Calculating a Claim For Loss of Profits

Depending on the type of insurance policy that youThe loss of profit is equal to the shortage of sale
hold you may be eligible to make a claim for loss ofmultiplied by the gross profit ratio divided by 100.
profits apart from the damages incurred in the fire orLoss of profit= Shortage of Sale x G.P Ratio/100
any other factor that your business is insured against.To determine the total amount of claim for loss of
However, in order to file such a claim you will have toprofit you can add increase in the cost of working to
start by calculating the loss of profit from the datethe loss of gross profit and deduct any saving in
of fire or flooding, which can be a confusing andstanding charges from this figure.
daunting task. So here are the step by stepIn case of loss of profit calculation, insured standing
instructions on tacking this calculation:charges would entail all expenses mentioned in the
Step One: Gross Profitinsurance policy of loss of profit. For instance,
If you want to calculate the loss of profit, you willexpenses such as advertising, salaries of permanent
have to start by assessing the gross profit which canstaff, auditor's fees, traveling expenses to the
then be multiplied by short of sale to get the loss oftemporary premises, rent, taxes, interest on loans,
profit in the disturbance period.wages of skilled workers, other expenses which do
In order to calculate the gross profits, add the netnot exceed 5% of the described standing
profit of the previous year to the insured standingsexpenditure can be added.
and the various charges of last year; the sum ofIf you feel that you cannot handle the calculation,
these should give you the gross profit.you can enlist the help of your auditor to help you
Step Two: Gross Profit ratiocalculate the claim for loss of profit. It is imperative
Now, calculate the Gross Profit ratio by dividing thethat you have all the relevant documents that prove
gross profit by sale of previous year and multiplyingyour claim.
the resultant figure by 100Apart from this, you may also want to consider
So, GP Ratio= Gross Profit/ Sales of previous Year Xgetting in touch with an insurance assessor; the
100insurance companies will have their employees to
Step Three: Shortage in Saleassess the damage and to verify the veracity of
In order to calculate the shortage in sale, you willyour claim. So in case of certain tricky situations, it is
have to determine the actual sale of the same periodin your best interest to get an expert to work on
in the previous year. An increase in sales trends haveyour side as well. The insurance assessor will be able
to be added to this figure. Subtract the actual salesto point out anomalies in your claims, he will go
of the dislocation period from the sum of the twothrough the policy meticulously looking for extra
previous figures to get the shortage in sale.coverage that you can get.
Shortage in Sale = Actual Sale of the same period inAn insurance assessor may also be able to help you
the previous yearin case your claim has been denied and he may be
+ Any increase in sales trendsable to get into a renegotiation with the insurance
- The actual sales of the dislocation period.company.
Step Four: Loss Of Profit: