As a small business owner, it can be hard knowing which insurance you need and which ones can wait. Insurance is not just a luxury for larger companies; it is something that you need to add to your budget too. Therefore, today we are discussing the insurance needs of small business owners.
General Liability Insurance
All businesses must have liability insurance. This will provide protection if you, your employees, or products cause or are accused of causing bodily harm or property damage to another individual.
Property Insurance
Property insurance will protect you in the event that your business establishment or some of the items inside are damaged. It is also suggested that when you get property insurance that you add on business interruption/loss of earnings insurance so you can keep a cash flow if the damage prevents you from operating your business as you normally would.
Business Owner’s Policy
This type of insurance covers everything that you need when first starting out.
- Business Interruption Insurance
- Property Insurance
- Vehicle Coverage
- Liability Insurance
- Crime Insurance
Additionally, you can make changes to what your Business Owner’s Policy covers so you can get the specific coverages that you need for your business needs. Usually, by going with this type of insurance you are able to save some money because everything is bundled into a package.
Commercial Auto Insurance
This insurance is to protect your company vehicles. Additionally, if you don’t use company’s vehicles, but your employees use their own vehicles, you want to make sure that you have non-owned auto liability so your company is protected in case your employees don’t have adequate coverage.
Worker’s Compensation
This insurance is needed so employees who are injured on the job are able to have wage replacement and medical benefits. By providing this insurance for employees, it means that they have to give up their rights to sue you. This insurance will protect you from messy legal troubles. You have to make sure that you are compliant with all the laws though and these laws vary from state to state.
Professional Liability Insurance
This insurance will protect you against failure or improperly rendering professional services. It is not something that is covered under general liability insurance so make sure you get this if you are a professional firm that consists of lawyers, accountants, consultants, real estate agents, and others in similar fields.
Closing Thoughts
These are some of the types of insurances that you will need as a small business owner. However, when signing up for different insurances make sure that you are aware of what they are covering. With so many insurance types available during this day in age, you could potentially be signing up for coverages that you don’t need. Therefore, instead of jumping on every insurance type that an agent shoves in your face, take time to see if it is something that is necessarily or one of the insurance types that actually do fall into the “luxury category”. Keep in mind the ones that we covered today are highly recommended, though.
