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Business ownership comes with its own set of challenges. In between marketing the business, managing the day-to-day operations, business owners also have to protect their business from every possible risk. One of the major risks that business owners face is the threat of a lawsuit. Injury lawsuits are costly to fight, and if you lose, you may not be able to pay the damages, so you might have to declare bankruptcy. This will be the end of your business. Other risks include fire damage, theft, vandalism, workplace injuries, storm damage and property loss in car crashes among others. All these risks can be covered by purchasing suitable Smart Business Insurance recommended policies. Keep reading to learn about the Importance Of “Business Owners” Insurance.
Protect Your Business with Business Owners Insurance
A business owners insurance policy is a type of insurance that is designed specifically to protect entrepreneurs from all the risks that come with running a business. This includes all the risks mentioned above. A typical business owners insurance policy (BOP) offers two types of coverage:
i) Liability Coverage
This covers liabilities arising from customer injury, advertising injury, property damage and product-related claims among other types of general liability issues. If you are sued by a customer or any other person for whatever reason, BOP will pay the legal fees for your legal team and any negotiated settlement, or court award. Basically, you will not pay anything out of pocket when defending your business against lawsuits. It is crucial you purchase a BOP that offers sufficient liability coverage to ensure you are not left exposed in any way.
ii) Property Insurance
A BOP protects all the assets in your business, both movable and immovable. In case of property damage or loss, BOP will cover all the resulting liabilities. For instance, if a fire razes down your business premise and all its contents, you will be covered. The policy will pay for loss of income debris removal, cleanup and the covered loss. Basically, anything that is considered the personal property of the business is covered. You cannot do business without business property insurance, so a BOP is a basic requirement for doing business.
Business owners should not be satisfied with just having a basic BOP policy. This is because there are many things that are not covered by BOP. One of them is workplace injuries. In case one of your employees gets injured while carrying out their duties, they can decide to sue you for the injuries. In such a case, BOP will not provide coverage. Ideally, you should also purchase workers compensation insurance and ensure all your employees are covered.
The beauty of workers compensation is that employees who are covered are not allowed to file a lawsuit against their employer. This means you don’t have to worry about lawsuits filed by employees. Workers’ compensation covers all medical bills and offers temporary disability benefits for an extended period.
Since BOP comes with several exclusion clauses, it may also be a good idea to purchase several other policies to ensure your business is sufficiently protected. One of them is employment practices liability. This will protect you and your business from claims of sexual harassment, negligent evaluation, and discrimination among other things. These claims are not covered by BOP.
Cyber liability insurance may also be a great addition if you run your business online and face the threat of hacking, data breaches and so on.
The Cost of BOP
On average, BOP costs around $84. However, this will vary depending on the nature of the business, value of business assets and other factors. Your choice of insurer and extent of liability coverage offered are also key factors affecting the cost of BOP. It is recommended you consult a reputable insurance broker to help you with the search for the perfect BOP for your business. Only independent insurance brokers with a wonderful reputation in the industry should be considered because you do not want to be scammed when purchasing a policy.
What are the Benefits of BOP?
i) Save Money
It is always cheaper to get a bundled policy that provides wider coverage than purchasing several individual policies to cover the risks your business faces. Since BOP is a bundled policy offering general liability coverage and commercial property insurance, you will save money on insurance premiums.
ii) Convenience
Instead of shopping around for different insurance providers to offer commercial property insurance and another to offer general liability insurance, you can purchase BOP from a single insurer and get sufficient coverage for both your commercial property and general liability. This means BOP offers a great deal of convenience.
iii) Protect Your Business from Every Possible Liability
BOP offers commercial property insurance as well as general liability insurance. This means that your business will not suffer any financial losses in case there is fire damage, injury lawsuit, accident involving your commercial vehicle or any other incident.
When searching for the best BOP, it is important you look for the best insurance broker in the city to help you with the search, it is imperative you make a list of the top insurance brokers and compare their experience and reputation. The ideal broker should be independent. This is crucial because you don’t want to work with a broker who has somebody else’s interest at heart. The ideal broker should also be a specialist in small business insurance.
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