Business interruption · South Africa

Keep paying salaries when operations stop.

Business interruption cover replaces lost revenue when a covered event stops your operations — from fire to a cyber attack. Critical for SaaS and service businesses running on recurring revenue.

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At a glance
  • 12–24 month indemnity
  • Covers salaries and fixed costs
  • Cyber event extensions available
  • Denial-of-access cover option
  • Bundles with property and cyber
  • Restored quickly via broker network

What BI pays

BI pays the revenue you would have earned during the indemnity period, less any variable costs saved. It typically also covers additional expenses incurred to keep operating (temporary premises, faster hire).

The indemnity period

Do not default to 12 months. Choose 18–24 months if replacing infrastructure or rehiring specialist staff would take that long. Under-choosing indemnity is the most common BI mistake.

Gotchas for tech businesses

Tech-specific traps in standard BI wording:

  • Standard BI excludes cyber losses unless bundled or extended
  • Cloud outages need a service-provider dependency extension
  • Revenue definition matters — annualised MRR vs booked revenue
  • Waiting periods (48–72h) can bite short outages
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is business interruption insurance?+

Business interruption (BI) replaces lost revenue when a covered event stops your operations. For SaaS and service businesses that live on recurring revenue, it can be the difference between recovery and closure.

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What events trigger business interruption?+

Typically fire, flood, malicious damage, breakdown of critical equipment, and — if added — cyber events and denial of access to your premises.

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What indemnity period should I choose?+

Do not default to 12 months. Choose 18–24 months if replacing infrastructure, restoring data, or rehiring would take that long. Under-choosing here is the most common BI mistake.

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Does BI cover cyber events?+

Standard BI usually excludes cyber losses unless bundled with a cyber policy or extended with a cyber BI endorsement. Confirm this explicitly in your schedule.

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