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Business Insurance for the Small Business
by Gannon Pierpont
http://www.fproinsurance.com
If you own a small business, the Small Business
Administration has some advice for you regarding business
insurance. One of the most important investments you can
make when planning your budget is adequate insurance. If
you're just starting out and haven't yet planned for your
insurance needs, the SBA recommends that you carry the
following kinds of insurance the see you through bumps in
the business road.
Based on information gathered from the SBA web site, your
business should carry, at the very least, insurance against
property damage, liability, personal injury and business
losses due to unexpected catastrophes. In addition, your
state may require certain health and injury coverage options
if you employ others to work for you.
Most Important Of All: Property Insurance Property insurance
is like homeowners' insurance for your business. It will
insure the physical assets of your business against loss in
the event of catastrophic events like fire. The SBA
recommends that you check your policy carefully to be
certain that the most likely events that will cause damage
are covered. In many states, for instance, it's common to
exclude floods from standard property insurance. You'll need
a specific rider to cover that.
Vehicle Insurance If your business owns or uses automobiles,
trucks or vehicles, you'll need to insure them for personal
injury and collision. Even if your business doesn't own
vehicles, but you use personal vehicles for business
purposes, the SBA recommends a rider on your personal car
insurance to cover damages that happens while using your
vehicle for business purposes.
If your business uses any sort of specialized equipment,
including in many cases computers, you should insure them
under a special rider to your property insurance. Many
business insurance policies limit the amounts that they'll
pay for damages to technical and specialized equipment.
Other kinds of equipment that fit under the 'special rider'
category are cameras (for a photographer) or special
catering equipment.
Business Income Insurance While your property insurance will
cover the cost of damages to your property and equipment in
the event of a fire or other unexpected misfortune, it won't
cover the loss of income due to your being closed during
repairs. Speak to your insurance agent about business income
insurance that will reimburse you for estimated loss of
income due to forced closing in case of unexpected events.
Your business insurance may be considerably cheaper if you
combine it all under one umbrella policy. Most insurance
companies offer comprehensive Business Owners' Policies
which include all the above coverage. Consult your insurance
agent to help you tailor a policy that takes all of the
special needs of your business into account.
In addition to insurance that protects your business in case
of catastrophe, if you employ others to work for your
business most states require that you carry workers'
compensation insurance to cover their medical expenses if
they are injured in the course of carrying out their work
duties or on work premises. While this protects your
workers, it also protects your business and you from being
held personally liable for medical expenses in that case.
You may also be responsible for providing them the option of
enrolling in a group health policy. The laws vary from state
to state in terms of exactly what you must provide and how
much your company is required to pay into each policy so
check the laws of your state to find how much you're
required to provide. Many states offer special programs to
small businesses to help them afford health insurance
coverage for their workers.
There are some businesses that have unique needs related to
their business. If you own a restaurant, a lodging house, a
retail store, or offer professional services in accounting,
law or other sensitive areas, you should consult an
insurance agent with expertise underwriting your kind of
business.
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