1. General Liability
Insurance: Every
business, even if home-based, needs to have liability insurance. The
policy provides both defense and damages if you, your employees or your
products or services cause or are alleged to have caused Bodily Injury or
Property Damage to a third party.
2. Property Insurance: If you own your building or have business personal
property, including office equipment, computers, inventory or tools you should
consider purchasing a policy that will protect you if you have a fire,
vandalism, theft, smoke damage etc. You may also want to consider
business interruption/loss of earning insurance as part of the policy to
protect your earnings if the business is unable to operate.
3. Business owner’s policy (BOP): A business owner policy packages all required coverage a
business owner would need. Often, BOP’s will include business interruption
insurance, property insurance, vehicle coverage, liability insurance, and crime
insurance . Based on your company’s specific needs, you can alter what is
included in a BOP. Typically, a business owner will save money by choosing a
BOP because the bundle of services often costs less than the total cost of all
the individual coverage’s.
4. Commercial Auto
Insurance: Commercial
auto insurance protects a company’s vehicles. You can protect vehicles that
carry employees, products or equipment. With commercial auto insurance you can
insure your work cars, SUVs, vans and trucks from damage and collisions.
If you do not have company vehicles, but employees drive their own cars on
company business you should have non-owned auto liability to protect the
company in case the employee does not have insurance or has inadequate coverage.
Many times the non-owned can be added to the BOP policy.
5. Worker’s Compensation: Worker’s compensation provides insurance to employees who
are injured on the job. This type of insurance provides wage replacement and
medical benefits to those who are injured while working. In exchange for these
benefits, the employee gives up his rights to sue his employer for the
incident. As a business owner, it is very important to have worker’s
compensation insurance because it protects yourself and your company from legal
complications. State laws will vary, but all require you to have workers
compensation if you have W2 employees. Penalties for non-compliance can
be very stiff.
6. Professional Liability
Insurance: this
type of insurance is also known as Errors and Omissions Insurance. The
policy provides defense and damages for failure to or improperly rendering
professional services. Your general liability policy does not provide
this protection, so it is important to understand the difference.
Professional liability insurance is applicable for any professional firm
including lawyers, accountants, consultants, notaries, real estate agents,
insurance agents, hair salons and technology providers to name a few.
7. Directors and Officers
Insurance: this
type of insurance protects the directors and officers of a company against
their actions that affect the profitability or operations of the company. If a
director or officer of your company, as a direct result of their actions on the
job, finds him or herself in a legal situation, this type of insurance can
cover costs or damages lost as a result of a lawsuit.
8. Data Breach: If the business stores sensitive or non-public
information about employees or clients on their computers, servers or in paper
files they are responsible for protecting that information. If a breach
occurs either electronically or from a paper file a Data Breach policy will
provide protection against the loss.
9. Homeowner’s Insurance: Homeowner’s insurance is one of the most important kinds of
insurance you need. This type of insurance can protect against damage to the
home and against damage to items inside the home. Additionally, this type of
insurance may protect you from accidents that happen at home or may have
occurred due to actions of your own.
10. Renter’s Insurance: Renter’s insurance is a sub-set of homeowner’s insurance
which applies only to those whose who rent their home. The coverage is protects
against damage to the physical property, contents of the property, and personal
injury within the home.
11. Life Insurance: Life insurance protects an individual against death. If you
have life insurance, the insurer pays a certain amount of money to a
beneficiary upon your death. You pay a premium in exchange for the payment of
benefits to the beneficiary. This type of insurance is very important because
it allows for peace of mind. Having life insurance allows you to know that your
loved ones will not be burdened financially upon your death.
12. Personal Automobile
Insurance: Another
very important type of insurance is auto insurance. Automobile insurance covers
all road vehicles (trucks, cars, motorcycles, etc.). Auto insurance has a dual
function, protecting against both physical damage and bodily injury resulting
from a crash, and also any liability that might rise from the collision.
13.
Personal Umbrella Insurance: You may want some additional
coverage, on top of insurance policies you already have. This is where personal
umbrella insurance comes into play. This type of insurance is an extension to
an already existing insurance policy and covers beyond the regular policy. This
insurance can cover different kinds of claims, including homeowner’s or auto
insurance. Generally, it is sold in increments of $1 million and is used only
when liability on other policies has been exhausted.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
A Small Business Owner Should Have Many Types of Insurance
7:17 AM
No comments
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment