Commercial Insurance

Commercial insurance isn't a one-size-fits-all solution—it's an umbrella term for various insurance policies designed to protect businesses from financial losses arising from unexpected events during normal operations. Think of it as a safety net for your business, shielding you from a range of risks that could disrupt your operations or damage your finances.

The specific coverages for commercial insurance policies vary depending on the industry, size, and specific needs of the business. However, some common coverages that many businesses consider include:

Liability Insurance:

• General Liability: This comprehensive coverage forms the cornerstone, protecting against claims of bodily injury, property damage and personal injury to others arising from your business operations, products, or premises. Even if a lawsuit against your business is ultimately found to be invalid, General Liability covers your legal defense costs and includes attorney fees, court costs, and other associated expenses. The most common coverages include: Show More....
  • Bodily injury: Covers medical expenses, lost wages, and other costs associated with bodily injuries sustained by others due to your business activities, on your premises, or by your products.
  • Property damage: If your business activities (including employees, vehicles, or products) damage someone else's property, this covers repair or replacement costs.
  • Personal & Advertising Injury: Covers legal defense costs and damages awarded to others due to non-physical injuries stemming from your business activities, including libel and slander, copyright infringement and wrongful eviction.
  • Products and Completed Operations: Protects against claims alleging injuries or property damage caused by defective products your business manufactures, distributes, or sells. It is essential for businesses that manufacture, distribute, or service products.
  • Hired and Non-Owned Auto: Typically covers liability only coverage arising from rented, leased, or employee-owned vehicles used for business purposes.

Other Liability Insurance:

• Auto Liability: this coverage protects your business if you or an employee using a company vehicle cause an accident resulting in bodily injury or property damage to others.
  • Commercial Auto: Covers liability arising from owned vehicles used for business purposes.
  • Hired and Non-Owned Auto: Typically covers liability only coverage arising from rented, leased, or employee-owned vehicles used for business purposes.
  • Business Use Endorsement: While not part of commercial auto liability, this add-on is purchased by your employees for their personal car insurance that extends coverage, typically comprehensive and collision, to situations where they use their personal vehicle for business purposes.
• Contractual Liability: Covers your business if you accidentally breach a contract and cause harm to another party. Typically used by businesses that enter into or provide services through a written contract.
• Cyber Liability: Covers costs associated with data breaches, including legal fees, notification to affected individuals, and credit monitoring. This is especially relevant for businesses that store customer information, like credit cards or other sensitive information online or on-premise.
• Employment Practices Liability: Protects against lawsuits alleging discrimination, wrongful termination, or other employment-related issues.
• Directors and Officers (D&O): Protects directors, officers and board members of a company or organization from personal liability for claims arising from their decisions or actions.
• Innkeepers Legal Liability: Helps cover the cost of replacing guests' personal belongings lost or damaged while under your care.
• Liquor Liability: This is specifically for businesses that serve alcohol, and it protects them from liability if someone gets intoxicated and hurts themselves or someone else.
• Pollution Liability: Provides coverage for losses or damages resulting from unexpected releases of pollutants, typically excluded in general liability and property insurance policies.
• Professional Liability Insurance (E&O): Protects against financial losses if you or an employee makes a mistake in their work or offers incorrect advice.

Property Insurance:

• Builder's Risk Insurance: Covers the physical structure and materials on-site from perils like fire, theft, weather events, and vandalism during the construction phase.
• Commercial Property Insurance: Covers the repair or replacement costs of your main building, rented offices and any owned structures like garages or storage sheds as well as the furniture, equipment, inventory, and other business belongings inside your building.
• Business Interruption: This can help cover lost income and operating expenses if your business is forced to close or operate at a reduced capacity due to a covered event like a fire, natural disaster, or power outage.
• Cargo Insurance: Protects the goods being transported from physical loss or damage during transit.
• Crime Insurance: Protects against financial losses stemming from fraudulent activities like employee theft, embezzlement, forgery, credit card fraud, or burglary and robbery.
• Equipment Breakdown: Covers repair or replacement costs for essential business equipment damaged due to mechanical breakdown, wear and tear, or power surges.
• Food Spoilage: Protects against financial losses due to the spoilage of perishable inventory caused by power outages, mechanical failures, or other unforeseen events.
• Inland Marine Insurance: While some standard insurance covers property at a fixed location, Inland Marine covers property while in transit, such as goods being shipped or transported.
• Ordinance and Law Coverage: This covers additional expenses incurred if you are required to upgrade or rebuild your property to comply with building codes following a covered loss.
• Lessors Risk: protects commercial property owners who lease space to tenants.
• Trailer Interchange Insurance: Covers damage to trailers not owned by the insured but being used in their operations.

Other Common Insurance Products:

• Business Owner's Policy (BOP): Combines essential coverages like general liability and commercial property insurance into a single, cost-effective package.
• Excess Liability Insurance: Provides an additional layer of liability protection by kicking in when primary liability insurance limits are exhausted. This is similar to an Umbrella except that it provides additional coverage specifically for a single underlying insurance policy, typically general liability.
• Umbrella Insurance: Provides additional liability coverage beyond the limits of your primary policies. This is similar to Excess Liability except that this provides broader coverage beyond standard business insurance policies, potentially encompassing liability, property damage, and even certain employment-related claims.
• Event Insurance: A specialized, short-term policy for protecting your business or corporate events, like charitable fundraisers, fairs/festivals, shows (cars, planes, concerts, etc.), company picknicks/BBQs, and much more.
• Surety Bonds: A surety bond is a promise to be liable for the debt, default, or failure of another. It is a three-party contract by which one party (the surety) guarantees the performance or obligations of a second party (the principal) to a third party (the obligee).
• Workers Compensation Insurance: A mandatory insurance program in most states that protects both employees and employer by providing medical care and wage replacement benefits to employees who are injured on the job. The most common additional coverages included are: Show More....
  • Employers Liability: This coverage protects your business if an employee sues you for a work-related injury or illness, alleging that your negligence contributed to their condition. It covers medical expenses, lost wages, and legal defense costs associated with such lawsuits.

The specific coverages and costs of your commercial insurance policy will depend on the type of business you operate, its size, location, and the risks involved. This is not an exhaustive list, and the specific coverages you need will depend on your unique business risks and operations. Consulting with an insurance professional can help you identify the right coverages and amounts of insurance for your specific needs.