Business Liability Insurance Coverage

The Right Business Insurance Coverage:

Business Liability Insurance Coverage
As the individual responsible for selecting your firm's insurance, you need to address how much coverage is right and is it affordable. Like many companies, business insurance issues can be overwhelming. But not with Lighthouse Insurance. Liability insurance selection is as easy as asking the right questions and providing your Lighthouse insurance agent with enough information.

You may wish to concentrate your insurance coverage research on basic types of liability insurance tailored for small businesses' needs. This coverage research may include:

1. Property Insurance
2. General Business Liability insurance
3. Professional Liability Insurance
4. Workers' Compensation Insurance
5. Disability Insurance

Property Insurance
Property insurance protects business property and inventory against physical loss or damage by theft, accident or other means -- even if that property is removed from your place of business when it is lost or damaged.

Property insurance coverage is usually very straightforward and may be packaged with General Liability insurance in a BOP (Business Owner's Policy) at very reasonable rates.

General Business Liability Insurance
Two common types of liability insurance -- General Liability and Professional Liability each protect your business from different types of claims that may be brought against you.

General Liability insurance is usually limited to claims of bodily injury or other physical injury or damage to property. Often, General Liability insurance is offered in a package with Property coverage to protect against accidents on your premises or at other locations where you normally conduct business.

You may want just General Liability insurance for a retail, or a service business such as a general contractor, computer and office machine repair company, heating and air conditioning servicer, or a wholesale business.

If you just apply for General Liability insurance, you will want to make sure your General Liability insurance policy includes products liability and completed operations liability coverage.

Professional Liability Insurance
If you provide professional services, such as accounting, computer consulting, or medical care, Professional Liability insurance is probably your most critical coverage. Professional Liability (sometimes called Errors and Omissions coverage) protects your business against claims of alleged negligent acts, errors, or omissions in the performance of your professional services.

This is important because Professional Liability claims can be much larger compared to General Liability claims. Without adequate Professional Liability coverage, even frivolous claims can tie up your business's assets or force it into bankruptcy.

Errors And Omissions Insurance Quotations
To ensure that the premiums you pay for Errors and Omissions insurance are reasonable, talk to a business consultant or an insurance agent about the liabilities you face and the costs to protect against them. This is not an area in which you want to have inadequate coverage. Select a Professional Liability policy from an agent who understands your business and who offers a policy to protect you, even if the premiums are not the most competitive.

Workers' Compensation Insurance
Workers' Compensation insurance is a type of business insurance that employers carry to provide medical and disability coverage for employees who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses. New York State requires businesses to carry Workers' Compensation Insurance, or face possible Personal insurance risk exposure such as paying benefits out-of-pocket to an injured employee.

Workers' Compensation insurance premiums are based on your company's services and payroll. In many states, owners, officers and partners of a company can exclude themselves from Workers' Compensation insurance, thereby saving on insurance premiums.

Disability Insurance
The Disability Benefits Law (DBL) supplements benefits provided by the Worker's Compensation Law. DBL provides benefits for disabilities due to non-occupational injury or illness.

Statutory benefits are temporary cash payments for wage earners to replace wages lost because of injury and illness. Benefits are payable to a certain dollar limit for a maximum of 26 weeks within a consecutive 52 week period.

Premium determination is based on the total number of male, female and proprietors being covered and are normally billed on a quarterly basis.

Employer's Liability insurance
Employer's Liability Insurance is typically offered as part of a Worker's Compensation policy, and protects companies against workers' claims that their illness or accident was caused by unsafe working conditions.

Ask your agent to make sure you have Employers' Liability insurance.

Insurance Coverage: How Much is Enough?
How do you know which Worker's Compensation Insurance coverages you need and how much you should be paying for them? Assume you'll need Workers' Compensation Insurance coverage for all employees, although requirements vary by state.

While worker's compensation insurance premiums are usually based on payroll, it still pays to investigate several insurance providers to see what premiums they quote you and what limits they include.

