Relevant life policy products today: There is not a one size fit all solution for business protection. It is not quite as easy as getting a £1 million pound life insurance policy for each of the directors and then thinking the business is safe. Instead a business should consult with a business protection expert who can then design a bespoke solution individual to the business Often the policies need to be written in trust and it is also very important to look at the tax position of the policies both the premiums payable and how these are treated and also the sum assured upon a claim. We have helped many directors and business owners protect their businesses. Read more information on Key person insurance.
Tax Treatment of a Key Person Insurance Policy: Key person insurance is an important tool for businesses, ensuring the continuity of the business in event of sudden death or incapacity of a key employee. The tax implications for key person insurance, however, can be complex. In general, if the company meets certain criteria then it can claim corporation tax deduction on premiums paid. Payouts are typically treated as business revenue and are therefore taxable. However, this is not always the case so you need to ensure you take the right approach from a tax perspective. It is important to consider grossing up any payouts to make sure that the net figure still meets your needs after any applicable taxes are taken into account. We at have extensive experience in this area and can help ensure optimal tax outcomes when it comes to key person insurance policies.
How Much Cover is Needed? When it comes to the amount of cover you need, it is important to reflect the amount that would be needed to pay the debt or loan back in full. To ensure you have the right level of protection, there are two main types of business loan protection insurance available; level and decreasing. Level protection is suitable if your debts stay at a consistent level over a set period, such as with an interest only mortgage. Decreasing protection allows you to address your liabilities in smaller amounts which makes more sense when responding to repayments on longer-term loans such as car finance. Business loan protection can provide significant support during a financially challenging time, allowing the continuity of trading while deferring payments on those outstanding debts. It’s vital that all businesses review their current debt levels regularly and consider the implications if one or more were suddenly unable to be paid off quickly, before selecting an appropriate level of loan protection insurance.
In order to ensure smooth business operations and protect against unexpected events, it may be necessary for shareholders to enter into an explicit agreement. This agreement should state that in the event one of them dies or suffers from a critical illness, the remaining shareholders will have the option to buy their shares. This protects each shareholder’s interests and ensures that there will not be any significant disruption or loss of value within the company. Having clear and concise agreements such as these in place helps guarantee continuity within an organization even during unexpected events.
Tax Implications: This form of succession planning is quite complex and you should seek financial advice, legal advice, tax advice and bespoke advice unique to your own situation so the guidelines below will just give a brief overview of what company owners need to watch out for. So it will be very likely that the spouse could not sell the shares at all or sell them at a massively discounted price. With a shareholder protection policy in place it would provide a lump sum payment to the remaining shareholders. The sum assured would be pre-agreed by the business owners. This would allow the individual shareholders to buy the spouses company shares at fair price.
Business loans can be critical for a business to function and grow, but without loan protection, borrowing money becomes a much riskier endeavor. Business loan protection insures the debt should an unforeseen event cause the illness or death of an owner or director who was personally responsible for it. By protecting their loan, business owners minimise their exposure and ensure that the lender is less likely to be left with unpaid debts in such scenarios.
The most common way for insurers to calculate key person insurance premiums and benefits is based on salary multiples; however, sometimes more complex formulae are used. In order to determine an exact amount of coverage that is necessary for a particular business situation, advice should be sought by someone who understands the value of what would be lost with the key individual gone. This may require researching factors such as how hard or easy it would be to replace them, an estimation of how long this process may take and what kind of losses might occur in the meantime regarding profit. Ultimately, with enough consideration and thought given to these issues prior to purchasing key person insurance, this process will remain simple and straightforward. Discover additional details at Business Protection Insurance.
