Many business owners are inadequately insured in the case of fire, flood, natural disaster, theft, or personal injury. Often, home-based business owners assume they’re covered under their homeowner’s policy. Other entrepreneurs, working long hours and pulled in too many directions, may never get around to talking to an insurance agent about their business at all. If you’ve been procrastinating on business insurance, consider this: small businesses are much more likely than larger companies to be devastated in the event of an unforeseen loss, and business insurance needn’t be costly. You might save money on a bundled business insurance package, or lower your premiums by simply increasing your deductible.
- General liability insurance: Protects business owners should they, an employee, product, or service cause personal injury or property damage to a third party.
- Property insurance: Protects business owners who own a building or other valuable assets (e.g. equipment, computers, tools, or inventory) in case of fire, flood, vandalism, or theft.
- Business interruption insurance: Protects business owners from financial loss should business activity be suspended for a period of time (e.g. following a theft, flood, or other unforeseen loss).
- Vehicle coverage: Protects business owners for damage and collisions when vehicles owned or leased by the business are used by staff to perform their jobs or to transport products or equipment.
Comprehensive general liability (CGL) insurance
Several factors come into play when determining business insurance premiums, including the type of business insured, location, gross revenue, and types of coverage required. Protect your business from third-party injury and property damage claims with commercial general liability insurance. This type of policy typically includes:
- Liability insurance
- Property insurance
- Crime insurance
- Business interruption insurance
- Vehicle coverage
Insurance for home-based businesses
If you run a business out of your home, you may prefer an add-on or rider to your homeowner or renter insurance rather than a separate comprehensive policy. This can be a cost-efficient option for sole proprietors who don’t own a large amount of inventory or valuable equipment — in other words, a business owner for whom a fire, theft, or flood won’t greatly disrupt or devastate the business
Next steps
- When it comes to protecting your small business, your profit margins aren’t what should determine whether to get insurance. What matters is how great the impact would be to your business should something unexpected go wrong
- Get in touch with a reputable insurance company, or seek out an independent business insurance broker to do a risk assessment for your business — then see exactly what kind of
insurance you need. - If cost is a barrier to getting business insurance, take heart; your premiums may very well qualify as an end-of-year tax write-off.
The stuff we have to say.
This content is for general information purposes only. It is not to be relied upon as financial, tax, or investment advice or guarantees about the future, nor should it be considered a recommendation to buy or sell. You should consult your own professional advisor for specific financial, investment, and/or tax advice tailored to your needs to ensure that individual circumstances are considered properly and action is taken based on the latest available information.
