buying business insurance Archives - Page 2 of 2

5 Reasons to Update Your Business Insurance

July 27, 2022 by Baily Sandage

If you’re looking to expand your business or make any sort of changes then updating your business insurance policy is critical. As your business grows, your workforce and premises will likely develop, which calls for added security and protection.

This is where business insurance comes in, so even if you already have a policy, you’ll need to update it regularly to make sure your coverage corresponds with your company’s value. This means your policy should provide adequate protection against various kinds of losses you may incur. By doing this you won’t be underinsured in any way.

Without further ado, let’s discuss the five scenarios when a business should update its business insurance policy.

What Is Equipment Breakdown Coverage?

May 19, 2022 by Baily Sandage

While there are numerous types of coverage present in a BOP (business owners policy), one of the most important ones happens to be equipment breakdown insurance. This type of insurance acts as a safety net by protecting you against the mechanical failures that can occur during day-to-day business operations.

Let’s discuss the many items covered specifically, as well as the many benefits of purchasing this coverage.

Liability Insurance for Businesses in Georgia

May 16, 2022May 6, 2022 by Baily Sandage

Liability insurance is a type of coverage that protects your business against property damage and bodily injury claims. Usually, in these instances, the party that’s been affected feels your business is financially responsible for the damages they’ve incurred. They could attribute their damages to several factors, such as your advertisements, services, or operations. Essentially, this insurance works as a safety net in the event you’re found negligent.

Here’s an example to give you a better idea. Imagine that you run a fast-food restaurant and someone slips and falls from some ice on the floor. While some will brush off the incident, others may decide to file a lawsuit against you. With the help of liability insurance, your legal costs will be covered and so will their medical bills if you’re found liable.

In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of liability insurance for businesses in Georgia. Let’s begin.

Comparing Small Business Insurance Quotes

April 21, 2022 by Baily Sandage

Do small businesses need insurance? This is a very common question that many people have. And the simple answer is yes! You need insurance for your small business, but you can’t just select the cheapest policy you find. In fact, there’s a lot to consider, such as your limits, exclusions, and risks. To find the best policy that meets your business’s insurance needs, you must compare all your quotes.

In this article, we’ll discuss the process of selecting the best small business insurance and how to compare quotes. Let’s begin.

Avoiding Common Business Insurance Mistakes

April 1, 2022 by Baily Sandage

Many things go into a business owner’s success, including intense labor, countless hours, lots of money, and attentiveness. Success isn’t overnight; therefore, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to grow your business and generate a substantial profit.

Although most business owners grasp this concept pretty well, they often overlook a basic business component. Adequate and appropriate business insurance is necessary to secure the long-term viability of your business.

Business insurance will protect your business against losses, so make sure you invest wisely. However, buying business insurance can be difficult and confusing as you must consider numerous factors.

Not to forget, choosing the wrong policy can negatively impact the growth and success of your business. You can easily use some guidance to avoid some common yet potentially detrimental mistakes while buying business insurance.

In this article, we’ll discuss some common business insurance mistakes and how you can avoid them.

Tips for Running a Small Business in Georgia

May 16, 2022March 11, 2022 by Baily Sandage

According to research done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up to 20% of small businesses fail within their first year.

It can occur for various reasons, such as too much competition, poor customer service, or not enough marketing.

Therefore, if you open a small business there will be a lot of risks. To mitigate those risks you need to be prepared.

Here are four tips for running a successful and profitable small business in Georgia.

If You Run a Business in Georgia, These Are the Types of Policies You Need

August 4, 2021 by Baily Sandage

If you’re an entrepreneur in Georgia, seeking insurance is mandatory to protect your business from different risks. Even if you run a business in a low-risk industry, the Peach State requires you to have some type of insurance policy.

If you’re looking for policies that can shield you from potential liabilities, you have come to the right place. Keep on reading to learn which policies can protect your company.

What is commercial umbrella insurance and do I need it for my Atlanta business?

