Land and Expand part V – Insurances

As we walk through the Land & Expand journey, we reach the fifth stage, being Insurances.  Often overlooked in the process but necessary to ensure that your overseas trading entity, your board of directors, your employees, your customers and your supply chain are all sufficiently protected.

Requirements will vary between locations and this short note relates primarily to the UK.  You will find a separate article in today’s communique from Mark Niebuhr addressing the US perspective, and an excellent article on the UK from Nick Lawrence.

The single compulsory cover for most UK corporates will be Employer’s Liability Insurance. Other covers may be industry-specific requirements, such as Professional Indemnity Insurance.

It is not untypical for businesses to contract for a range of coverage across: Public Liability, Travel, Buildings/Contents, Legal Fees, Business Interruption, Cyber and so forth.

As with all business transactions, cover may be required by your customers and attention should be paid to their requirements within the relevant contract. As mentioned by both authors today, insurance is effectively protection for when things go wrong, and loss occurs. At that point, you want to be in a position to ensure that your stakeholders are suitably reimbursed.

From the angle of managing risk and ensuring a smooth Land & Expand, identify the insurances that you will need to see you through the first 48 months and budget for these to be put in place. Most covers are relatively inexpensive but others, such as Professional Indemnity, may carry a high price tag. Leaving this exercise until after you are operational may prove to be a great shock to your wallet!

For a detailed walk through the insurance requirements, please visit the Association of British Insurers.  Your team at Briars is always on hand to manage your Land & Expand project for you, irrespective of your chosen destination and would pick up this aspect as part of the 18-stage plan. Join us again in 2021 when we look at Stage 6: Banking.