Corporate Insurance, Small Business Insurance, Self-Employment Insurance
As an owner or potential owner of a business, you have many important decisions to make about your operations, and choosing the right business insurance policy is one of the most crucial.
Some business owners learn the hard way that they did not buy enough coverage. Remembering to consider certain pieces of your business property when purchasing an insurance policy is vital to keeping your doors open.
Your business may not possess all the following types of property, but you can use this quick reference list to make sure you have thought of all property categories and any insurance coverage that may be warranted for small business insurance or self-employment insurance:
- Buildings and other structures (owned or leased)
- Furniture, equipment and supplies
- Money and securities
- Accounts receivable records
- Improvements and betterments you made to the premise
- Boilers and machinery
- Data processing equipment and media (including computers)
- Valuable papers, books and documents
- Mobile property such as automobiles, trucks and construction equipment
- Satellite dishes
- Signs, fences and other outdoor property not attached to a building
- Intangible property (good will, trademark, etc)
- Leased equipment
No matter if you’re needing corporate insurance, self-employment insurance or small business insurance, you face liability, which means that your business could be held accountable when someone else suffers an injury or damage to their property because of something your business did or did not do.
Liability insurance protects your business assets when the business is sued for something the business did (or failed to do) that contributed to injury or property damage to someone else. Liability coverage extends not only to paying damages but also to the attorneys’ fees and other costs involved in defending against the lawsuit, whether valid or not.
Generally, commercial liability insurance, whether purchased in a separate policy, or as part of a standard business insurance policy, will cover bodily injury, property damage, personal injury or advertising injury. The medical expenses of a person (other than an employee) injured at the business or as a direct result of the operations of the business are also covered. Usually excluded from both types of liability insurance policies are suits by customers against a business for nonperformance of a contract and by employees charging wrongful termination or racial or gender discrimination or harassment.
General Liability Coverage includes
- Bodily injury – includes sickness, disease or death sustained by a person or persons.
- Property damage – includes physical damage to someone else’s property and loss-of-use of the damaged property.
- Personal injury or advertising injury – personal injury refers to harm to another person’s or business’s reputation or basic right to privacy. Advertising injury refers to harm caused by an advertisement, such as an ad slandering a competitor.
- Products and completed operations injury – product coverage is extended to any harm that a business’s reputation might cause, including injury arising from “complicated operations” such as repair work or electrical installations.
We can help you design an insurance program specifically tailored to meet your needs, and protect your business from the many risks you face in your daily operations.
Take a look at Erie Insurance’s Business Coverage: Click Here
Preventing Losses
The steps you take today to lower your risks can not only help safeguard your business but may make you eligible for lower business insurance rates. Owners should consider these steps:
- Maintain adequate lighting throughout your business premises.
- Keep electrical wiring, stairways, carpeting, flooring, elevators and escalators in good repair.
- Install a sprinkler system, smoke and fire alarms and adequate security devices.
- Keep only a small amount of cash in the cash register.
- Keep good records of inventory, accounts receivable and equipment purchases.
- Consider keeping a second set of records off-site, such as with your accountant or at home.
- Make sure your employees have good driving records.
- Make sure your employees know how to lift properly and use all necessary safety equipment.
In addition, you should consider using the services of a risk manager. An outside consultant can advise you of any safety or environmental regulations you may have overlooked or not been aware of and talk to your employees about safety practices.
Cost Cutting
You may also want to raise your deductible where appropriate to lower your business insurance premiums. How high to raise the deductible should be governed by how much you can afford to pay out of pocket. Be careful not to raise it so high that you cannot cover it should a loss occur.
Looking for methods to lower your insurance premiums? An insurance company bases insurance premiums on the risks involved. To do this, they evaluate the situation to determine the risks, or potential for losses and determines its rates on the results.
Remember, no two businesses are alike.
No Business can afford to be unprotected
You will need to carefully consider the limits that are sufficient to cover the type of work you are doing, the product you are selling and the amount of interaction you have with the public.
