Owning and operating a small business requires a lot of work, time and money. Work and time are fairly easy to come by, but money is a precious resource for most small business owners, which is why you need business insurance. It sounds counterintuitive to spend money when yours is in short supply, but if spending $100 a year on insurance saves you $1,000 when your employee accidentally damages a work truck, it's an excellent deal. Here are some of the insurance policies that you may wish to consider:
General Liability Insurance: All businesses need a liability policy to provide for legal defense and damages if your business, or an employee or product, causes bodily harm to another person or damage to a property.
Property Insurance: Don't count on your homeowners insurance policy to cover your computer equipment for the web design company you run out of your home office; you need a separate policy if you own the property where you work. This covers fire, theft, vandalism and natural disasters. You can also add on a loss of earnings rider to protect your income if you're unable to operate your business for a time.
Business Owner's Policy: Customize your insurance coverage with all the options you need with a business owner's policy. These typically include property insurance, vehicle coverage, crime insurance, general liability and business interruption insurance. Because these policies are bundled together, you can enjoy lower premiums.
Worker's Compensation: You need to check local and state laws to know if and how much you need to buy to protect you employees if they're injured on the job. Worker's compensation replaces their wages and provides medical benefits, while protecting you from being sued by your employee.
Commercial Auto Insurance: If your company has a vehicle, you need to have a commercial auto policy on it, and keep the vehicle in the business’ name. Having it under your own name will make you liable for any damage. If you don't have company cars, but you or employees use your personal vehicle frequently for business purposes, you need non-owned auto liability insurance for coverage.
Professional Liability: Also called errors and omissions insurance, this helps defend you and pay for damages if you're accused of not carrying out your professional duties as expected. Some states require it, but it's good to have since your general liability policy will not protect you in the event of malpractice or negligence.
Business insurance is complex, so make sure you understand the types you need by talking with an experienced agent today.
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