Sandton Key Man Insurance
Key Person Insurance

One of the biggest risks in small business is the fact that a company’s operations generally revolve around one or two key people, without whom the business cannot continue. Key person insurance is simply life insurance on those key people.

As a business owner you no doubt value the contributions each of your employees make to your business. However, there are also key individuals who are critical to the continued success of your venture. Losing such a key individual would impact you on a personal as well as business level.

A key person is anyone who significantly improves the profitability and effective management of your business. He or she is someone who:

• Has specialist, expert skills vital to success in your industry.
• Attracts and retains competent staff members.
• Increases the creditworthiness of the business.
• Builds goodwill for the business.

Should one of your key people die or become disabled, the impact on your business can be devastating:

• A slowdown in turnover
• Decline in profitability and/or sales
• Stricter terms from suppliers
• Difficulty in raising finance
• Normally, a company purchases life insurance on the key employee, pays the premiums and is the beneficiary of the policy. If that person dies unexpectedly, the company receives the insurance payout.

This payout helps to:

• cover expenses until a replacement is found;
• pay off debts;
• distribute money to investors, if necessary;
• pay severance to employees; and
• ensure the orderly closure of the business.
• No formula or set of rules can be applied when determining the value of a human life.

For insurance purposes, however, the amount of key person cover is usually determined using one of the following methods:

1. Seven times the annual salary of the key person.
2. The estimated number of years that it would take for a replacement to reach the key person’s present level of profitability, multiplied by the drop in profits as a result of the death or disability of the key person.
3. Itemising the costs involved in replacing the key person. Such costs could involve:

• the actual cost of replacing the key person;
• the key person’s worth in terms of net profits;
• the cost to the business if the key person were to die or become disabled today; and
• the degree to which the business wishes to protect itself against the loss that would be sustained upon the loss of the key person.
• Protection for business partners
• Buy & sell insurance is risk insurance that business co-owners take out on one another’s lives to enable them to buy a deceased or disabled co-owner’s share in the business.

The loss of a co-owner to death or disability could impact your business in the following ways:

• The existence of the business may be in jeopardy.
• Credit facilities may be affected adversely.
• Outsiders may obtain a controlling interest.
• Remaining co-owners may be unable to afford the deceased’s interest or shares.
• The business interest may be sold below fair market value.
• Buy & sell insurance enables business continuity. It works as follows:

The co-owners enter into an agreement where they undertake to purchase the interest of their fellow co-owners should any of them die or become disabled.

A co-owner effects an insurance benefit on the life of another co-owner and vice-versa. Each co-owner will consequently own a benefit on the life of the other and pay the premiums under the benefit of which they are owner.

The insurance payout provides the cash to facilitate the purchase of an interest in the business, thus ensuring business continuity and the financial welfare of the deceased’s dependants.

When more than one co-owner is involved, the benefit on the life of each co-owner will be jointly owned by the other co-owners, proportionate to their interest in the business.

How much money are you willing to pay more because the agent you did your business insurance (key man, key person insurance) with is your best friend . So you are afraid to get quotes with someone else  so your relationship with him can stay intact?

This is a strange question, because not so long ago insurance was a intimacy-only business, it was just about being intimate with your client, in other words being your friend and getting you to trust him 100%.

Once the client bought an insurance product, the product built up a cash value, which meant the product (insurance policy) became valuable in its own right, and so the competition for who can get you the best and cheapest life cover stopped the moment you bought the insurance.

This has changed completely - no cash value is built up over time, and what you pay for life cover changes every year as you get older.

In my opinion this is a big improvement, as the client is now first!

Now the focus has changed to your health, and it is how healthy are you compared to other people that is the same age as you? Has your health improved or gotten worse since you took out the life cover policy all that time ago?

Well if it got worse - then you have the best deal - as the one advantage of securing life cover is that the insurance company may not change what it charges you for life cover if your health deteriorates. So now you have really cheap life cover f- or your specific health, and so you should guard your current insurance policy with your life. Excuse the pun.

