Business Protection

In the same way that there is a need for protection in our personal lives, to look after our dependants, there is also a need for protection in our business lives.

There are three types of "business protection", depending on the type of business involved:

• Directors are often large shareholders in their company and make all of a company’s important decisions.
• On death, the shares of the Company owned by a deceased Director will become part of their estate.
• Those who inherit the shares may not want to be involved in the company, and the surviving directors may not want them to be involved.
• If the new owners of those shares wished to sell them back to the surviving directors, what would the consequences be if the surviving directors were not in a financial position to purchase those shares?
• An arrangement can be put in place whereby on the death of a Director, funds will become available to purchase the shares of the deceased Director.

• In law, on the death of a partner, the partnership is dissolved, and any sum due to a deceased partner as his/her share of the partnership, must be treated as a debt of the partnership.
• This means that the surviving partners, in most cases, will be required to produce a substantial cash sum in order to fund the repayment to the deceased partner’s estate.
• What would the consequences be if the surviving partners were not in a financial position to make this payment?
• An arrangement can be put in place whereby on the death of a partner, funds will become available to the surviving partner in order to make the required payment to the deceased partner’s estate.

• Every company has "key" employees, those with experience, knowledge, management expertise and contacts, in their business.
• If one of those key people were to die suddenly – what would happen to the business? Could it survive without them?
• What sort of financial losses would the company sustain in the weeks and months immediately following the death of this key employee?
• Any director or employee on whom the business depends for its continued success and whose death could result in a financial loss for the company, should be covered under Keyperson cover.

In order to help protect your business, Friends First also offer Executive Income Protection. You choose what employees you would like to protect, and they receive an income in the event that they become unable to work due to illness, accident, or disability. Premiums paid into the plan qualify for tax relief as a business expense, and you have the security of knowing that the employee will receive an income in the event that they cannot work. In this way, the cost of sick pay is lifted from your business.

For more information, please contact your Financial Adviser or contact Friends First Direct on 1890 201 430. Alternatively, you can contact us online.

© Friends First, Friends First House, Cherrywood Business Park, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18