COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

Mistakes happen. No matter if the professional mistake is real or an allegation. If your business is being accused of negligence, professional liability insurance protects your business against lawsuits and negligence claims. One claim, without this important coverage, can financially impact a business enough to endanger its existence.

Professional liability insurance is often referred to as errors and omissions insurance or “E&O” Insurance. Think of it as a safety net for your business mistakes.

If you own a business, chances are you need professional liability insurance. This can be a standalone policy or part of your general liability policy and can help pay for legal judgements, defense costs, actual or alleged negligence, errors in services rendered, omissions and misrepresentations.

Protecting businesses involved in the distribution and sale of goods. If you manufacture, distribute, supply and make products available to the public (even if that product is free), you are responsible for any injuries to people or property caused by a faulty product.

To determine if your business needs product liability insurance ask yourself if your business sells products to customers. If the answer is yes, you need product liability insurance, either a stand-alone policy or part of your general liability insurance.

Because not all businesses have the resources set aside to pay for these types of claims, having product liability insurance is critical to many businesses’ risk management strategy. Product liability insurance can cover product liability related to customer injuries due to your product’s design and manufacturing defects as well as improper warnings.

Consider making this important coverage part of your business insurance portfolio.

If disaster strikes, is your business prepared for loss of income? Business interruption insurance, also known as income insurance, can help your business continue when faced with a physical disaster, loss or damage. It should be noted that the standard business interruption insurance policy does not cover cases where the business is closed due to a pandemic. Business closures due to viruses or bacteria are typically excluded.

How will your business operate in the face of a disaster that closes your place of business? This important coverage can help reimburse profits, the move to a temporary location, loan payments, taxes, mortgages or rent, commissions, extra expenses as well as civil authority ingress/egress such as forced premises closures due to government mandates.

Directors and officers liability insurance is a coverage not many businesses think of when contemplating a risk management strategy. D&O insurance is one of the most critical defenses a business and its executives have against allegations of wrongdoing, legal suites and investigations. D&O insurance can also help your company attract and retain qualified executives and board members. Protect the owners, executives, and leaders from the risks of running a business with this important coverage.

Protecting contractors and other trades. Contractors, subcontractors and others in the building trades all need contractor’s insurance to protect them from losses that could potentially ruin their business. In many cases, employers will require contractor’s insurance before allowing work to begin.

Painters, landscapers, electricians, floor installers, masons and roofers are just a few of the trades that should be protected by contractor’s insurance.

There are two main types of basic coverage available with contractor’s insurance: general liability and commercial auto. General liability protects a contractor from losses resulting from accidents, property damage or faulty work. Commercial auto coverage offers protection for vehicles a contractor may use to transport people, tools and/or equipment as part of their business. Coverage may be available for things such as ladder racks and permanently attached toolboxes, although the tools themselves and any material a contractor is transporting in the vehicle typically aren’t covered.

In addition to contractor’s insurance, a general contractor may need to carry workers’ compensation insurance to protect them if one of their employees is injured while on the job.

An “umbrella” of protection over your business. Commercial umbrella insurance, also called business umbrella insurance or excess insurance, is a layer of financial protection overlaid above your current business liability insurance. When your current business liability insurance coverages are not enough, your commercial umbrella insurance can extend to provide the extra coverage needed and save the business from having to pay claims from their own reserves or lack of reserves.

Typically, businesses add a commercial umbrella policy to their risk management portfolio to cover against large losses. However, businesses may not fully comprehend the potential financial magnitude of a single claim. Claims costs are rising and having a strategic commercial umbrella policy in place can provide the peace of mind that a claim will not jeopardize your business.

Protect the business you worked so hard to build. All types of businesses benefit from commercial property insurance, from manufacturing to retail and not-for-profit organizations, just to name a few. Does your business stock equipment or inventory, include commercial spaces for rent, or store property that belongs to others? You need to protect that business with the right coverage. Plus, if you have a mortgage or lease on your property, chances are you’re required to have commercial property insurance.

