Types of Commercial Coverage for Businesses

As a business owner, you need the same kinds of insurance coverages for the car you use in your business as you do for a car used for personal travel -- liability, collision and comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states) and coverage for uninsured motorists. In fact, many business people use the same vehicle for both business and pleasure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the "principal insured" rather than your name. This will avoid possible confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

Whether you need to buy a business auto insurance policy will depend on the kind of driving you do. A good insurance agent will ask you many details about how you use vehicles in your business, who will be driving them and whether employees, if you have them, are likely to be driving their own cars for your business.

While the major coverages are the same, a business auto policy differs from a personal auto policy in many technical respects. Ask your insurance agent to explain all the differences and options.

General Liability

If you have a personal umbrella liability policy, there's generally an exclusion for business-related liability. Make sure you have sufficient auto liability coverage.

Unfortunately for every business owner, the chances of getting sued have dramatically increased in the last decade. General Liability insurance can prevent a legal suit from turning into a financial disaster by providing financial protection in case your business is ever sued or held legally responsible for some injury or damage.

General Liability pays losses arising from real or alleged bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury on your business premises or arising from your operations.

Broad Range of General Liability Protection

• Bodily Injury, including the cost of care, the loss of services, and the restitution for any death that results from injury
• Property Damage coverage for the physical damage to property of others or the loss of use of that property
• Products-Completed Operations provides liability protection (damages and legal expenses up to your policy's limit) if an injury ever resulted from something your company made or service your company provided
• Products Liability is a more specialized product liability insurance that protects your company against lawsuits from product-related injury or accidents
• Contractual Liability extends to any liability you may assume by entering into a variety of contracts
• Other coverage includes: Reasonable Use of Force; Borrowed Equipment; Liquor Liability; Non-Owned Vehicles (such as aircraft and watercraft); Fire, Lightning or Explosion Damage; Water Damage Liability Protection; Legal Defense Costs; Medical Payments; Personal Injury; Advertising Injury; and specialized liability protection for specific business types

Workers Compensation
Workers compensation laws were created to ensure that employees who are injured on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards. This eliminates the need for litigation and creates an easier process for the employee. It also helps control the financial risks for employers since many states limit the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer.

Workers Compensation Insurance is designed to help companies pay these benefits. As a protection for employees, most states require that employers carry some form of Workers Compensation Insurance. Workers Compensation Insurance is not health insurance. Workers Compensation is designed specifically for injuries sustained on the job.

In most states, if you have employees, you are required to carry Workers Compensation coverage. Even in non-mandatory states, it can be a very good idea, particularly if you have many employees, or if they are engaged in hazardous activities.

Do I need workers compensation insurance?
Employers have a legal responsibility to their employees to make the workplace safe. However, accidents happen even when every reasonable safety measure has been taken.

To protect employers from lawsuits resulting from workplace accidents and to provide medical care and compensation for lost income to employees hurt in workplace accidents, in almost every state, businesses are required to buy workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance covers workers injured on the job, whether they're hurt on the workplace premises or elsewhere, or in auto accidents while on business. It also covers work-related illnesses.

Workers compensation provides payments to injured workers, without regard to who was at fault in the accident, for time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitation services. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents.

Each state has different laws governing the amount and duration of lost income benefits, the provision of medical and rehabilitation services and how the system is administered. For example, in most states there are regulations that cover whether the worker or employer can choose the doctor who treats the injuries and how disputes about benefits are resolved.

Workers compensation insurance must be bought as a separate policy. Although in-home business and business owners policies (BOPs) are sold as package policies, they don't include coverage for workers' injuries.

Common Business Insurance Questions:  

What is business insurance?  

No business is perfect, and no business is infallible. It takes work to keep your company up and running, but it only takes one disaster—like a lawsuit, fire, severe weather or theft of property—to cause unsustainable damage from which you won’t be able to recover. 

By having business insurance, you’ll be better able to withstand the personal and financial harm done by unexpected hazards in your operations. With the right benefits there to support you, you will be able to have financial assistance when recovering from the trouble you experienced. That way, you won’t have to spend critical company funds and experience operational setbacks just because an issue occurred. 

What does business insurance cover?  

Business insurance is not a single policy like homeowners, auto or life insurance. Rather, it’s an umbrella term that refers to numerous commercial insurance options that the average business might need. 

It’s up to you to find the optimized combination of benefits for your needs. Some of the policies that you can enroll in with our help include:

Of course, there are many other policies available that are designed to protect you against specific risks and liabilities. These include:

Small business owners can benefit financially by bundling their essential coverage into a business owners policy (BOP). The BOP is designed for small operations, and allows you to get several benefits (property, general liability, business interruption) in one place and at one price. 

How much business insurance do I need? 

Your business is unique, even when compared to your nearest competitor. Therefore, your insurance needs are going to have to be hyper-customized to your operations. They will also have to conform to your pricing points so that they don’t strain your overhead. Our agents will work hand in hand with you to optimize the benefits within your portfolio in ways that offer you tailored coverage limits, deductibles, endorsements and other terms. 

What will my business insurance benefits cost?  

Numerous factors can influence the price of your commercial insurance, and all of your different plans will have different costs, based both on the coverage you choose and the risk factors that the insurer assumes by covering you.  

We understand that you might have concerns about the burden that your benefits will have on your overhead costs, but we are committed to working with you to get you the coverage that offers you the best value on the market.