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Office hours - Tuesday 7th September

The office is open today but for staff only.  Some staff with school children will be at home caring for them until schools re-open tomorrow (Wednesday).

The team at Taurus hope that you and your loved ones are safe and sound and that any damage to business and personal property was minimal.

 

Business Loss as a result of the earthquake - what should you do?

Following the widespread damage in Christchurch and the Canterbury region following the earthquake, your attention is probably moving from ensuring that your family are safe to your business, and assessing any losses that you may have incurred.

Almost all businesses will have Material Damage policies that will cover the cost of repairs to property, plant and equipment , and loss of inventory etc.

Business interruption insurance is an important component of your business risk management.  This is exactly the time that that you need this policy and it may be able to provide compensation to you as a business owner.

Business interruption insurance can cover your gross profit, wages, additional costs of working, record re-instatement; and if a landlord, of loss of rents.



What should you do now?
Business interruption
We have set up a team at Taurus to assist you with making claims under your Business Interruption insurance policies.

In the first instance, contact Michael Kohing.  He and his team of Claire Norris and Greg Wright will work with you to minimise the financial loss to your business following earthquake.  Please have a copy of your policy at hand.  That will provide us with the guidelines to perform the necessary calculations as there are subtle differences between insurers.

Contact your business insurance brokers to advise that you will be making a claim and request any documents or forms to assist us in making the calculations.

In order for your insurers to make an assessment you will have to have your latest financial year accounts completed, i.e. your March 2010 accounts.  If you have not done so, we suggest that you bring your accounting records in as soon as possible.  We will also need your trading records for the period from April to August.


Material Damage
In circumstances where you are a tenant and there is damage to property, take photographs for evidence to pass on to your landlord.  This is especially important if you need to have items repaired immediately for security or safety reasons such as windows and doors.

Where there is loss to inventory, plant and equipment, schedule all damaged items and photograph if possible.  You may need to keep physical evidence so do not dispose of those items until your insurers loss adjuster has viewed the items.

Again, contact your business insurance brokers and request the forms required to make a claim.


Material Damage - at home
If you have suffered any property damage at home please contact the Earthquake Commission on 0800 DAMAGE (0800 326243) providing details of the extent of damage.  Your residence is covered for the first $100,000 (plus GST) by the EQ portion of your domestic insurance policy.  If the damage is assessed to be greater than $100,000 the balance will be covered by your insurer.  The EQC will also cover the first $20,000 (plus GST) of contents and the insurer the balance thereafter.


For further information, contact:
Michael Kohing
DDI: 03 353 2628

Are you keeping your Bank Manager happy?

In this current economic environment, banks and finance companies (those who are left) are constantly reviewing their exposures. Initially their review is based on industry analysis, and then they look at your performance compared with your budget, and the industry norm. They will be particularly targeting borrowers who are struggling to meet their loan covenants and this may be as simple as:

• furnishing financial statements on a regular basis, e.g. at least quarterly, and certainly annually
• providing written commentary on the business activities for the period under review
• providing the annual forecasts within the specified timeframes. It is important that these forecasts are achievable as they form the basis for the lenders KPI’s.

The review of the performance of your business against the lender’s own measures is to ensure that their investment in you is not at risk, which could give them reason to increase rates and fees or worse still, terminate their facilities.

Taurus Group’s bank advisory division is led by David Kitson and he can assist you in making the bank / client relationship a lot smoother by:

• reviewing all specific performance ratios,
• discussing the covenants from a practical point of view,
• reviewing your Letters of Offer to ensure that the rates offered are competitive,
• ensuring that the covenants set by the lenders are achievable,

Many borrowers do not understand their covenants, let alone be aware of their ability to “negotiate” them with their bank at the time of review.

If your bank manager is happy, you will (generally) be happy. Give David a call on 03 353 2634 if you would like some assistance on working with you and your banker.

 

Thinking about a Family Trust?

If you are
           - getting married (or married again)
           - travelling or working overseas
           - needing good tax advice or just good advice
           - wanting to protect your assets
           - needing to provide for your children's futures

then we recommend that you arrange an appointment with our Trust Director, Rebecca Stewart.  Friendly and easy to understand, she is available to help you to protect your assets for you and your family.