Annual insurance audit: the checklist

Before you start: the documents to gather

• The list of sites, with their floor areas.
• The headcount and the estimated payroll for the year.
• The vehicles and main equipment.
• The client or landlord contracts that require insurance.
• The claims and incidents of the year.

1. Identify what could affect the business

• Changes in activities, staffing and sites.
• Dependencies on people, equipment, suppliers or systems.
• Claims, long absences, disputes and near misses.
• New contractual obligations towards customers.

2. Assess the consequences and set priorities

The Swiss Confederation's SME Portal presents risk identification and assessment as a basis for management. For your review, describe the event of concern and its possible consequences for people, cash flow and business continuity, then prioritise what requires action.

Insurance is not the answer to every risk: also examine prevention, organisation and the share the business can bear.

3. Compare priorities with contracts

• Are activities, sites and people described correctly?
• Are sums insured consistent with the consequences identified?
• Can cash flow absorb the excesses?
• Are exclusions, limits and notification obligations understood?
• Are social insurance and business insurance cover coordinated?
• Have expiry dates and termination requirements been checked?

4. Decide and keep a record

For each gap, record the action, the person responsible, the documents needed and the next follow-up review. Distinguish matters requiring clarification by the insurer from those requiring an internal decision. Revisit the list when a significant change occurs, without waiting for the next review.

This checklist is an approach proposed by MAGE, not an official recommendation specific to your business. The federal references provide a general framework; they endorse neither this list nor an individual decision.