Business insurance is designed to protect every aspect of the company you have built from the ground up, and make certain a mistake or an accident doesn’t spell the end. Most business insurance policies are a package that incorporates the same basic coverage. From there, you will likely have added a few other options based on the type of business you run. Beyond the basics, there a variety of options you can consider adding to your package. Take a look at some of the options that are well worth your consideration.
Business Equipment Breakdown
If your company depends on expensive business equipment to keep running smoothly, then the breakdown of that equipment can quickly spell disaster. It can mean missed deadlines, impatient customers, and everyone behind on their work. Every minute that your equipment isn’t running, you are losing money.
Equipment breakdown coverage will pay to get that equipment back up and running as quickly as possible, even if that means replacing it. Business equipment coverage is especially important if you work from home, as homeowner’s insurance won’t cover company equipment. If you depend on expensive equipment and can’t quickly pay for repairs or replacement, this is one optional coverage well worth consideration.
Consequential Loss and Business Interruption
These two coverage options are related, as they both cover the financial loss incurred when you can’t get work done due to inability to access your office after fire, water, or other damage, or to damage to equipment that renders you unable to work.
This coverage protects you from the money you aren’t able to make while you can’t work. In the event of a major disaster at your office, such as a fire or natural disaster, this coverage could help to keep your business afloat. This optional coverage lets you take the time you need to deal with the damage, repairs, and replacement of equipment, while keeping the business safely in the black.
Although no one anticipates such a disaster, we all carry property insurance in the event that it could happen. Adding this optional coverage to the policy simply makes sense; it covers the financial loss to your company while you deal with the physical loss.
Fidelity Insurance
Otherwise known as Employee Dishonesty, this type of coverage protects you from a wide range of dishonest acts on the part of an employee. This can range from fraud to forgery of documents and includes any number of similar acts in between.
While no one likes to think of their employees acting in so disloyal and dishonest a manner, the truth is that it happens every day, and it can be seriously damaging to a company financially. This coverage protects you from those acts of dishonesty which have the potential to put you and your business in a very difficult position.
Commercial Auto
Many small business owners use their own car for business purposes regularly, and don’t give any thought to the insurance on it. If the car were involved in an accident while on company business, it could lead to a lawsuit against your business.
A commercial auto policy doesn’t just cover vehicles owned by the company, although many business owners see it as something to be used by companies who have delivery vehicles or company cars. It’s a good thing to consider for any vehicle that is being used for company business. Whether you are making sales calls or running company errands, when you are on company time you also take on company liability.
Commercial auto insurance can cover vehicles owned by others as well as leased, rented, or borrowed vehicles. When out on the road you and your employees take on all the risks of driving; when on company business, that risk reflects on the company. Commercial auto can protect you from a serious financial problem if a lawsuit were to come against the company.
Putting together the right commercial insurance policy for your business requires combining the basic coverage that every business needs with the specific coverage that suits your company. A comprehensive package is the perfect mix of basics and optional choices that create a shield of protection for the business you have worked so hard to create.
Your insurance professional can help you to understand which coverage options are available to you and to determine which are best suited to your company. These optional coverages can give you extra peace of mind, and are well worth it in the event that you should ever need them.
