Policy Types
There are several different types of business insurance, each providing a different type of coverage or protection. There’s coverage against employee injury, physical damage to your business’s location, damage to your physical assets, theft, damage to vehicles, as well as injury to customers or non-employees.
What are the Risks?
The biggest risk is not having any business insurance at all. While insurance does have a cost, as with your personal insurance, the costs of not being adequately covered are extremely high. In the last several years we’ve seen an increase in natural disasters. This alone should give business owners without insurance or who are under-insured cause for concern.
Common Risks
- Natural or man-made disasters such as hurricanes, tornado’s, floods or fires
- Employee accidents
- Non-employee accidents
- Property damage
- Vehicle damage
- Theft
Basic Insurance Types
There are many types of coverage available. Here are some of the most common.
- General Liability
- Workers Compensation
- Commercial Vehicle
- Bonds
- Professional Liability
- Inland Marine (Tools and Physical Items)
Choosing the Right Business Insurance
Review your business operations. Do you have customers visit your place of business? Do you own vehicles? What kind of equipment do you have? How long can you tolerate a disruption in your business? Outline how your business operates and where potential risks are.
The Right Choice. Once you have your risk outline, talk with your insurance agent. Give them as many details as you can. More than likely they will have additional questions that didn’t occur to you. Your agent will then be able to select the right coverage types for you and put together a quote. If your agent is an independent agent, meaning they don’t work for a specific insurance provider, they will be able to get your comparison quotes from several companies.
A Little Lite Reading. Review your quotes in detail. Look at the deductible and endorsements. They are rarely a one to one comparison. Ask your agent questions. They are there to help you.
There is such a thing as too much. Of course, you want to make sure you are adequately protected. The key word there is ADEQUATELY. No business owners wants to pay for coverage they don’t need. Make time to talk to your insurance agent. Make sure they have a solid understanding of your business and the risks.
Change is inevitable. As your business evolves it’s important to review your business insurance coverage. Plan on taking a few minutes every year to speak with your agent. Even if your business hasn’t changed much, often times requirements for your policy has, or new options may have entered the market.
Working with your agent to make sure you are adequately covered can be key to getting your business back up and running in the event of a disaster.
