OBERLE, TULLY & COMPANY BRANDING
For Tully, working with an insurance brokerage agency that has been around a while is a source of security.
He appreciates Nesbit’ s independence from the insurance providers because he knows that he’ s receiving unbiased advice about how to protect business-related risks best.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED, NOTHING YOU DON’ T
Tully’ s most significant considerations when it comes to insurance are cyber liability insurance and professional liability insurance. If there are any mistakes, errors, or omissions, that coverage is in place to protect the firm. Additionally, because accountants are constantly reviewing and offering advice on business finances, their work becomes a significant target for cyber fraud.
“ It’ s a changing environment... there’ s a lot of fraudulent [ cyber ] activity and there’ s just a lot of stuff going on out there,” explained Tully.“ We do financial statement work, [ so ] there can be some litigation with that, and tax preparation work, so there’ s definitely some professional liability issues there.” Fortunately, Tully’ s firm has never had to file an insurance claim, but the level of protection provided by Nesbit’ s guidance plays a critical role in maintaining smooth operations.
On one hand, securing all necessary insurance coverage is important, but on the other hand, cutting back on unnecessary business costs is always a top priority. With Nesbit, Tully gets the best of both worlds. They had a meeting with their Nesbit agent to make sure they weren’ t paying for insurance that they didn’ t necessarily need.
In that meeting, the Nesbit team realized that Tully and his firm don’ t offer auditing services. Because of the liability associated with auditing, it requires additional insurance coverage. Once it was revealed that there was no auditing-related risk at Oberle, Tully & Company, Nesbit advised the firm to eliminate certain coverages.“ I think it cut it by about 30 % at least,” detailed Tully.
MEETING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS
Customers working with professional services providers expect that their vendors have proper insurance coverage. Insurance coverage isn’ t necessarily about growth, but they do expect you to have it, explained Tully. While some freelancers or side businesses might be able to scrape by without professional liability insurance, established firms, no matter the size, should be securing proper coverage.
For Tully, the fact that the team at Nesbit Agencies is well-established and respected in their field is a positive for his firm.
“ When clients ask me who do I use [ for insurance ], I tell them [ I use Nesbit Agencies ]. I think that goes a long way to maintaining a good reputation in the community.”
Insurance coverage adds security for everyone involved in the business: clients, employees, owners, and business partners all benefit.
NO PLANS TO SHAKE THINGS UP
Although Tully reviews his firm’ s insurance coverage on an annual basis, there generally aren’ t a lot of changes that need to be made. The firm’ s employee structure doesn’ t change often, so there aren’ t a lot of changes that are required every year, meaning coverage stays the same. " We did beef up the cybersecurity insurance because that was something that is definitely on our radar screen,” he said. Aside from adjustments to coverage levels or addressing changing threat landscapes, Tully doesn’ t plan to make any changes to his insurance strategy. Tully says he appreciates the partnership he’ s developed with Nesbit over the years.
Whether you’ re a new business owner or someone who has been around the block for a couple of decades, partnering with a reliable insurance broker should be part of your business strategy. Reach out to the Nesbit team today to find the same peace of mind that has existed at Oberle, Tully & Company for the last 20 years. +
NesbitAgencies. com • 5