SA’s first all-in-one insurance policy stands to benefit SMEs in all industries

Specialist risk insurer iTOO has unveiled an all-in-one, all-risk third-party legal liability policy for small companies — the first of its kind in SA. 

SureThing is designed to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which play a key role in SA's economic recovery and job creation. 

The policy covers businesses with a turnover of less than R20m a year and fewer than 20 employees. 

“SureThing is a blanket cover for a range of risks, aimed at any type of small business operating in any industry. It’s all the cover you need, wrapped in one,” says Melita Thurling, product champion: general liabilities for SureThing at iTOO.

SureThing does not take a company’s individual risk exposure rating into account but considers group qualifying criteria. Any SME can be covered as long as it meets the criteria, regardless of its individual risk circumstances.

The response to the insurance cover 

“The policy was piloted earlier this year and received a large amount of interest from the small-business sector,” says Thurling. “The response has been overwhelming because SureThing is a product that allows SMEs to operate on an equal footing with big businesses.”

One of SureThing’s features is Protection of Personal Information Act enquiry legal costs, including:  

• legal assistance with notifications; 
• costs for workplace vaccine disputes and;
• representation costs for the contravention of any law related to the conduct of the business.

“Regardless of the third-party claim alleging a legal liability, SureThing covers legal costs to defend the claim and pays up to the limits for legal liability.” 

Because SureThing groups different types of cover under one legal-liability trigger, injury and damage third-party claims are covered, even if caused by a cyber-incident, directors’ and officers’ liability or professional indemnity liability. These exclude bodily injury and property damage — which often leads to gaps in the cover.

To make the process easy and hassle-free for SMEs, iTOO has provided a digital platform for its brokers to engage with businesses that want to take up SureThing insurance, making the journey seamless and efficient.

Other markets

iTOO plans to roll out the product in other markets. 

SMEs are vital to economic development and job creation. In SA, they represent more than 98% of businesses and employ 50%–60% of the country's workforce across all sectors.

Despite this, SMEs are some of the most vulnerable types of businesses. In most cases, they lack the funding and resources of bigger enterprises, yet they face the same operational and environmental risks as larger companies. 

Thurling says SMEs are more likely than larger businesses to fail when faced with liability claims or natural disasters that disrupt their operations, which is why SureThing is a game-changer for these businesses. 

This article was paid for by iTOO.