Incoming! Another lengthy confusing insurance application…
DBA Insurance is difficult enough to understand.
But actually, the application is not all that bad!
So what can you expect to encounter during the application process for DBA Insurance?
Let’s Jump in.
Organize your facts
Applying for DBA Insurance doesn’t have to be complicated.
With a little bit of organization, you can have a productive conversation with your insurance provider.
We recommend gathering the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW information about your specific assignments and anticipated work.
- Who is doing the work?
- What will they be doing?
- Where are they traveling?
- When is the work being done?
- How are employees moving around in the country?
This information can be found within the contract itself.
Answering those questions will allow you to formulate a clean scope of work which will help in communicating with your insurance company.
DBA Insurance is all about the details.
Payroll, Payroll, Payroll
DBA Insurance is priced much like domestic workers compensation.
You must have an estimation for the amount of payroll you will distribute in a 12 month period of time.
This can be a difficult number of figure out, but your broker must have some indication from you in order to provide you with a quote and ultimately a policy.
The application will also ask about how many employees work for you. This includes the anticipated number of individuals you will send overseas.
You will need to communicate how many US Citizens vs Local Nationals your company plans on paying during your contract.
Keep in mind, the policy will be audited.
This means that at the end of the policy term the insurance company may request that you fill out a basic payroll reporting form.
Your payroll numbers will be reconciled against what we quoted and adjusted accordingly.
Think of this as a federal tax return.
Your employer takes a certain amount of federal income tax out of your paycheck. Your tax burden is then calculated based on your projected income.
At the end of the year, you will file your taxes. You will either owe money to the government or be returned a refund.
With this in mind, we recommend you have a strong management procedure in place to maintain accurate payroll figures.
Have a medical evacuation and transportation plan
The application will always ask what your plan is if a medical emergency were to occur. In many situations, you are required to provide a detailed evacuation plan.
If you are working in an embassy or on a military base, you likely have a plan in conjunction with the government contract you have accepted.
Also, you should have a good idea about how your employees are moving around within the country.
If the morning commute involves a trek across hostile territory each day, you can bet your insurance rate will be much higher!
Answering the “Where” question
There are many details to remember when it comes to where your employees are working.
The most obvious is, what region of the world, specifically what country, are your employees traveling?
From there, the application will include questions surrounding living arrangements and distance from housing to worksite.
Also, the application will ask what percentage of the work is done on a military base or embassy.
As a general rule of thumb, the more specific you can be regarding the contracted plans the easier your application process will be for this coverage.
Questions about your business operation
The insurance company will also want to learn more about how you manage your business.
This will include things like:
- Do you conduct employee background checks?
- Do you maintain passport, visa, and other personnel records?
- Where do you keep personnel records?
- Do you have any previous insurance losses?
- How long have you been in business?
These questions help the insurance company build a profile on your company.
NOTE: Don’t think that if you have to answer a question negatively that it will impact your ability to obtain the coverage. Often they just want to know who they are insuring!
The Claim
The application process might sound daunting but trust us when we say it sounds worse than it really is.
Often, with just a little preparation you can have a quote and a policy written for you in just a few days.
The timeline will all depend on the level of specificity you can give early in the process.
The person in your organization that is applying for the DBA Insurance coverage should be versed in the scope of your contract.
NOTE: The prime contractors often submit the larger contract to the insurance companies to help speed up the process for you.
This means that the insurance company will be aware of what your needs are likely to be and be able to respond more quickly once an official application has been submitted.
If you would like a copy of the actual application you will need to fill out simply complete the quote request form linked below.
You can find more information about DBA Insurance here.