Types Of General Insurance To Protect Your Business

As an entrepreneur, from the moment you start up your business, you are exposed to risks no matter the precautionary measures you put in place.

Catastrophic events and legal hassles are the major risks involved in businesses.

The moment you employ workers for your business, the risks involved tend to increase.

It is an important step to secure your business together with your employees by acquiring insurance as your business picks up.

The good thing is that businesses have a wide range of insurance to protect them against these risks.

This article features a number of insurance policies that you may need for your business.

Professional liability insurance

This plan, also known as Errors and Omissions insurance, protects businesses from claims of negligence, following harm caused by the company’s mistakes or performance failure.

Different companies have different needs.

Therefore, this policy is flexible to suit the different concerns that may arise from various businesses.

Benefits:

  • Protection of the company’s revenue
  • Protection from lawsuits
  • Offers a sense of security as mistakes are inevitable
  • Covers a variety of claims / professional services

Property insurance

Regardless of whether the business is on a lease or the owner’s property, property insurance is a necessity.

The policy covers furniture, equipment, and signage in the event of a disaster.

The standard property insurance does not cater for damages caused by natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.

If you are in an area prone to such calamities, consult with your insurance provider to acquire a separate policy.

Benefits:

  • Protects the buildings and compensates damaged furniture and equipment
  • Offers a sense of security
  • It is cost-friendly.
  • Protects the business finances by replacing damaged property
  • Guarantee you a temporary business building rental free after the destruction of your property

Workers’ compensation insurance

The first employee has been immediately added to the business; the worker’s compensation insurance policy should be a part of the business.

This covers medical treatment, disability, and death benefits resulting from the place of work.

It is a key business insurance policy even if the work environment seems to be of low risk.

Benefits:

  • Covers for the employee’s legal liability
  • Caters for the expense of vocational rehabilitation, involving training for a new job or cost of future employment
  • Compensation of lost wages
  • Covers medical expenses for any occupational illnesses such as bronchitis
  • Consists of special add-on covers

Product liability insurance

When manufacturers put their products on the market for sale, they take every possible measure to ensure that their products are safe for use.

However, these companies find themselves dragged in lawsuits caused by damages resulting from their product in some instances.

The lawsuit’s expense may negatively affect the business finances, and that’s when the product liability insurance policy plan comes in.

The policy only covers a particular product and not general goods.

Benefits:

  • Covers for manufacturing or production flaws
  • Response to lawsuits in relation to packaging and warning issues
  • General protection from liability caused by defects or malfunctions in your product

Business interruption insurance

Life can be unpredictable, and it is wise to be ready at all times.

Sometimes catastrophic events can interrupt your business operations.

This will inevitably lead to revenue loss due to the inability to continue with normal business operations.

This insurance commonly applies to a business with a physical location.

Benefits:

  • Sustenance of revenue
  • Covers the payment of rent and lease
  • Relocation to a temporary location
  • Covers for the payment of loans
  • Payment of employees’ wages

Business owner’s policy (BOP)

This policy is comprehensive, entailing all the packages a business owner would require.

These policies are inclusive of; commercial vehicle policy, crime insurance policy, liability insurance, business interruption insurance, and property insurance policy.

Based on your company’s particular needs, the business owner can have the policies that suit their business needs.

Benefits:

  • It is often all-inclusive of the most necessary coverage
  • It is cost-effective
  • Flexibility, you can modify to suit your needs
  • A common package among most insurance companies

Commercial Auto Insurance

This covers a company’s cars.

Commercial auto insurance policy intends to protect vehicles that carry products, equipment, or employees only, from accidents and damages.

The policy also extends to third party liability in case of injury or damage caused. Suppose your employees use their vehicles to run the company’s business errands.

In that case, you can apply for the non-owned auto liability to protect the employees’ vehicles in case they aren’t insured, or their coverage is inadequate.

Benefits:

Directors and Officers Insurance

This offers coverage to a company’s directors and officers.

In case of a lawsuit against officers and directors arising from operations within their job, this policy caters to the suit’s cost.

Benefits:

  • Protects the directors and officers of a company from a financial burden arising from a lawsuit within their work capacity
  • Peace of mind

Data breach insurance

This applies to companies that keep sensitive information about their client or employees in their system or paper files.

Such information ought to be discrete and hidden from the third party’s failure to which raises the issue of a data breach.

The data breach policy covers situations where data may be lost or stolen.

They cover for;

  • Lawsuits arising due to data breach
  • Fees incurred due to data loss

Benefits:

  • Relieves the financial burden related to a data breach
  • Provides resources for data breach response
  • Covers the gap of protection of Intangible property

Business crime insurance

It is also known as a commercial crime insurance policy.

Business crime insurance is a type of policy that protects a business from business crime related incidences.

This policy covers loss of cash assets, merchandise, property, forgery, embezzlement, robbery, among others.

Benefits:

  • Protects your company from bankruptcy due to loss or embezzlement of funds
  • Prevents business interruption due to the loss of equipment
  • Insurance for goods in transit that may lead to expensive legal battles
  • Offers a sense of security, especially with the rising crime cases

Conclusion

Acquiring proper insurance can save your business a great deal of financial losses due to catastrophic events or even lawsuits.

Consult with your insurance provider to check on the appropriate insurance cover for your business.