January 11, 2020
Blog Your business is an asset! What happens if you suffer an unexpected loss of product or damage to your storefront or offices? The financial impact to your income can be a challenge to overcome.
Are you protected against a lawsuit? Are you at risk of losing your business as a result of a lawsuit from an unhappy customer? Are you covered against workplace violence? Your business needs protection.
As careful as you are in your business practices, you don’t want to risk your livelihood to an accident or a lawsuit involving your business. Protect your assets! Let’s learn about the types of liability insurance your business needs.
1. General Liability Insurance
Every small business needs general liability insurance. It’s the most basic form of protection for your business assets.
Your general liability policy covers claims of property damage, bodily injury, or personal injury that happens as a result of conducting business or at your business property.
You can do your best to keep your business safe for customers and employees, but you never know when a slip-and-fall injury can occur, or when a tree branch might fall on a car parked in your parking lot. Your general liability insurance covers the costs of defending a lawsuit if someone sues you for damages.
2. Business Renters Insurance
If you rent an apartment or home for your living space, you probably have renters insurance to protect you against the loss of personal property.
As a business owner, you need the same kind of protection in the rented space where you conduct your business. A business renters insurance policy covers loss due to unexpected events that damage your business assets, products, or ability to do business in your rented business space.
This coverage helps offset the loss of income and the cost to replace critical business items after things like a fire or vandalism.
3. LLC Insurance
Is your business an LLC (limited liability company)? It’s a good idea to protect your LLC with insurance specifically for these kinds of companies.
LLC insurance includes other types of insurance, like general liability or property damage insurance. Where some business policies can leave a gap in coverage for an LLC, if your policy is specific to owning an LLC, you’re more likely to have the coverage you need.
4. Home-Based Business Insurance
Do you operate your business from a home office? Even if your “office” is a closet or a portion of the kitchen table, you need business insurance to protect yourself.
Most homeowner policies don’t cover loss for the assets of a home-based business. If you store products at home, your financial loss could be significant if your home sustains damage from a fire, flood, or a break-in.
Make sure your business equipment—like computers or printers—has the protection of home-based business insurance.
5. Product Liability Insurance
Do you produce a product? Is it sold on the open market? Whether you sell direct to customers or outside retailers, you need product liability insurance.
Most products on the market must follow requirements for packaging or listing ingredients. No matter what you sell and how careful you are, a consumer can report damaging side effects or an injury as a result of your product. Losing this type of lawsuit can result in the loss of your business.
Product liability insurance helps protect you and your business from a lawsuit from even the smallest potential that your product causes harm to a consumer.
6. Data Breach Insurance
Whether your company processes or stores data or not, you have private and secure data that relates to your business. Customer names and information, vendor names and details, and personal employee information reside somewhere in your digital or physical filing system.
A data breach is a serious (and costly) liability for any company. If someone hacks into your electronic system or an employee causes a data leak, you’re open to a lawsuit when private information gets out. Data breach insurance helps protect your business and cover the costs associated with letting customers know about the breach and resolving the situation.
7. Vehicle or Fleet Insurance
Does your business involve any automobiles? Your personal vehicle can be a business asset if you use it to meet with customers or to travel to job sites. Businesses like roofing companies or delivery services typically have more than one vehicle in their fleet.
Make sure your cars and trucks have the protection of commercial vehicle insurance. If your business depends on you or your employees being out on the road, you can’t afford to lose the use of your fleet vehicles due to an accident or unforeseen circumstance.
8. Workman’s Comp Insurance
If you have one or more employees, there’s always the potential they can get hurt on the job. From a slip and fall in the breakroom to an accident on a construction site, your business suffers the liability of an employee work-related injury.
Don’t let an employee’s injury put you out of business. Workman’s compensation insurance provides financial assistance to your injured employee to cover medical bills and loss of pay. Take care of your injured employees without using business income to cover their costs during recovery.
Find the Right Types of Liability Insurance
Your business might not need all of these types of liability insurance, but it’s essential to make sure you have the right coverage for your needs.
Insurance helps protect your business from life’s unexpected mishaps. The right coverage helps keep you in business while you navigate the loss of equipment or a worker’s comp claim.
Make sure you choose the right amount and type of worker’s compensation insurance for your business. We have more than fifteen years of experience helping companies choose the right coverage for their employees. Contact us for a free quote!
