Running a small business can be a lot of things, including the realization of the dream of being your own boss. Besides ‘living the dream’ there is also the reality of running a small business and that is that fact that you will need to wear many hats.
With all those hats comes a lot of risk and with that, you need to get business liability insurance which will help to protect you and your business. As such you need to get coverage and this article will outline six insurance policies every business owner should have. According to FightingforYou.com, a law firm that specializes in work place injuries, “Construction work usually involves the constant risk of workers being struck by falling objects and debris that has not been properly hoisted or secured. Over 9.6% of construction fatalities in 2015 were attributed to employees being struck by objects.”
1)Property Insurance
You get insurance to protect your things and as such property insurance is one of the most important forms of coverage you can get. Think about it, you can use property insurance to not only protect the building where your business is located, you can also use it to protect everything inside. As such, it doesn’t matter if you own your office or factory location; as you can use property insurance to protect your equipment and inventory.
What can you use property insurance for? Well, this policy can protect you against fire, theft, vandalism, and other forms of damage. In many cases, property insurance is included in what is known as Business Owner Policies (BOP) but you shouldn’t take this for granted – ask your agent what is covered and to what amount.
2)General Liability Insurance
You might think this sort of insurance is just for doctors and lawyers, but the reality is that general liability insurance is used to cover all types of businesses from risks arising from product or employee faults that could cause harm to customers.
In addition, general liability insurance covers your business from accidents that might happen on your premises – such as slip and fall. As such, this form of coverage is necessary for just about every business and in some states, it might be a requirement.
Given this, it makes sense that you would want to make sure that general liability insurance is part of your portfolio of policies. Not only will it help to keep you and your business protected but it will also help to sleep better without having to worry about all the things that could go wrong.
3)Loss of Business Income
You might not have heard of this form of coverage, but loss of business income insurance is used to cover your net profit if your business is unable to open for a period. Examples would be if you were closed due to a natural disaster, or a fire, or some other event.
While this form of coverage won’t pay out forever, it will cover the profit lost during the recovery period and this will give you as the business owner a helping hand at a time when you are looking to get back on your feet.
4)Workers Compensation Insurance
This coverage is mandated in many states and it is useful. Workers compensation insurance helps to provide coverage for lost wages and medical expenses if an employee, or even the owner, are injured at work.
In addition, to providing valuable coverage it also helps to protect employers by shielding them from being sued by employees in the case of an accident. This is a big plus for small business owners who cannot afford the time and expense of a prolonged lawsuit and it also offers peace of mind to employees.
The best way to control the costs of workers compensation is to put in place a safety plan with the goal of reducing accident. This can be done through training, maintenance, and by making sure that every employee has access to the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
5)Online Liability Insurance
We live in a connected world and as such, it is important to make sure that your insurance covers the online activities of your business. This include protecting you against liability if private information about your customers or employees is surreptitiously released. In addition, this insurance will help to shield your business from the cost of such an act. The bottom line, if you don’t have online liability insurance, you need to get it in place quickly.
6)Umbrella Policy
Think of this as insurance for your insurance as an umbrella policy will help to cover the gaps in your coverage by making sure you are covered beyond the limits. One example of this would be commercial auto insurance that has a limit up to $1 million but you have a claim for $1.5 million.
This would mean that your insurance coverage would not pay for the entire amount, as such you would either need to come up with the cash out-of-pocket or have an umbrella policy in place to make up for the shortfall.