September 6, 2020January 18, 2018 by Kate Betts

Umbrella insurance adds liability coverage for your business.

Thinking about worst-case scenarios can be frightening and unnerving. When your business is cruising along and doing well, everything is great. But sometimes things happen and disaster can strike. Of course, you have business insurance to protect your company, but what if a claim comes along and blows your insurance limits right out of the water? Being stuck in a situation in which you don’t have enough insurance would not be good. However, there is a type of coverage that can supplement your current levels of insurance and even provide coverage in areas you don’t have it. It’s called umbrella insurance, and no, it’s not insurance for umbrellas (the name is a bit misleading.) We’ll explain what umbrella insurance is, how it can protect your business, and why you shouldn’t overlook it when you’re buying business insurance.

What is commercial umbrella insurance?

Commercial umbrella insurance can protect your business from gaps in your coverage and from expensive lawsuits. Basically, businesses use umbrella insurance to expand and back up the coverage they have with their existing policies. It’s a way to add extra coverage to your insurance.

What does commercial umbrella insurance do?

There are a few ways in which umbrella insurance can help your business. Umbrella insurance…

1. Provides extra coverage if you have a claim that goes above the limits of your existing policy.

Umbrella insurance is, to put it simply, extra coverage that sits on top of your underlying insurance policy. It can help protect your business from huge lawsuits that could be financially devastating to a business by adding coverage to your policy.

It’s easiest to illustrate with an example.

Let’s say that you have a whopper of a general liability claim – like a $4 million claim. It’s not good. Your business, of course, has general liability insurance, but your policy is only for $1 million. So, to do some quick math, that means there’s still $3 million to be accounted for. Now, let’s say that your business has a $5 million umbrella policy. What would happen is that your general liability insurance would pay its $1 million and your umbrella could then pay the remaining $3 million. So, there you go – an example of how umbrella insurance can help you out of a tight spot.

2. Can give you coverage in areas where you don’t have coverage.

If you have a claim in an area that’s not covered by your underlying policy, umbrella insurance can provide you with the coverage you need. But if you’re using your umbrella insurance in this way, you may have to pay a self-insured retention (or SIR) which is similar to a deductible. Basically, it means that you’re responsible for paying a portion of the claim.

Umbrella insurance and lawsuits.

Our society has become more and more likely to launch lawsuits, can come with some hefty damages. Lawsuits can be super expensive and potentially devastating to a business.

Umbrella insurance is a way for business owners to get an additional measure of protection for their companies. It gives extra liability coverage that sits on top of your existing insurance policy. Yes, the odds of a huge, catastrophic claim happening to your business might be low, but it’s still important to anticipate and prepare for the worst. You never know what’s going to happen (unless you can see the future, which would be great), and umbrella insurance can protect your business.

If you’d like to save money on your business insurance, we can help. Our team of agents can help you shop for the best possible rate for your insurance – and we’ll do our best to make insurance easy. All you have to do to get business insurance quotes is fill out our online form or give us a call today.

What factors affect the cost of business insurance in Atlanta?

August 4, 2020January 4, 2018 by Kate Betts

The cost of business insurance depends on a variety of factors.

When you’re buying Atlanta business insurance, there are a lot of different factors to consider. Insurance will help you protect your business, and it’s a big part of your risk management plan – your keep-the-doors-open-and-don’t-go-bankrupt plan. But the question in your mind might be how much does business insurance cost. The answer to that is a bit complicated. One business is not the same as the other, so each business will pay a different rate for their insurance. We’ll explain the factors that affect the cost of business insurance.

8 simple tips for how to buy the best Atlanta business insurance

August 28, 2020November 2, 2017 by Kate Betts

We've got a few tips for buying business insurance.

Business insurance can be intimidating. It can be hard to know where to start with the process of protecting your business, and since the stakes are high it’s important to make sure that you get the insurance you need. If you’re feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed about how to start your quest to insure your business, fear not, valiant business owner – we have some tips that are going to help you as you venture forth on your mission.

