As a small business owner, you want what’s best for your business. The best location, employees, product, and marketing are important.

But so is insurance. Let’s look at the best small business insurance for your company. But before we do that, let’s establish why you need insurance in the first place.

Why Your Small Business Needs Insurance

Insurance will protect you against risks and events that may cause tremendous financial loss to your enterprise. Thankfully, we have a robust financial services industry with insurance companies that offer business insurance of all types to suit your small business’s needs.

Importance of General Liability Insurance

With a rise in consumerism and consumers being more litigious, it’s vitally important for your company to have liability insurance. This type of insurance will protect your business from claims made against it by third parties. Property damage, injuries, and damage to people, are some of the claims that can be made against your company.

A third party may sue you or your business, potentially resulting in legal fees and payouts to said third party. Liability insurance will cover these provided that these costs and claims aren’t related to intentional damage, contractual liabilities, and criminal prosecution. Keep in mind that liability insurance will pay the third party, not your business (the insured).

A better understanding of the risks your business faces equips you with the knowledge you need to improve the risk management of your company.

Top Small Business Insurance Companies And What They Excel At

Here are the best business insurance companies in South Africa:

1. Budget Insurance Business Cover
2. Discovery Business Insurance
3. MiWay Business Insurance
4. Momentum Business Insurance

Budget Insurance

Known for their affordable insurance premiums, Budget Insurance is one of the most well-known insurance providers in South Africa.

Their offering includes public liability cover, theft cover, vehicle cover, building cover, and fire cover to protect your business from all threats it could face.

Budget Insurance provides 24/7 online and telephonic support to their customers and you’ll receive business assistance with any cover you choose. Unfortunately, they don’t offer multi-line insurance for small businesses.

You’d have to look elsewhere if you want insurance coverage that combines diverse risk exposures and covers them under a single contract.

Discovery

Speaking of multi-line insurance, you don’t have to look too far. Discovery Business offers comprehensive cover based on multi-peril insurance. Discovery has broadened their business insurance offering to cover cyber risks, social media liability, non-physical damage business interruption, and reputational risks. This is undoubtedly the best general liability insurance for small business you can get.

A major benefit of choosing Discovery as your business insurance provider is that their insurance is tailored to your company and takes into account the business risks it’ll face in this modern economy.

It must be noted though, that Discovery Insurance can be quite expensive. If you’re a small business looking to cut costs as much as possible, you may want to consider a more affordable alternative.

Best Liability Insurance For Small Business

Numerous business insurance providers offer liability insurance but the best coverage comes from Discovery.

Discovery Business Insurance provides comprehensive liability cover that takes a holistic view of your business. Your company’s tangible and intangible risks are assessed, so Discovery can help you better understand the risks you face.

MiWay

MiWay is one of the “newer” insurance companies, having been founded in 2008. They’re known for offering a range of business insurance products to suit your company’s specific needs. Coverage for your business includes business property cover, business interruption cover, business vehicle cover, and motor traders cover for car dealerships. MiWay provides arguably the best insurance for small business owners.

MiWay has a unique offering called MiBusiness Assist, which helps take care of all admin-related tasks of your business. They provide assistance with IT and marketing tasks and legal and labour counsel. In addition, medical assistance and assistance with traffic fines is provided.

A huge plus for MiWay Insurance is that your business’s financial needs will be taken into account by allowing you to adjust your fixed and standard excess.

Momentum

Momentum provides comprehensive and stand-alone insurance cover, so you can choose both what suits your financial needs and what will offer sufficient protection for your business.

Their comprehensive short-term insurance covers a wide range of risks, whereas their stand-alone cover includes business car insurance, commercial fire insurance, and electronic equipment insurance. You also have the option to add additional cover such as fidelity insurance and business all-risk insurance. This can enhance your stand-alone insurance cover.

A major benefit of choosing Momentum’s business insurance is that your premiums won’t increase for the first 12 months — even if you claim. In addition, annual premium increases are determined by your business profile rating, and not an arbitrary figure consumers tend to complain about.

They also have “Momentum Assist”, which includes roadside assistance and help for legal and medical emergencies.

Best Small Business Insurance | Avoiding Huge Losses

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that you can expect the unexpected. No one could have predicted that our lockdown would be extended beyond three weeks, putting many small businesses between a rock and a hard place.

Having adequate financial cover provided by insurance can help keep your business afloat and prevent needless stress and worry.