Hiring a contractor or sub-contractor is often appealing to time-poor, cash-strapped small business owners. One big reason is that they take care of their own insurance (as opposed to the business owner having to provide coverage for them, as is the case with employees). But what if things aren’t quite that straightforward? Imagine the [...]

Small business owners should expect changes to the way income protection insurance is designed, to better balance out the cost of cover and insurers’ liabilities around this popular product. Recent data shows just how much income protection payouts cost insurers. According to figures from the Financial Services Council, in FY20 insurers paid out $4.3 [...]

You’re in the middle of renovating your business premises when you discover the waterproofing in the bathroom is faulty.  You can only fix it by removing the tiles, which means breaking them, so you need to find, and pay for, replacements – but they’ve been discontinued.  It’s impossible to find a perfect match for [...]

So your business is getting so busy that you need a helping hand? Great stuff. Here's a guide to hiring your first employee. Congratulations – hiring your first employee is a mammoth step in the journey of any business. It’s also a risky step. This is a new boss’s guide to minimising that risk. [...]

Visit any worksite and at least one tradie will be able to regale a yarn of a time they had their tools nicked from the back of the ute, swiped on-site or mistakenly carried off by a contractor. Stolen tools are more than a mere inconvenience – as well as shouldering the replacement costs, [...]

Building defects are a common issue many investors and homeowners face. In fact, as many as 85 per cent of new strata properties have defects. Some building flaws may seem trivial or superficial at first. But the reality is that if defects are not dealt with properly, a building can become uninsurable. So how [...]

Higher rental yields, longer leases and tax benefits are some of the many reasons commercial properties can make for appealing investments. But, as with any asset, there are risks. Many investors are taking a closer look at commercial property investments as residential property yields moderate across the country. So if you've taken the leap, [...]

In a stunning attack, in early 2021 one of the Northern Territory’s government’s IT systems was brought down by a ransomware attack, disabling the system for three weeks.  As this demonstrates, cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated and strident in the demands they make over the organisations they target. But there are steps business owners can [...]

In a stunning attack, in early 2021 one of the Northern Territory’s government’s IT systems was brought down by a ransomware attack, disabling the system for three weeks.  Reviewing your insurance is an “essential task” for your EOFY to-do list, the Australian government's business.gov.au website states. No doubt your to-do list is already pretty long, so we've put [...]

Sydney's violent hailstorm, which has left millions of dollars of damage in its wake, is a crucial reminder of how important it is to protect yourself against potentially crippling damage to your business. The incident, declared a 'catastrophe’ by the Insurance Council of Australia, led to more than 15,000 claims in the 18 hours after [...]