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What Types of Insurance Should I Get to Protect My Business?
Whether you own a small business or are on the board of directors for a large corporation, your business needs insurance protection. Insurance protects against a variety of perils.
Many perils could cause partial or complete destruction of your business in a number of ways. For example, a business might burn down which destroys all of its inventory in the process. Thieves might steal or damage valuable property. Hackers might break into your business through the internet and steal valuable information.
No matter the threat, there is likely an insurance policy to protect your business. The following are some of the more commonly purchased business insurance coverages to protect against frequently seen threats.
Commercial Property and Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial property insurance is like home insurance but for places of business. It insures the structure that houses your business. It also insures the tools and instruments needed to make your business run. Computers, specialized tools, and equipment needed to make your business run are all covered up to policy limits.
Your business might have one or more vehicles to make deliveries or provide services at the clients’ locations. Commercial auto insurance will protect your commercial vehicles and help repair or replace them if they are damaged or stolen. It also will protect against liability that might arise from accidents involving your business’ vehicles.
Commercial Flood Insurance
You likely know that homeowners insurance does not include insurance against flooding. Neither does commercial property insurance. However, you can purchase a commercial flood insurance policy that will insure your place of business against damages caused by flooding.
The federal government produces flood plain maps that are created based on the potential for flooding in particular areas. If your business is located in a federally designated flood plain, your business could be especially at risk.
Business Interruption Insurance
Suppose a flood occurs and makes it impossible for you to do business for a while. The interruption to your business could be at least partly covered by business interruption insurance. Business interruption service could help you pay your workers and your debts to vendors, suppliers, and other creditors.
When whatever caused the interruption to your normal business subsides, the business interruption insurance makes it possible to get through the problem and resume business when possible.
General Liability Insurance
General liability helps protect your business against premises liability arising from bodily injuries that a customer, vendor, or another visitor might suffer while on your property. It also helps to protect against property damage that might occur to someone else’s belongings.
Business liability insurance also covers the costs of other types of injuries, including those arising from slander or libel. In many general liability insurance policies, the insurer has a duty to defend you against lawsuits for such liabilities.
Products Liability Insurance
If your business manufactures or builds products of any kind, the potential for defective products exists. If someone is injured due to the use of your product, you could be held liable which could possibly put you out of business.
Even if you do not make products, selling products made by other entities could trigger liability. For example, a lawn equipment retailer could be liable for selling a defective product that caused injury or death. That is because distributors can be partly liable for accidents, injuries, or deaths that might arise from defective products.
Errors and Omissions Coverage
Your business might provide professional services and have clients who are dependent upon them. People are prone to making errors and honest mistakes. Those errors and mistakes could result in significant harm to one or more clients.
Errors and omissions coverage insures your business against liability. It helps to protect you and your clients alike. The insurance policy also is referred to as professional liability insurance.
Even insurance agencies benefit from errors and omissions coverage. If an insurance producer accidentally omits a coverage sought by the client, errors and omissions coverage could help to make the loss whole.
Virtually any business that provides professional or other services to clients and customers could benefit from errors and omissions coverage.
Home-Based Business Insurance
Even global corporations can have very humble beginnings. If you have a home-based business, your homeowners insurance will not insure your business against most perils. You need a home-based business policy that will protect your business.
Many people are working remotely from home since the coronavirus pandemic made remote work more desirable. If you are among them, you should look into obtaining home-based business insurance.
Commercial Umbrella Insurance
Umbrella insurance gives you an additional and often affordable layer of insurance protection. It kicks in when policy limits are reached on related coverages. Because it is a secondary level of insurance protection, it usually is very affordable.
For example, if your business liability policy pays up to the policy limit for a covered loss, you still might have additional costs related to the loss. A commercial umbrella policy could cover the additional loss.
Warren Insurance Lawyers at Herold Law, P.A. Can Help You if You Are Experiencing Problems With Insurance
If you have any issues with your business insurer, you can speak with one of our experienced Warren insurance lawyers at Herold Law, P.A. Call us at 908-647-1022 or contact us online to schedule an initial consultation. Located in Warren, New Jersey, we serve clients throughout the surrounding areas, including Plainfield.