But if your health has improved, then you are paying too much for the life cover compared to your specific health position. Which means it is time to get new quotes and save yourself some money.

When you got the cover you would have fallen into one of two groups

Perfect health and no dangerous sports or job or excessive driving.Not perfect health with dangerous sports or job or being a smoker.

Has any of these changed for the better since then:

you are healthier for your age group no dangerous sportsstopped driving so muchstopped smokinglost wait - started gymwent on new medicine, so now are healthierstopped divingstopped parachuting or parasailing

You will know if they loaded the premium as you would have had to sign for the extra premiums.

As getting quotes are free, only a bit of a nuisance at worst - most of the time a free medical is included, which has turned out for many as a life saver, as they identified a illness early that has saved more than one life. So you can only win there is no down side!

Life cover has changed to be very competitive, and the process is now more like short term insurance (cars and household insurance) your broker should get new updated insurance quotes with different insurance companies on a regular basis so that you the client can always have the best deal that you possibly can.

So if your friend is a agent for a specific Insurance company - they don't shop around for the best deal (they are not allowed), they give you what they have “the best” which is always the company they are at - makes you wonder...

So in conclusion don't let your friendly insurance agent stand between you and the cheaper life cover that you could have - let a insurance broker quote for free for you today, and start saving money! If he is really your best friend he will understand.

The question to ask is "if who dies or gets disabled is it the worst case scenario for your company?" Will there even be a business if this keyman is no longer in the business? If not - you have a dilemma!

The good news is this situation can be managed . But it needs planning, and it may take months to put everything in place, or you could be fortunate and it only take weeks.

Keyman or keyperson Insurance is what you will need, this is done in the name of your company, because its your company that will need extra money if the keyman dies or gets disabled.

But it is not always so easy to figure out exactly how much life cover can be organized so if you do not have a strategy in place - the speedier you start with this process the more desirable it will be.

So if you are in South Africa, Pretoria or Johannesburg give us a call and let us help you to assess your current risk and put it behind you succesfully.

Then if at all possible you want a lawyer insurance agent combination to help you put all of the above in place, as in a great deal of situations their are long term contracts that must be put in place and the majority of of the time it is not all so evident what to do. One contract overlooked can have a devastating effect later!

Key person disability insurance is the key to the proprietors ongoing financial success , as it insures that you will get compensated even if there is a serious disease , like your partner ( key man ) disability , if he gets disabled , or have a heart attack etc .

The dilemma with all new organisations is that you do a great deal of work first , for which you will get remunerated later when the business is successful - this is where the risk lies ! This is why you ought to get key person disability insurance to cover you in this daunting situation , in a lot of the cases this will make the difference between your business's survival or insolvency .

As the owner when you are attempting to spot the key person , most of the time it will be obvious but if you really can't recognize him - then you are the key person !

The first step in being able to attain key person disability insurance is a great business plan , yes the same one you will need for the bank for financing etc . As this will determine the potential value of the key person , and the business .

One of the building blocks to be able to get key person disability insurance is that you must be able to prove a loss on your side if your key person should become disabled .

Situations where key person disability insurance should be considered is :

• Business Partnerships ( as soon as you can afford it )
• New businesses and organizations
• Professionals that is original and which can not be substituted
• Colleagues that is unique and which can not be replaced
• Creditors - people that owe you a lot of money ( do you want to claim it from their estate ? )
• Shareholders - do you want to negotiate with their spouse , or have the spouse as a business partner ?

Then preferably you want a lawyer insurance broker combination to help you put all of the key person disability insurance in place , as in a significant of cases there are business contracts that must be put in place and most of the time it is not at all that evident what to do . One contract neglected can have a detrimental effect later !

So as you can see key person disability insurance is an essential part in managing your businesses risks , and sometimes your own risks in the process , if you have any questions don't hesitate to call , or follow this link to my website : http://sandtonkeymaninsurance.webs.com