1. Figure out the risks your business faces.

Each business is different, which means that each business has unique risks that need to be covered. You need to consider what risks your business faces every day – and keep in mind that these could be disaster-related risks, such as storms, and liability risks (basically risks relating to your legal responsibility if something goes wrong.) Consider how you can lower these risks and figure out how to disaster plan for your business.

2. Do some research on what coverages might be right for you.

Of course, you’re going to want to enlist some professional help when it comes to covering your business’s risks and getting insurance, but it’s still helpful to know some of the lingo before you move forward. Different coverages cover different risks, and some of them are more industry-specific than others.

Some common coverages are…

General liability: Protects your business if someone claims that you caused them bodily harm or damaged their property.
Commercial property: Protects your premises from disasters like fire and lightning strikes.
Business interruption: Reimburses you for lost income if your business has to close temporarily due to a covered loss.
Workers’ compensation: Protects your employees by covering medical expenses and a portion of their lost wages if they get hurt on the job.
Professional liability: Protects you if negligence or error causes a customer to have a financial loss.
Product liability: Protects your business from claims that one of your products caused someone physical harm.
Home-based business coverage: This is one way that you can insure a home-based business. It’s basically an extension of your homeowners insurance policy.

3. Find a trustworthy broker who’s familiar with your industry.

When you’re on a mission to get business insurance, it helps to find an agent who understands your line of work and the risks you face. They need to be knowledgeable about your type of work so they can best advise you on your insurance needs and help you get the best rate for the coverage you need.

You also want to find someone that you can trust, someone who’s not going to put their own interests first. One way to find an agent or broker is to ask your friends and connections within your industry if they have any recommendations for you.

4. Don’t forget about BOPs.

BOPs, or business owner’s policies, are a common package policy for small business owners. A package policy is one that bundles different coverages into one policy. In the case of a BOP, it includes general liability, business interruption, and property insurance.

BOPs are helpful because they’re convenient and could help you save money, so you may want to find out if a BOP is right for you. However, you need to look closely at your risks to see if you need to add coverages to a BOP to make sure you’re fully protected.

5. Consider what deductible and limits of coverage are right for you.

Insurance policies will come with deductibles, which is the amount of money you have to pay before the insurance company will pay the rest of a claim. When choosing a deductible, you need to consider how much money your business can comfortably afford if you face a claim. Choosing a higher deductible can help you save money on your business insurance premium, but you don’t want that deductible to be unrealistic or destructive to your business.

As far as limits are concerned, you need to make sure the limits of coverage on your policies – the maximum amount the insurance company will pay out on a claim – are high enough to protect your business. You don’t want to end up finding out the hard way that your business is underinsured.

6. Go insurance shopping.

It’s important to compare rates from several different companies when you’re shopping for insurance. You’ll want to compare coverages and prices to ensure that you’re getting the best insurance plan for your business for the best price. Companies assess risks differently, meaning that you might find a lower rate by checking around with several different carriers. Keep in mind, though, that you should never sacrifice coverage to save a bit of money.

7. Know what insurance you’re required by law to have.

When you’re on your insurance quest, make sure you look into any insurance requirements that you might need to fulfill. You might be required by state or federal law to carry certain coverages at certain limits. Double check to make sure you’re staying compliant with those laws.

8. Check your business insurance needs every year.

It’s important to reconsider your business’s insurance needs annually because things may have changed. Your business may have grown, meaning you might need to raise your limits of coverage. Maybe there are new risks that you need to cover. Whatever the case may be, it’s advisable to take a good hard look at your business insurance once a year to scout for any changes that might mean you need to adjust your coverage.

Getting business insurance may seem like a daunting prospect, and hopefully the above tips are helpful to you as you undertake your quest. If you have any questions at all about your insurance, please feel free to reach out to us. If you want to do some shopping to see if you can save on your rates, we can help with that, too. All you have to do to get started on some business insurance quotes is fill out our quote form or give us a call today. Our team of agents is ready to help you.

Sources:

https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch/get-business-insurance-assets-liability