Insurance is one of those tricky areas. No one ever really wants to talk about the possibilities of an emergency. Without insurance be it life, auto home, health or business, everything you own could be at stake for loss. All insurance is important including insurance for your business. Business insurance covers your livelihood and the way that you bring in income so this is an incredibly important policy that should be purchased and budgeted for the minute you decide to become the owner of your own business. Without the ability to bring in income you instantly sink. It is important to protect your dream.
Business insurance is a combination of several different policies combined into one. Most people are familiar with general business liability insurance. This is the base policy that can be purchased to protect not only your business assets but also your personal assets in case you are sued and a judgment is placed against you. It is important to note that even if you are a limited liability company or a corporation you are not always completely protected under the statutory business structure. Limited liability is not an absolute and extra protection and coverage is needed to protect you and your business.
Another policy that can be incorporated into your business insurance is extra coverage to include property and casualty insurance. This protection covers the location of the business, the physical property as well as the equipment and interior of the space. Your landlord, if the building is rented, will have insurance to cover his building but this will not include covering your business and expenses. This will only cover his intentions to rebuild the commercial space. Your assets are not covered by his insurance policy.
Umbrella policies are also something that can be attached to your general business liability insurance. Umbrella insurance is purchased to fill in the gaps left by other policies. If a suit goes over the amount of your general liability insurance, an umbrella policy can be used to fill in. This is a necessary policy to carry along with liability insurance especially in high risk industries where the risk of something catastrophic is greater. Obvious difference in industries such as web development over pharmaceuticals exist and should be covered as so.
Workman’s compensation insurance is another area that businesses should not be without extra coverage. A workers compensation policy will cover you if any of your employees is injured on the job. It will cover lost wages and medical expenses on the injured employee which allows you to be able to temporarily employee someone to fill in for the injured employee. The amount of coverage you will need for workman’s compensation will again vary from industry to industry.
Other policies to consider grouping into your business insurance policy are: unemployment insurance, automobile insurance, business interruption insurance, disability insurance and even life insurance. When looking into different policies to purchase it is important to remember that coverage is necessary and budget accordingly. Be realistic in the amount of coverage needed as well as the amount the business can afford to spend yearly on its business insurance policies.