Worker's compensation insurance premiums may also vary depending on the Employer's Liability coverage included in the package.

Business Owner's Policies (BOP)
Many businesses find that by combining their Property and General Liability coverage into a Business Owner Policy (BOP), they can receive adequate coverage at lower rates than they would get from separate (monoline) policies.

Umbrella Coverage
You may consider Umbrella coverage if the BOP comes with limits that are lower than your potential exposure. For an additional premium, umbrella policies cover the difference between the limits of a policy and the claim awarded in excess of your General Liability limit. Umbrella insurance policies do not apply to Professional Liability claims.

Property Insurance: A Business Insurance Plan.
A business should not begin operations without first obtaining appropriate property insurance. Below, you can learn why this affordable coverage is critical to every business.

Property Insurance Coverage

Property Insurance For Business
When customers think of your business, they think of your physical location or storefront, the business equipment used in your daily operations, or the inventory of products and supplies they buy from your operation.

Coverage is contingent upon the amount and type of Property insurance you carry.

What happens if a disaster destroys the physical items used to conduct your business? Or in the event of a theft? Property insurance protects business property and inventory (assets) against physical loss or damage by theft, accident or other means — even if that property is removed from your place of business when it is lost or damaged.

Property insurance coverage can cover your costs to repair or replace what you've lost and, in some cases, compensate you for items that are physically irreplaceable. Since every business is vulnerable to property damage or loss, this type of insurance coverage is one of the first things you should buy when you start a business.

Property Insurance Coverage Overview
Property insurance coverage can be structured several ways, and premiums are based on how comprehensive the coverage is.

Contents Insurance Coverage
If you don't own your building, and have a lease agreement, you'll need Contents Coverage.

In the most basic policies, property insurance for contents coverage includes furniture, fixtures, inventory, office equipment and other supplies stored within your facility or at an off-premise location. Items may be insured for replacement cost, which means you'll receive a settlement based on how much it will cost to replace the items at today's market price or today's dollars. Conversely, items may be insured for actual cash value (ACV), which pays only for the depreciated value of the property. Policies written with replacement cost contents coverage have higher premiums, however, they may help your business recover from a loss faster since you can replace all of the lost or damaged property with new items. For this reason, most insurance professionals recommend buying Property coverage on a replacement value basis.

All Risk - Perils Insurance Coverage
In All-Risk policies, you are protected against all perils except those specifically excluded in the policy.

Since causes of loss cannot be predicted, most insurance professionals agree it's worth the extra premium dollars to have All-Risk coverages for your business property. These all risk events may include natural disasters or human causes, including most accidents. In named Perils policies, your property is only protected against specific causes of loss as named in the policy.

If you are concerned that a certain risk is excluded by an All-Risk policy available to you, check with your agent or broker about adding that risk to your coverage for an additional premium. The insurance professional may be able to endorse the policy for the additional coverage.

Insurance Policy Premium Costs
Insurance premiums are set based on statistical averages of loss for specific classes of business. Depending on the perils or risks your type of business faces, the frequency with which it faces them, and the cost of indemnifying the losses, the insurance industry has been able to develop guidelines as to how much companies must pay for certain types of protection.

Property Insurance Premiums, Costs, Price Quotations
For Property insurance, the major factors affecting premiums, costs, prices or quotes, include the type of building structure (wood frame, masonry), the presence or absence of safety devices such as central station monitoring alarms for the fire and police departments, and sprinkler systems. Additionally, the location of your property and its surrounding exposures are also important factors.

Commercial insurance carriers award businesses for burglar alarms, smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and other measures that protect or help to minimize loss.

If your business operates in a manner that you think may lower your risk for property claims, speak to your agent to see if you can qualify for additional discounts on your annual premium.

Insurance for Theft, Vandalism, Fire, Flood, Disaster - Business Insurance
Unfortunately, without Business Insurance, no business is immune to the risks posed by theft, vandalism, fire, flood, earthquake, and natural disasters. But when your property is properly insured, you can feel confident you will resume operations quickly, even if catastrophe strikes your business.

