Co-Shareholder

Policy Purpose
Co-Shareholder cover provides pre-arranged financing to fund a change in ownership when a business owner dies or becomes permanently disabled.

Why You Need It
This type of cover ensures one shareholder gets fair value for their shares whilst the other(s) can maintain control in the business by obtaining the shares from the deceased/disabled shareholder.

The cost of insurance is far less than the alternative options of buying out a shareholder such as taking out a loan, using existing cash or selling assets.

Policy Ownership
The correct ownership of policies is vital for co-shareholder cover to avoid your business being placed in a vulnerable position.

Stewart Group established a bare trustee company – Stewart Nominees Limited – for the sole purpose of acting as a bare trustee for business insurance purposes. We can provide you with draft buy/sell agreements and trust deeds for your solicitor to view and amend as required for your situation.

The role of a bare trustee is to simply own the insurance policy and distribute any claim in accordance with the company’s buy/sell agreement. The company and the bare trustee’s relationship are governed by a trust deed.

The advantage of using a bare trustee for policy ownership includes:

• Impartiality at claim time to expedite the distribution of proceeds
• Simplifies administration if shareholders regularly change

Should a claim be required, then our role as your adviser, is to facilitate the processing of the claim.

The Next Step
Having made the important decision that you need some insurance, contact us today and take the next vital step to protect yourself and your business.