Business insurance can be kind of confusing and complicated. There’s a lot of coverages, jargon, and policy information to learn. It’s completely understandable if insurance isn’t your favorite thing. We thought that we’d put together a list of a few things commercial insurance agents want you to know about business insurance – kind of like a cheat sheet.
8 things commercial insurance agents want you to know.
1. Your business insurance rates depend on a lot of factors.
The first thing that insurance agents want business owners to know about commercial insurance is that insurance rates are not one-size-fits-all. Every business is unique, so each business is going to have different insurance rates. Your premium can depend on things like where you’re located, the size of your business, what industry you’re in (the risk associated with your kind of work), and the coverages you need. Your loss history can also influence your rates.
What we’re trying to say is that your business’s insurance rates aren’t going to be the same as one of your competitors, even if that business looks a lot like yours. So, there’s no real “ballpark” for your commercial insurance.
2. The coverages you need are impacted by the work you do.
That one makes sense, right? Different types of businesses need different types of insurance. The type of insurance you need is influenced by the risks you face in running your business. The goal is to cover all of those risks with the proper insurance. So, be sure to evaluate your business’s coverage needs when you plan your insurance.
3. A BOP could help simplify your insurance (and potentially save you money).
A business owners’ policy, or BOP, is intended for small to medium-sized businesses. It combines general liability, property insurance, and business interruption insurance into one convenient policy. Those are three coverages that businesses commonly need, so it’s just easier to pack them into one policy. (Though, of course, it’s important to get additional coverages as needed – certain things, like workers’ comp, need to be purchased by themselves.)
4. General liability doesn’t cover your employees.
So, here’s the thing about general liability – it can cover claims of bodily injury and property damage liability if someone gets hurt on your premises. But this coverage doesn’t extend to your employees. They’re covered by workers’ comp insurance. If an employee gets hurt on the job, workers’ comp coverage can help cover their medical bills, plus a portion of the wages that the employee lost while they needed to take time off work to recover.
5. The state may require you to carry workers’ comp.
It’s important to take care of your employees! Besides, workers’ comp is great – like we said, it can pay for your employee’s medical bills if they get hurt on the job, and it can give them a portion of their lost wages if they need time off to recover. At any rate, make sure that you know the requirements for what insurance you must carry.
6. Your business needs an insurance plan that’s tailored to your business.
We talked a little bit earlier about how each business is different. It stands to reason that each business needs to have a customized, specially tailored insurance plan that’s designed to cover the risks that your business faces on a day-to-day basis.
(That’s where we can help – our team can help you with creating that insurance plan! Fill out our online form, give us a call, or messaging us on LiveChat.)
By having a customized plan, you can ensure that there are no gaps in your coverage. (Which is really important.)
7. It’s important to do an annual review of your business insurance and mitigate your risk.
Insurance agents also want business owners to know that you should review your insurance coverage periodically to make sure that your coverage still fits your business. Your business probably doesn’t look the same as it did a year ago, right? Maybe you’ve hired more employees, or maybe you’ve expanded. At any rate, it’s important to check that your limits of coverage – not to mention the coverages themselves – are still appropriate.
It’s also crucial that you take the time to mitigate your risk. This can help you put your business into a better insurance situation. Risk management is essential for any business.
8. Umbrella insurance can provide you with additional coverage.
The insurance you have definitely protects your business, but there is a way to get coverage that goes above and beyond the limits on your underlying liability policy – and that’s umbrella insurance.
Umbrella insurance sits on top of your underlying policy (like an umbrella). If you have a claim that exhausts the limits on your underlying policy, your umbrella insurance can kick in to start covering you. To illustrate, let’s say you have a $1 million general liability policy. That’s a lot of coverage, but you also have a $1 million umbrella policy. Let’s say you have a huge claim, like $1.5 million. The claim is a covered loss, so, fortunately, your general liability kicks in to cover its $1 million. Then your umbrella can cover the remaining $500,000. At any rate, it’s worth considering umbrella insurance as a way to add in-case-of-emergency coverage for your business.
The world of commercial insurance can be complicated, but our team can help. We have agents who are business insurance pros, and they’d be happy to help you get some business insurance quotes and answer any questions you might have about your coverage. Get started with your quotes by filling out our online form, giving us a call, or messaging us on LiveChat.