Liability Insurance: Key To A Smart Insurance Purchase.
You know you need liability insurance, but sometimes it's hard to see why you need so many different types.

By understanding liability, the various classes of liabilities, and what makes them different from each other, you'll be confident you're covered for all potential liabilities your business faces.

Liability Insurance - Commercial Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance: Understanding Your Commercial Business Liabilities

All businesses need Liability Insurance. Below, will provide a description of the different types of Liability Insurance a business may purchase.

Commercial Liability Insurance
Commercial Liability insurance is designed to help businesses keep their assets, even when they are negligent or liable for damage, injury or loss to another's property, reputation, or health. In most cases, damages, legal defense fees and settlement charges are paid by the insurer when a claim is filed against an insured business. Business liability insurance, commercial liability insurance, all come in a variety of forms.

General Liability - Professional Liability Insurance

Commercial Liability Insurance Policy Coverage
Commercial liability insurance coverage can be complicated, because of the wide range of claims that may be filed against your business. With any liability insurance policy, you must weigh the cost of potential claims against the cost of the insurance that protects your business up to a certain limit or dollar amount.

How do you know if the liability insurance coverage you have purchased will be adequate to protect you against potential claims? Like any business, there is a cost benefit analysis that must be considered. Research the types and size of insurance claims which have been filed against businesses similar to yours. The insurance industry maintains information on just about every business segment as well as the risks each segment may experience.

Commercial General Liability Insurance
Commercial General Liability insurance is the most basic form of business insurance.

Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policies cover four types of claims:

1. Bodily Injury
2. Property Damage
3. Personal Injury, including Slander or Libel
4. Advertising Injury

Commercial General Liability policies cover the four types of claims listed above: bodily injury that results in actual physical injury, property damage or loss, personal injury, including slander or libel, and advertising injury. It also covers the cost to defend or settle claims.

Commercial General Liability usually extends to include liability charges that result from contractual liability, meaning you'll be covered in a situation where you have agreed to hold another company harmless.

Professional Liability Insurance
General Liability insurance does not protect your business against claims of professional negligence, or for failure to perform your professional duties. For this type of coverage, the business will need a separate Professional Liability policy.

Professional Liability - Errors and Omissions Insurance Coverage, (E&O)
Professional Liability Insurance, E & O Insurance coverage, protects your business against loss from a claim of alleged negligent acts, errors or omissions in the performance of your professional services.

Be sure your Professional Liability coverage includes legal defense cost no matter how frivolous the allegations, because defense costs can be enough to ruin your business.

The Errors and Omissions policy normally pay for any resulting judgments against you, including court costs, up to the coverage limits on your policy, if so provided.

Insurance Quotations, Costs of E&O Coverage
Insurance premium quotes are based upon several factors including business type classification and industry risk factors developed by insurance carriers.

Liability Insurance Costs, Prices, Quotes and Packages
Understanding which type of liability insurance covers each of the liabilities your business faces, as well as costs, prices, quotes and packages, can help you purchase the correct type and amount of insurance.

Workers' Compensation Insurance Protection: Employer and Employee.
Many employers think of Workers' Compensation insurance protection, or coverage, as something they are buying to benefit employees.

Recent changes to Workers' Compensation insurance policies have made then more beneficial.

Workers' Compensation Insurance Prices, Quotes

Workers Compensation Insurance
Worker's Compensation Insurance protects the employer and the employee because it is a business insurance that provides medical and disability coverage for employees who sustain job-related injuries.

At the very minimum, Workers' Compensation insurance policies will cover an employee's medical expenses and reimburse him or her for some percentage of lost wages. Most companies are required by state law to carry Workers' Compensation insurance. New York State has developed a state fund, or pool, for Workers' Compensation insurance for businesses that can't obtain a voluntary carrier.

Because it is mandatory for most companies, some small business owners think of Workers' Compensation insurance as a burden, an added expense, and a commodity product providing only a basic level of benefits to employees.

