Most people hate to talk about insurance, but most businesses no matter how big or small need to have some kind of insurance in order to operate and assure their business partners of their solvency in case of the unthinkable. If you are looking to protect yourself from risk your goal in the end is to purchase the best and most affordable coverage. We have listed some of the more popular types of business insurance below. This way you can start making a list of the different types available that you might need for your business to operate smoothly and efficiently.
If you have employees working for you then for the most part you must take part in your state’s worker’s compensation, disability, and unemployment insurance programs. In most circumstances if you are the only employee you are not required by law to have business insurance, but the bigger question is why would you want to risk losing everything you have worked so hard for if something bad happens? Check with your individual state for the requirements you must meet in order to do business, but we strongly suggest having some kind of policy in place.
The 9 Different Types of Commercial Business Insurance:
1) General Liability – One of the reasons general liability is so popular is that it covers and protects general things such as injuries, property damage, accidents, or negligence claims. Some policies are also designed to protect your company in the case that people slander your business reputation and it costs you money or clients.
2) Property or Casualty – Usually these types of policies are lumped into general liability insurance, but they can also be interchangeable, so pay close attention when you are reviewing your policies. Remember, peril specific policies such as flooding, fire, crime, and business interruption is not something automatically covered under most property insurance, so these types of coverage will need to be added separately.
3) Product Liability – This covers you if one of your products ends up being defective and causes damage to a building or if someone is injured by one of your products in an accident.
4) Life & Disability – Besides the obvious life and disability insurance programs for employees there is also something called key employee life insurance. It helps protect you against the loss of income for your business because of the death or disability of a senior employee.
5) Commercial Auto – If you have vehicles that will be used for business purposes then they will have to be covered in case something happens to the employee or vehicle while it is in operation.
6) Business Interruption – This protects you in case there is an interruption in running your business such as an accident that shuts your factory down resulting in the loss of time and money. Each area of the world is prone to different disasters and circumstances, so make sure to look at which ones would affect you and have the insurance company add that to your policy.
7) Home Business – Don’t for a minute think that your homeowner’s insurance would cover you for your home business should damages arise from a fire or other accident. Most home owners policies would pay out very little to make up for any losses to a home business that occurred on the premises.
8) Internet Business – The number one problem with having an internet business is “security”. As a matter of fact our internet business was hacked into by a Russian computer professional. It took us weeks to get back on our feet because many of the websites had to be redone and put on different servers. Luckily though we had this insurance to cover us, so our concerns had more to do with the loss of time than the actual money spent on the process.
9) Specialty Insurance – Dentists, Doctors, Accountants, and Not for Profits can all have their businesses covered for miscellaneous things that may go wrong such as errors on taxes or malpractice suits.
Now that we have discussed your options for attaining commercial business insurance it’s time for you to get out there and talk to some insurance agents regarding your wants and needs for your company. A couple of things to keep in mind: Customer service goes a long way with insurance agents. Make sure you get an idea that they are going to be there for you for the long haul, not just for when something bad happens. Most good insurance agents will check in with you periodically to see if anything needs to be updated in your policy. Shop around and get a bunch of quotes from different companies, because then you will have more options and the negotiating power to get the best overall coverage for your company.
No comments:
Post a Comment