Business Insurance

Liability Insurance

Individuals that operate their own businesses need liability insurance in addition to a home based business or business owner’s policy. This protects you against financial losses from lawsuits filed against you by your clients or vendors.

Business owners are expected to have extensive knowledge or training in their particular area of expertise. They are expected to perform the services for which they were hired, according to the standards of conduct in their profession. If they fail to use the degree of skill that is expected of them, they can be held responsible in a court of law for any harm that is caused to another person or business. When liability is limited to acts of negligence, business liability insurance may also be called "errors and omissions" liability.

Business liability insurance is a specialty coverage. Business liability coverage is not provided under homeowner’s endorsements, home-based business policies or business owner’s policies (BOPs).

Commercial Vehicle Insurance

As a business owner, you need the same types of insurance coverage for the vehicles you use in your business as you do for a car used in your personal lives -- liability, collision and comprehensive, and coverage for uninsured motorists. In fact, many business owners use the same cars or trucks for both business and leisure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the principal insured rather than your name. This will avoid confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

Whether you need to buy a commercial vehicle insurance policy will depend on the kind of driving you do. A good insurance company will ask you details about how you will use your vehicles in your business, who will be driving and whether or not your employees are likely to be driving their own vehicles for your business.

While the major coverage’s are the same, a commercial vehicle policy differs from a personal auto policy in many respects. Ask your insurance company to explain all the differences and options.

If you have a personal umbrella liability policy, there's generally an exclusion for business-related liability. Make sure you have sufficient auto liability coverage.

Property Insurance

Property Insurance covers the buildings that you may own and inventory against physical loss or damage. If you don't own the building, you still need property insurance for the contents in the building. This type of insurance covers the furniture, fixtures, inventory and other supplies that may be stored at your office. You can insure these items for the replacement cost or the actual cash value. Some property insurance may have higher premiums, but it will help your company recover faster, since you can replace the damaged items with new ones. Contact you insurance company to find out what policy works best for you and your business.

Umbrella Insurance

If you are ever sued, your home or auto policy will provide you with some liability coverage, paying for lawsuits against you and your lawyer's fees, up to a limit set in the policy. However, in our society, you may want to have an extra layer of protection. That's what a umbrella policy provides.

An umbrella policy kicks in when you reach the limit on liability coverage in a homeowners, renters, and condo or auto policy. It will also cover you for things such as libel and slander.

Because the umbrella policy goes into effect after the other coverage is exhausted, there are certain limits that usually must be met in order to purchase this coverage. Most insurance companies will want you to have about $250,000 of liability insurance on your auto policy and $300,000 of liability insurance on your homeowner’s policy before selling you an umbrella policy for $1 million of additional coverage.

Worker's Compensation

This type of insurance is for the employer to provide for their employees. Workers compensation covers the cost of medical care and rehab for workers injured on the job. It also compensates them for lost wages and provides death benefits for their dependents if they die from work-related accidents. Workers compensation is a remedy for all on-the-job injuries suffered by employees. As part of the contract included in each state’s law, the employee gives up the right to sue the employer for injuries caused by the employer’s negligence and in return receives workers compensation benefits regardless of who or what caused the accident, as long as it happened in the workplace as a result of and in the course of work-related activities.

Workers compensation laws vary from state to state. State statutes and the courts control many aspects, including the handling of claims, the evaluation of impairment and settlement of disputes, the amount of benefits injured workers receive and the strategies used to control costs.

The costs of workers compensation are one of the many reasons that influence businesses to expand or relocate in a state to generate jobs.