Worker Compensation Premiums Costs, Prices, Quotations
Workers' Compensation insurance premiums are based on your business classification and your payroll figures. Review your insurance policy for accuracy to make sure your business has been classified correctly and you are paying competitive insurance premiums.

General Liability and Property Package Policies Can Be Your Best Bet.
For general liability and property insurance, you may find the best solution for small business insurance is a standard general liability and property business owner's policy called a Business Owners Policy, also known as a BOP.

To determine if this type of policy Is right for your business, read below.

General Liability and Property Insurance Package

When is a General Liability and the Package Insurance Policy your best bet?

Commercial Insurance - Business Owners Policy, BOP
Commercial insurance may be available in an affordable, General Liability and property package policy known as a Business Owner's Policy, or BOP, if yours is a small business to a medium-sized business operating in a low-risk business class. A BOP combines General Liability insurance and Property insurance in a single commercial insurance policy. For many growing companies, BOPs offer great small business insurance coverage at very competitive premiums. Some restrictions include type of business, gross annual sales, and number of employees.

Business Insurance Package Policy
A General Liability and property package policy includes General Liability insurance to cover your commercial liability and property insurance for physical assets, such as contents, that are leased or owned. The package insurance policy may also cover loss of business income and extra expense resulting from an insured peril.

A business insurance package policy generally insures lost or damaged property for replacement value, which means you'll receive a settlement amount sufficient to replace the property without deducting for depreciation. The Property insurance portion of a General Liability and property package policy also covers the personal property of others to the extent that the business owner is legally liable for the damage.

Commercial General Liability Insurance - CGL
The General Liability insurance coverage of a BOP is comparable to a typical Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy, providing protection against claims of bodily injury or property damage for which your business may be liable.

The General Liability portion also provides liability insurance for the cost of defending lawsuits stemming from:

1. Accidents that cause bodily injury, property damage.
2. Claims such as libel and slander.
3. False advertising.

*General Liability insurance does not protect your business from professional errors or negligence that is normally covered by a Professional Liability insurance policy.

Business Property Insurance Package Policy
Business owners can usually choose among General Liability and property package policies with slightly different features to meet their business insurance needs. Your business may need coverage for:

1. Outdoor Sign Insurance
2. Money and Securities Insurance
3. Employee Dishonesty Insurance
4. Water Back up Insurance

Other common types of Property insurance endorsements, such as outdoor sign insurance, money and securities insurance, employee dishonesty insurance and water back-up insurance, can often be added to the BOP package for an additional charge.

Commercial Insurance for Your Business - BOP
Not every business is eligible for BOP coverage. If a company is involved in high-risk or highly-specialized operations, if it occupies large premises or conducts most of its services off-premises, or if requires higher limits of liabilities than BOP packages offer, the company will have to find other forms of commercial insurance. Additionally, General Liability and property package policies carry a single limit for bodily injury and property damage claims. For the right type of business, the single limit in the BOP is an adequate feature. But if your business has higher than average product liability risk, the fixed limits of a BOP may not be sufficient.

General Liability Insurance Premium Costs
While General Liability and property package policies are competitively priced as a category, there will be variances in the premiums charged for different small business insurance policies. Also keep in mind that General Liability and property package policies only satisfy a business's need for Property and General Liability insurance and does not include coverage for: Workers' Compensation Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance, and Commercial Automobile Insurance.

You will need to speak with your insurance representative to obtain appropriate Workers' Compensation, Professional Liability, Commercial Automobile and other forms of business insurance your company may require.

Commercial Automobile Insurance
A commercial automobile policy is the best protection for your business in the event of an accident or damage to your vehicle, if you have a single vehicle or a fleet of vehicles titled in the company name. Speak to an insurance representative to determine your coverage options. Quote factors include vehicle types, radius of operation, driving records of operators, and occasionally, loss run information on your company.

Keeping Business Insurance Policies Updated: Fast, Accurate Renewals
Keeping your general liability insurance, worker's compensation insurance, and commercial auto policies updated will help you make sure your business is truly protected.