As a business owner, you’ve invested your all to make sure things go successfully for your employees and customers. From hiring to quality control to customer service, it’s a lot to manage!
Owning a business involves great risk. And where there is risk, it’s always best to be prepared with an insurance policy that covers your assets.
Insurance is not an easily understood topic and can be even more confusing for business owners.
Here is a simple list of the types of insurance recommended for business owners:
General Liability Insurance
This type of insurance protects against legal battles associated with accidents, injuries, and claims of negligence.
Product Liability Insurance
This type of insurance is extremely important to carry if you manufacture, distribute, or sell a product. It will protect you against financial loss as a result of a product defect that can cause an injury.
Professional Liability Insurance
If you provide a service to customers, this kind of coverage will protect you from malpractice, errors, and negligence claims.
Commercial Property Insurance
This covers everything related to the loss and damage of a company property due to a wide variety of events such as fire, smoke, severe weather, vandalism, etc. Every policy is different when it comes to what “property” is so it’s important to talk with your agent to make sure everything you want is covered.
Home-Based Business Insurance
If you run a business out of your home you might think that your home insurance will cover losses. This isn’t true. While a home owners policy might include certain property damages, you might have to purchase additional coverages, such as general and professional liability.
It’s also important to note that some states might require you to carry certain types of insurance coverage depending on what type of business you own. For example, if you have company vehicles, your state might require that you provide auto coverage for the vehicles and drivers. Make sure to check with your insurance agent to be certain that you are covered appropriately according to your state laws.
In addition, if you have employees working for your business, you are also required by state law to carry certain types of insurance. The three key policies you might want to consider if you have employees are Workers Compensation Insurance, Unemployment Insurance Tax, and Disability Insurance. More on this to come in the next post!