What is Business Insurance?
Business insurance protects your investment by minimizing financial risks associated with unexpected events such as a death of a partner, an injured employee, a lawsuit, or a natural disaster.
Business Insurance is a broad name for different coverages available to the business owner to protect against losses and to insure the continuing operation of the business.
Types of Coverage
General Liability Insurance
A standard insurance policy issued to a business organization to protect them against liability claims for bodily injury and property damage arising out of premises, operations, products, and completed operations; and advertising and personal injury liability.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Covers cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles owned by or operated within a business. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage and/or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise from an accident. Commercial auto insurance may also offer financial protection against theft of the vehicle and possibly damage to the vehicle, sustained from events other than traffic collisions.
Commercial Property Insurance
Covers risk of loss to an organization’s buildings or personal property. Usually includes buildings, personal property of the insured business or business owner, personal property of others on site and in the insured’s possessions. Coverage can be provided on an all risk or specific perils basis.
Commercial Umbrella Insurance
Commercial Umbrella insurance is liability coverage that is in excess of specified other commercial insurance policies and also potentially primary insurance for losses not covered by the other policies. When an insured business is liable to someone, the insured's primary insurance policies pay up to their limits and any additional amount is paid by the umbrella policy (up to the coverage limit of the umbrella policy).
Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance (PLI), also called professional indemnity insurance (PII) but more commonly known as errors & omissions (E&O) in the US, is a form of liability insurance that helps protect professional advice and service-providing companies from bearing the full cost of defending against a negligence claim made by a client, and damages awarded in such a civil lawsuit. Professional liability coverage sometimes also provides for the defense costs, including when legal action turns out to be groundless.
Business Owner's Package
A Business Owner's Package (often called a BOP) is an insurance policy that combines protection from all major property and liability risks in one package. It typically combines all the basic coverages required by a business owner into one bundle. It is usually sold at a premium that is less than the total cost of the individual coverages. Business Owners Policies usually target small and medium-sized businesses and typically contain business interruption insurance, which provides reimbursement for up to a year of lost revenue resulting from an insured property loss.
Workers Compensation
Workers compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the act of negligence.