Like it or not, it’s important to protect yourself and your business with the right kinds of insurance. But what’s available? What coverage do you absolutely need and what’s optional? Here’s a rundown of six common types of business insurance and what they help you protect.
Property Insurance
As you might expect, property insurance protects the building(s) you own as well as your business property. So it covers items like office furniture, computers, inventory, and other equipment you have on site. This is the kind of policy that insures you against things like theft, fire, vandalism or disaster. All policies vary, but some property insurance policies also offer optional coverage should you be unable to operate or maintain sufficient income for a period of time.
General Liability Insurance
No matter what you do or where you operate, general liability insurance is important for small business owners. General liability policies cover your defense and any damages should you, an employee, or one of your products or services cause injury or property damage to someone. And while it’s generally safe to assume that you and your employees would never wittingly harm someone or their property, accidents do happen.
Commercial Auto Insurance
This coverage is important for businesses with company cars and fleet vehicles. It insures you in the event of property damage or a collision in one of your company vehicles. If your employees use their own vehicles for company business, you need different coverage for non-owned vehicles.
Data Breach Insurance
Data breach insurance covers you in the event you suffer a loss due to private or sensitive information being leaked. If your company deals with personal information, you’re responsible for protecting it. So, whether the information is retrieved through electronic means or paper files are obtained by the wrong people, this type of coverage protects you against the financial losses associated with those breaches.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance
Worker’s compensation offers insurance to your employees who are injured on the job. It helps out by covering wage replacement and health benefits to someone who is injured while on the clock. Employees who receive these benefits from their employer agree to give up their rights to sue for a job-related accident. If you have non-contract employees (employees who receive a W2) then worker’s compensation insurance is an absolute must. It’s required by law, and you may face some pretty stiff penalties if you don’t comply.
Business Owner’s Insurance Policy
Insurance packages for business owners include all the required coverage that business owners need. They often include property, business interruption, vehicle, data breach, liability and crime insurance coverage. These can be tailored to your business’s specific needs, and usually help you save money through bundling services. In most cases it would cost you much more to purchase each product individually.
As I mentioned earlier, you may be required by law to possess certain kinds of insurance. Talk with an insurance professional to determine needs in your state and make sure your small business complies with local regulations.
Good information. I would only add that for consultants, recruiters and other B2B professional service providers – “Errors & Omissions Insurance” – may be required to work with many corporate clients. It’s also just a really good idea to have it, IMHO.
Nice tutorial ! It may be true that insurance is not the most exciting of industries, but it is essential to the success of small businesses. Insurance can save you money and ensure you to get the protection of business needs.