If you have a small- or medium-sized business, you might look at the amount you spend on insurance and wonder if you have purchased coverage you really don’t need. You might be tempted to cut back on the insurance you have to save some money every year.
But before you make that decision, take some time to fully evaluate your business, your insurance needs and the coverage you currently have.
Think about everything you’ve put into your business. If you’re like most business owners, you’ve sacrificed a lot to build your business to where it is today. You’ve sacrificed personal freedom and hours of your time. You’ve put a lot of time, money and effort into your business, and you should make sure it is well-protected against claims and losses.
Talk with an insurance professional who understands business people like you. Then, you can be sure your business is fully protected and that you are paying only for insurance you really need.
Types of Business Insurance
Depending on the kind of business you operate and its size, you may not need every type of business insurance that is available. There are several types of business insurance you should consider if you want to protect your business. They are:
- Business property insurance. No matter what kind of business you have, you probably need property insurance and casualty insurance. Why? Because if your business is like most businesses, you have a physical location and business equipment. It does not matter if you own the property or lease it, if there is a fire, earthquake, flood or theft, property insurance will cover your losses.
- Business liability insurance. Liability insurance protects you if someone else is hurt or injured in your business or because of your business operations.
- Business interruption insurance. How much money would you lose if your business were not able to operate for several days or more? Business interruption insurance can help protect your business income if you are temporarily put out of business by power failures, natural disasters, or other event.
- Product liability insurance. If your company makes or sells products to other businesses or the general public, you could be the subject of a liability lawsuit if one of your products harms or injures a user. Product liability insurance provides coverage for you against such claims.
- Professional liability insurance. This type of insurance is also called “Errors and Omissions” insurance and it can cover your business if you make an unintentional error in the services you provide to clients.
- Commercial auto insurance. This insurance cover loss and damage to vehicles used for your business, as well as damage to others caused by your business vehicles.
- Life and disability insurance. You can protect your business if you, a partner or key employees die or become disabled.
- Healthcare insurance. Healthcare insurance provides coverage for you and your employees.
- Workers’ Compensation insurance. If you have employees, you must have workers’ Compensation insurance to cover them if they are injured on the job.
We’ll be covering each of these types of insurance in future articles, so be sure to keep reading so you can learn more.
Give us a call at 215-997-5800 to talk with Scott Hartzell about your business insurance. Scott has been helping business owners get the proper insurance for their businesses for more than 32 years.
How Do I Know If I Really Need Insurance?
The types and amounts of insurance you’ll need depend on the type of business you have. Most businesses need liability insurance to protect them from liability for the actions of the business owners or employees. If you have employees, you’ll need workers’ compensation insurance.
Whether or not you need other types of insurance depends on the type of business you have, and what a loss or judgment against you would mean for the health of your business. For example, if your business makes or sells products, you should probably have product liability insurance to protect your business.
It’s a good idea to get meet with a professional to review the types of liability and exposure your business might have, and design an insurance plan that will protect you and your business.
All businesses have property of some kind, including:
- Office or other equipment
- Inventory
- Real estate
- Vehicles
- And more.
While insurance on this property may not be required, you should think about your ability to replace it if it is loss or damaged. If the possible amount of loss exceeds your comfort level, insurance to protect your property might be a good choice.
Likewise, you should think about how long you can afford to be out of business because of power failures, natural disasters, computer hacking or other event. If that happens, business interruption insurance can pay suppliers, salaries and other costs you might incur even if your business income were to be interrupted by a covered event.
Give us a call at 215-997-5800 to talk with Scott Hartzell about your business insurance. Scott has been helping business owners get the proper insurance for their businesses for more than 32 years