If you have a good accountant, they are already one of the most trusted advisers in your business. They know your revenue, your costs, your structure, and your goals. They see your business change in real time when it grows, when it restructures, when it takes on new contracts or acquires new assets.
So here is a question worth sitting with. Does your accountant know whether your insurance has kept pace with all of that?
In our experience working with business owners, that conversation almost never happens. And the gaps it leaves can be significant.
Why Accountants and Insurance Brokers Should Work Together
Accountants and insurance brokers are looking at the same business from different angles. Your accountant is focused on financial performance, tax position, and business structure. A broker is focused on risk, exposure, and protection.
But those two worlds intersect constantly. And when they do not talk to each other or at least point their clients in the right direction business owners end up with gaps that cost them dearly.
Here are three situations where an accountant and a broker working together makes a real difference.
Business restructures
When an accountant helps a client restructure from a sole trader to a company or trust, the insurance obligations change. Public liability, professional indemnity, the way assets are held all of it shifts. If the broker does not know about the restructure, the client can end up with cover that no longer reflects how the business actually operates. This is one of the most common gaps we see, and it is entirely avoidable with a simple conversation.
Revenue growth
A business that doubled its revenue in the past two years but is still insured at its old turnover level is significantly underinsured for business interruption. Accountants see revenue growth before almost anyone else. That is a natural trigger for a conversation about whether insurance has kept pace but it rarely happens unless someone makes it happen.
New contracts and assets
When a business takes on a major new contract or acquires significant new equipment, both the accountant and the broker need to know about it. The accountant for depreciation and tax. The broker because the risk profile of the business has just changed and the existing policy may no longer be adequate.
Three Situations Where the Gap Costs Business Owners
The consequences of these gaps are not theoretical. We have sat across from business owners after an incident who had no idea their cover was out of date because nobody had looked at it since the business was a fraction of its current size.
A holding company with significant assets not reflected in the insurance policy. A director loan structure that affected how a claim would be paid. A business that had grown substantially but whose business interruption cover was still set to revenue from three years ago meaning at claim time, the insurer paid a proportionally reduced amount rather than what the business actually needed to survive.
These are the things that fall through the cracks when advisers work in silos. They are also the things that a well-connected accountant and broker can prevent with a single referral and a single conversation.
What a Good Referral Relationship Actually Looks Like
The best referral relationships we have with accountants are not transactional. They are not about sending clients back and forth for a commission. They are about two advisers who trust each other’s work and know that when they refer a client, that client is going to be looked after properly.
When an accountant introduces a client to us, what they are really saying is: I trust these people to give you the same quality of advice that I try to give you. That is a significant endorsement and we treat it that way.
From a client’s perspective, having an accountant and a broker who communicate — even occasionally means the advice received from both is more informed, more connected, and more likely to actually protect what has been built. The accountant is not expected to understand insurance. The broker is not expected to understand tax. But both should know enough about each other’s role to recognise when a referral is in the client’s interest.
Three Questions Accountants Should Ask Every Business Client
If you are an accountant reading this, here are three questions worth raising with your business clients at your next review meeting.
When did someone last properly review their insurance, not just renew it?
There is a significant difference between the two. A renewal is an administrative process the insurer reprices last year’s policy. A review is a genuine assessment of whether that policy still reflects how the business operates today.
Has anything changed in the business in the last 12 months that might affect their cover?
New staff, new contracts, new premises, new equipment, a restructure — any of these can materially change a business’s risk profile without anyone thinking to update the insurance.
Do they have a broker they actually trust?
Not just a policy a person they can call when something changes or something goes wrong. If the answer is no, or they are not sure, that is a referral worth making.
If the answer to that last question is that they are buying direct or they have not thought about it — that is the conversation worth having. Not because it benefits you as an accountant financially, but because getting this wrong can cost your client everything.
What Business Owners Should Ask Their Accountant
This conversation does not have to start with the accountant. Business owners can raise it themselves.
At your next meeting, ask your accountant three things. Has my insurance been reviewed alongside my financial position recently? Are there any changes in my business structure or revenue that might affect my cover? And do you know a broker you would recommend?
A good accountant will either have an answer or be willing to find one. If the response is a blank look, that is worth noting and worth acting on independently.
The Delmont Approach to Accountant Partnerships
At Delmont Insurance Group, some of our most valued client relationships have come through accountant referrals. And in almost every case, those referrals have come from accountants who had seen firsthand what happens when business insurance does not keep pace with a growing business.
We work with accountants across Perth and Western Australia not as a transaction but as a genuine advisory partnership. When an accountant refers a client to us, we review that client’s cover properly, report back on what we find, and keep the accountant informed when anything material changes. That is the standard we hold ourselves to.
If you are an accountant who would like to understand how we work with your clients, or a business owner who wants to know whether your current insurance reflects your actual business, we would love to have that conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should my accountant introduce me to an insurance broker?
Your accountant sees your business change in real time revenue growth, restructures, new contracts and assets. All of these affect your insurance needs. A good accountant who introduces you to a trusted broker is making sure all the advisers around your business are working from the same picture.
What happens to my insurance when I restructure my business?
Restructuring from a sole trader to a company or trust changes your insurance obligations significantly. How assets are held, who is named in policies, and what cover applies to directors versus employees can all shift. If your broker is not aware of the restructure, your cover may no longer reflect your actual legal and commercial structure.
How often should my insurance be reviewed alongside my finances?
At minimum, once a year ideally before renewal rather than at renewal. Any time there is a significant change in the business new staff, new contracts, new assets, a restructure, a significant change in revenue is also a trigger for a review.
What is the difference between renewing and reviewing my insurance?
Renewing is an administrative process where your existing policy is repriced for another year. Reviewing is a genuine assessment of whether that policy still fits your business. One takes 30 seconds. The other could save your business.
How do I know if my insurance has kept pace with my business growth?
The simplest test is to ask your broker: if I made a claim today based on my current business size and operations, would this policy pay out in full? If they cannot answer that clearly, or if your policy has not been reviewed in the past 12 months, it is worth finding out.
I am an accountant, how do I refer a client to an insurance broker?
The simplest approach is a direct introduction an email or a phone call connecting your client with a broker you trust. At Delmont, we welcome accountant referrals and treat every referred client with the same level of care we would want extended to our own clients. A quick conversation to understand how we work is a good starting point.
The Delmont Insurance Group team works with business owners and their advisers across Perth and Western Australia. If you would like to discuss how we work alongside accountants and other professional advisers, we would love to hear from you.
Written by James Wilson the Director of Delmont Insurance Group, a Perth-based commercial insurance brokerage specialising in business insurance across trades, construction, professional services, labour hire, mining services, commercial property, and more.