Gallagher News and Insights

As Australia enters a new financial year with the economy in better shape than expected, risk factors in most insurance covers have ramped up significantly, putting ongoing pressure on businesses to anticipate and demonstrate strong risk management.

For businesses offering services and contracts in a supply chain to other businesses, effective balancing of short and long term costs and income is a common challenge. When these businesses need to provide financial assurance in advance of supplying a contract to another business, surety bonds are a popular and more flexible alternative to bank guarantees.

The Federal Government’s 2021 Budget extends some of last year’s temporary measures intended to provide relief to Australian businesses and facilitate opportunities to stabilise and continue to trade profitably. Some provisions target industry sectors and small to medium sized businesses specifically. Here’s a short summary of the key takeaways.

Financial officers are all too familiar with the pressure to exercise tight cost controls. This article provides guidance to those looking to safeguard their business, achieve optimal premium outcomes and cost containment.

Exploding gas bottles, cyclones, fires, armed hold-ups… insurance for the hospitality industry is always diverse, often complex and never boring, says Justin Riseley, an authorised representative with Gallagher in Brisbane, whose 30+ years in the sector have delivered some colourful claims.

Against a background of dramatically escalating security threats to Australian businesses as cyber criminals exploit the greater attack surface provided by changed conditions, we deliver the Gallagher Australia 2021 Cyber Insights Report as a valuable resource to help local businesses improve their defences and gain practical knowledge.

Along with many other industries the waste and recycling sector faces challenges with obtaining insurance cover and increases in premium rates. These conditions are general for all businesses but there are some strategies that can improve the cover and the terms you can obtain. Mark Bramley, Newcastle Area Director at Gallagher, provided key guidance to WCRA NSW at a recent NSW workshop and...

Are your business risk exposures and assets the same as they were 12 months ago? As many businesses make adjustments to how they function to meet changing economic conditions, to respond to consumer demand or make improvements over time, insurance renewal is an opportunity to review your risk exposures – and how much of what type of cover you’ll need over the coming year.

Transport driving represents the most common occupation for Australian males, employing 1 in every 33 men. However, this same group is also at greater risk of workplace injury. And it’s not just their physical health that’s involved: psychological wellbeing is also a serious issue, particularly for younger drivers.

While the Australian government’s temporary COVID pandemic exemption to insolvency laws during 2020 provided relief by suspending some business directors’ duty relating to insolvency risks, their obligations in 2021 have reverted to the standard insolvency liability regulations.

Having a contingency or business continuity plan can make the difference between survival or going under in the face of major disruptions. On the flip side it can also help to unlock growth. To help you manage business risks find out how to formulate your own plan using a business continuity template developed with our insurance partner Vero.

Having an insurance broker advise, guide or manage the claims process is closely linked to satisfaction with the experience, according to a recent report based on a survey of Australian small businesses. This trend has strengthened over the past few years in parallel with the hardening insurance market and greater claims scrutiny by insurers. We look at some of the factors involved.

If your business uses contractors to carry out services for you or on your behalf, this guide for employing and managing them to avoid potential exposures is designed to help you create an effective contractor management framework to reduce your business risks, as defined by our insurance partner Vero.

Our Top Cyber Risks for the Board of Directors webinar, presented by Robyn Adcock, Cyber and Tech Practice Leader, Michael Herron, National Head, Professional and Financial Risk, with Clyde & Co partner John Moran and Huntsman CEO Peter Woollacott, examines the risks and consequences of cyber breaches for business’s executive management.

For most businesses there’s an array of moving parts behind your brand name: logistics that enable you to run your operations and service your customers. It would be difficult to sustain your business without them, which is why you want to make sure these assets are adequately protected.

This is the 10^th year of the Vero SME Insurance Index and the insurer has highlighted some long-term trends, as well as reflections from small to medium businesses on their risks and insurance during 2020, including adjustments to of their insurance cover in response to the pandemic. Here we review some of the key findings.

Almost every business relies on equipment, from desktop computers through to refrigeration, manufacturing plant and heavy machinery. They’re essential tools and if they’re not working then we can’t either. Businesses need contingency for these risks, and that’s what machinery and equipment breakdown insurance is for.

Parts of New South Wales from the Mid-North Coast to the metro area and across the Mid-North Coast are under emergency conditions as flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system has reached levels not seen since 1961.

The mining industry is likely to bear the brunt of rising nationalism in countries with economies reliant on their resources, according to a report by global risk analyst Verisk Maplecroft. The report cites 34 countries where resource nationalism has surged, with cost implications for mining companies.

Australia's meat and poultry food production sector is regarded as essential to the nation’s wellbeing by the country’s federal and state governments. During the ongoing pandemic meat products continue to be in high demand and to maintain continuous supply food production companies need to be confident they can prevent and mitigate any contamination threats.