Commercial property insurance protects your brick and mortar investment and physical assets from damages from fire, storms, explosions, burst pipes, theft and vandalism. It can also cover business personal property such as:

• Equipment you own or lease
• Computers
• Raw Materials
• Inventory
• Supplies
• Furniture
• Property left in your care

Keeping your business moving. Although most of us are required to carry insurance on our personal vehicle, a driver may need commercial auto insurance (also called commercial vehicle insurance) if they use their vehicle for business or if their business operates a truck or fleet of trucks.

As with your personal auto insurance, a commercial auto policy will help cover the costs related to damage and/or injuries if a covered driver is involved in an accident.

There are situations where your personal auto policy is adequate, for example, when using a vehicle to commute back and forth to work. On the other hand, if driving is a key part of the business’ activities, chances are a commercial auto policy is required.

Protect your business from workplace injury losses. No matter how well someone runs their business, accidents happen, and the threat of legal action from an injured employee is all too real. Along with providing benefits to the employee, workers’ compensation can help cover the cost if the employee or their family sues your business.

The amount and types of coverage a company needs to have are mandated by the state in which they conduct business. And, most states require companies with employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance in order to conduct business in that state. Failure to carry workers’ compensation insurance can subject a business to costly penalties.

Workers’ compensation insurance, also known as workers’ comp, provides benefits to employees if they’re injured while on the job. Benefits may include coverage for medical care and replacement of a portion of a worker’s wages while they’re recovering. Workers’ compensation can also help cover disability payments or funeral costs if an employee loses their life in a workplace accident.

Some policies offer additional coverage, including helping to pay the cost of training an employee for a new position If they’re unable to return to their old one.

A promise that you will do what you’re supposed to do. Often, contracts will require that the business doing the work are bonded. There are literally thousands and thousands of different types of bonds and bond requirements can vary at the state level.

At its most basic level, surety bonds provide financial guarantees that contracts and other business deals will be completed according to mutual terms. Types of surety bonds can include contractor bonds, performance bonds, maintenance bonds, utility bonds, freight broker bonds and more.

A business will purchase a bond to guarantee that they will fulfill expectations. When obligations are fulfilled, nothing is paid out. However, if a business does not deliver on their obligations, the obligation can file a claim against the surety bond.

Fidelity bonds are instruments designed to protect employers from losses due to fraudulent and dishonest acts of their employees (first party fidelity bonds) and in some cases, against monetary or physical losses as a result of misconduct by subcontractors (third party fidelity bonds).

Fidelity bonds are an insurance product for employers. They act as a firewall against dishonest employees, subcontractors and even clients providing protection against fraud, theft and forgery. The use of fidelity bonds can help protect your business from financial crises and safeguard your company’s assets.

Protect valuable data and infrastructure from internet related threats. Nearly every company today relies on information technology to conduct business. At the same time, it seems as if nearly every day brings a new report of a data breach or malware incident where sensitive customer data is exposed, or an organization’s internal systems are held hostage by hackers. Threats to a company’s IT infrastructure can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to repair, bringing a business to its knees and possibly forcing it to shut down completely.

In addition, the damage caused by IT threats can reach far beyond the company itself. The release of credit card information, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and health records or other data can cause long-lasting damage to the business’ customers, their own banks and even other companies with which those customers do business.

Depending on the policy, cyber insurance may provide coverage against losses caused by data theft and/or hacking. In addition, it may cover losses stemming from denial-of-service and ransomware attacks and protect a company from liability for losses to others.

Cyber insurance can also help cover the cost of notifying customers affected by a data breach and any associated legal fees. Some policies also help pay to recover damaged data and repair affected computer systems.

It’s important to note that in most cases, unless specifically outlined, a company’s general liability policy likely won’t cover losses related to IT infrastructure.