You have worked hard and officially obtained your dream of owning your hold business. Your dedication and hard work have paid off. But as you deep dive into the daily running of your business you realize that you have a lot of things to consider. Your business’ protection should not be one of them. Insurance companies have multiple business policies available to you. However, between your work load of hiring and training the right people, ordering supplies and keeping the business stocked, making sure your budget is on track, and acquiring and retaining your customers you don’t have time to sift through paperwork to decide which insurance is moral for your small business. Here is a guide to help you determine which policies you might need and prepare you for your meeting with the insurance agent.

Business insurance policies will basically cover four things; LIABILITY, PROPERTY, PEOPLE, and INCOME. First question you need to answer is what type of business do you have… do you have a home business, do customer’s come to your business, do you give advice, or do you make products that you sell? All of these and more will succor you determine which policies you will need to look at.

Liability:

Mistakes happen, errors are made, and people get distress. Liability policies help to make sure you are not held liable (legally responsible) for those errors or injuries. There are two areas under this umbrella of coverage; employees and customers.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance: If you have employees you will want to look into this type of insurance that generally covers harassment, discrimination, wrongful discharge, emotional hurt, privacy, and reputation. This insurance usually does not cover; OSHA violations, fair labor standard act, space law employment violations, COBRA violations, retaliation against whistle blower, ADA (Americans with Disability Act) violations, employee retirement income security act violations, and punitive damages.

In case your company is sued or held liable for loss or injury due to your companies error you want to have liability insurance. Some insurance agents will assign this into what is called a BOP “Business Owners Policy” Liability is usually packaged together with property and casualty. This is not always the best route to go. The other option is to go with Commercial General Liability separately. This insurance generally does not cover; injury to employee, automobile coverage, damage to the business property, pollution, and completed products coverage.

You can also get liquor liability if you will be handling a business dealing in alcohol and product liability to help if you are a manufacturer and the product you made was faulty or caused injury.

Property Insurance:

Property specifically insures against loss or damage to the business property and it’s contents. You have “Broad form” option which covers a number of different types of loss or afflict and “specific peril” option which covers what you specify in the contract. If you opt to go with the BOP (mentioned above) your insurance policy will most likely cover the Broad create. Specific gives you the option to pick what you may or may not need covered. If your business is in a flood zone you will want to specify coverage for flooding. If you operate a home business some home owners insurance policies will let you buy into a clause where you can mask your business in the homeowners policy. However, some do not and will require you to get separate insurance.

People:

If you have employees this is another area you will need to investigate. Your employees should be one your greatest assets. Protecting them is essential for their safety and well being and also your business bottom line to avoid being sued or held responsible for injuries. Worker’s Compensation Covers (mandated by the states) employees injured on the job. In some states you can get discounts on your Worker’s Compensation Insurance by making your workplace a drug free environment.

Another option, as you grow your business and work to remain competitive in acquiring good talent, is to look into health and life insurance.

Income (Casualty):

Casualty insures the business not the property. Business continuation or business interruption would fall under casualty. If there was wound to other properties in the mall that your business is in, which causes the mall to discontinuance down, if you have continuation or interruption policy under casualty insurance even though there was no damage to your property you would still be covered for loss of business. In some cases the insurer will even relocate your business to a temporary location while the problem is being resolved. Some other types would be terrorism, flood, or political risk/government liability.

In conclusion, this information is a broad review of the types of insurance policies available to you as a small business owner. Once you have decided what you will need to be covered this guide should succor you in making the right choices to the amount of coverage you will be purchasing. Make sure you discuss all options with your insurance agent to get the best out of your dollars. Insurance is a considerable business investment and is often easier to digest if you know what you are investing in.