover is Needed? When it comes to the amount of cover you need, it is important to reflect the amount that would be needed to pay the debt or loan back in full. To ensure you have the right level of protection, there are two main types of business loan protection insurance available; level and decreasing. Level protection is suitable if your debts stay at a consistent level over a set period, such as with an interest only mortgage. Decreasing protection allows you to address your liabilities in smaller amounts which makes more sense when responding to repayments on longer-term loans such as car finance. Business loan protection can provide significant support during a financially challenging time, allowing the continuity of trading while deferring payments on those outstanding debts. It’s vital that all businesses review their current debt levels regularly and consider the implications if one or more were suddenly unable to be paid off quickly, before selecting an appropriate level of loan protection insurance.
Valuing the business: One of the key factors a business owner needs to consider when valuing their company for Shareholder Protection is their company’s cashflow. This refers to the money that is coming in and going out of the business on a regular basis, including revenue from sales and payments made for goods and services. A healthy cashflow is a good indicator of a strong business, as it shows that the company has enough money to cover its expenses and reinvest in growth opportunities. When valuing a company for Shareholder Protection, advisers will often use cashflow as one measure of how much the business is worth.
Shareholder Benefits: Above we looked at how the insured persons spouse or family would benefit but how about the remaining shareholders of the limited company? If we look at the above we mentioned that the insured person’s spouse now owning 33% of the shares that they cannot sell they might instead want to get involved in the business. For the remaining shareholders this can cause a problem as they might not get along with the spouse, the spouse might not have the experience, knowledge and might not be a good fit for the business. This situation can be a threat to the business success.
Why have Business Loan Insurance? For businesses, protecting their investments is paramount. Taking out a loan to either begin or expand a business venture brings with it a heightened level of risk, because the ability to repay the loan often rests on the performance and health of only a few key staff members. To help manage this risk, it is essential that any significant loans taken out by businesses are protected with insurance.
The most common way for insurers to calculate key person insurance premiums and benefits is based on salary multiples; however, sometimes more complex formulae are used. In order to determine an exact amount of coverage that is necessary for a particular business situation, advice should be sought by someone who understands the value of what would be lost with the key individual gone. This may require researching factors such as how hard or easy it would be to replace them, an estimation of how long this process may take and what kind of losses might occur in the meantime regarding profit. Ultimately, with enough consideration and thought given to these issues prior to purchasing key person insurance, this process will remain simple and straightforward. Find additional info at https://advice4directors.co.uk/.
