Being an entrepreneur is a risk-filled endeavor and requires hard work. Your business will thrive from investing in the right kind of insurance. It’ll protect you from lost income, natural disasters, and unexpected problems. Deciding on which coverage to avail of for your business is challenging. You can avail of a light coverage or a comprehensive one paired with specialized features and add-ons that work best for your company.
For that reason, it’s best to keep yourself educated about the different kinds of policies you might encounter during your research and how each will protect your company. In this article, you can learn about the different coverages and how each will cover your company’s assets.
Property Insurance
Investing in property insurance is needed, even if your company rents or owns the establishment you’re using. It’ll cover your pieces of furniture, inventory, signage, and equipment if they get stolen or damaged by natural disasters. However, large disasters, like earthquakes and floods, aren’t covered by standard property insurance policies. If your business is in a disaster-prone area, inform yourproperty insurance provider immediately.
Most will often provide you with separate coverage for these situations.
Home-Based Companies
Most small-scale entrepreneurs use their homes as the base of their operations. Unlike commercial property insurance, homeowners’ policies will not protect home-based start-up companies. If you’re running a home-based business, make sure to ask your insurance provider for a separate policy. This policy will protect your inventory and equipment if something goes wrong.
Vehicle Insurance
If you are using vehicles, you should also get a separate policy to protect your company against liability if someone gets injured during an accident. You’ll need coverage for third-party injuries, but comprehensive coverage will protect your vehicle. If you plan to use your car for daily operations, your auto insurance will cover you from accidents.
But one exception to this rule is if you’re delivering products or services for a particular price. It usually includes delivery personnel.
Business Interruption Insurance
Your daily business operations might get interrupted if a catastrophic or disastrous event strikes your area. During this phase, your business will suffer from lost income because you can’t make sales calls, manufacture products, or work in the office. But this insurance coverage is only helpful for those with a physical location, including retail stores.
Business interruption insurance will protect your company from lost income during these difficult times.
Product Liability Insurance
If your business is from the manufacturing industry, you’ll have to invest in this coverage for protection. You’ll be responsible for ensuring that your team manufactures safe products. Otherwise, you might find yourself facing a hefty lawsuit due to damages caused by defective products. Investing in this kind of policy will protect you in such cases by offering coverage tailored to a specific product.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
No business will be successful without its employees. Once you hire one, you’ll have to invest in workers’ compensation insurance. It’ll protect you from death claims, disability benefits, and medical treatment if one of your employees get injured or die while they’re working. Even if they’re only assigned to handle low-risk duties, your employees are still vulnerable to injuries and medical conditions, including slip and fall injuries.
You might have to deal with hefty claims that will put your company in a terrible place.
General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance is the most common type of business insurance and goes well with business owners’ policy or BOP. It protects your business from claims and lawsuits from people outside your company. It’ll help you compensate victims outside of your company. Besides, damaged belongings will be repaired or replaced.
Cyber Liability Insurance
Cyber liability insurance will protect your company if your data gets compromised. It’s an add-on that covers both the expenses incurred by customers who suffered from an online data breach and your operational expenses.
It’ll also cover the costs of public relations efforts for restoring your company’s reputation, improving your digital security, and recovering your data.
Professional Liability Insurance
Getting this kind of insurance will protect you against individuals who might want to file a lawsuit against your company for perceived damages or injuries. It’ll also protect you from negligence claims resulting from injuries caused by negligence or mistakes. It’s also the best match for your business owner’s policy.
It’ll protect your business from unforeseen circumstances that your general liability insurance doesn’t cover. You can also add add-ons that cover industry-related incidents.
You can’t find a one-size-fits-all coverage that will protect your business. Each industry has its guidelines and concerns that you can address by investing in a customized policy that works well for your business.
