Business Insurance
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.
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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.
Major Types of Business Insurance
General Liability Insurance
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A standard insurance policy issued to business organizations 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.
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Commercial Auto Insurance
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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 therefrom. 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.
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Commercial Property Insurance
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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 possession. Coverage can be provided on an all risk or specific perils basis.
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Commercial Umbrella Insurance
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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).
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Professional Liability Insurance
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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
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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.
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Workers Compensation
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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 tort of negligence.
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Group Health Insurance
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Group health insurance coverage is a policy that is purchased by an employer and is offered to eligible employees of the company (and often to the employees' family members) as a benefit of working for that company. A group health insurance plan is a major part of many employee benefits packages that employers provide for their employees.
Group Life Insurance
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Group life insurance (also known as wholesale life insurance or institutional life insurance) is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company, members of a union or association, or members of a pension or superannuation fund. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size, turnover, and financial strength of the group.
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Group Disability Insurance
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Group Disability Insurance is a type of group insurance that provides regular income replacement payments to an insured member of the group in the event of an eligible disability resulting from illness or injury. Coverage is generally offered in two types: short-term disability (STD) or long-term disability (LTD).
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Supplemental Insurance
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Supplemental insurance is extra or additional insurance that you can purchase to help you pay for services and out-of-pocket expenses that your regular insurance does not cover.
What is a Business Owner's Package Insurance Policy?
A business owner policy packages all required coverage a business owner would need. Often, BOPs will include business interruption insurance, property insurance, vehicle coverage, liability insurance, and crime insurance.
Based on your company’s specific needs, you can alter what is included in a BOP.
Typically, a business owner will save money by choosing a BOP because the bundle of services often costs less than the total cost of all the individual coverage’s.
What's Covered with a Typical BOP Policy?
BOPs typically include:
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Property insurance for buildings and contents owned by the company
-- there are two different forms, standard and special, which provides more comprehensive coverage. -
Business interruption insurance, which covers the loss of income resulting from a fire or other catastrophe that disrupts the operation of the business. It can also include the extra expense of operating out of a temporary location.
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Liability protection, which covers your company's legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others. This harm is a result of things that you and your employees do or fail to do in your business operations that may cause bodily injury or property damage due to defective products, faulty installations and errors in services provided.
In most cases, BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation or health and disability insurance. You'll need separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles and your employees.