Five Insurance Coverages to Protect Your Business

Insurance, when it comes to running a business, is a must. One lawsuit or having to pay a single loss can easily put a business down for the count. There are also a multitude of things that can go wrong with a business internally that can also do some serious damage. That’s the best part of commercial or business insurance –there are so many types for many types of damages that can occur. Depending on your business and the risk you face in operations every day, several of the following business insurance coverages will do you more than good. 

Types of Insurance For Businesses

We’ll start with the basics of running a business and the risks it entails, along with the necessary insurance coverages. Often the first kind of insurance discussed with anything is general liability coverage. This is often required in several cases since paying for damages and injuries that you caused is more or less a legal obligation. Nearly every business has a location where a customer or someone can be injured during work hours. In a business setting, there are three different main types of liability insurance that can go a long way:

• General liability – As previously mentioned, this is the most general and essential insurance for your business. Unlike general liability for cars, it is not required for businesses, but it should be because one libel claim can easily break your bank. Accidents with customers can occur in the office, warehouse, or worksite, so you want to be insured no matter where the job takes you. 
• Product liability – If you specialize in a certain product, you will also want to be insured for any possible damage it unintentionally causes. This covers not only damages but also any legal fees that result from selling a lemon product –it happens to the best of businesses, so you want to be prepared for such an event. 
• Professional liability – Your business may not revolve around a product, but a service that you and your employees provide to customers be it on company grounds or their homes. You want these professional services to be insured should anything go wrong, that’s where professional liability coverage comes in. Any services provided to a customer after a botched job including legal are all covered with this. 

Business Insurance For Commercial Locations 

That is the liability portion of the insurance. When running a business, there are still more to consider depending on the type of industry you are in. You may work out of an owned or rented property or even from home –some of the greatest businesses started out in garages after all. Here are two property-based business insurance coverages to consider:

• Commercial property – If you’re wondering how offices and headquarters insure the buildings they operate on, it’s all commercial property insurance. It functions similarly to homeowners’ insurance wherein fire and criminal damages to the building is covered. Businesses are more likely to be targeted for theft than homes and have more electronics running increasing the risk of fire, so this coverage can go a truly long way. 
• Home-based business – Of course, if you run a smaller and up-and-coming business in your own home, there is coverage for you with home-based business insurance. Your homeowners’ policy won’t cover anything used for commercial purposes, so home-based business coverage picks up where it leaves off.

Business Insurance For Commercial Cars

While this isn’t one of the five main types of business insurance, it is important to point out that regular car insurance policies, while useful for owners of their vehicles, won’t cover a vehicle used for business purposes or while on the work clock –similar to homeowners insurance. So, if you use a car or truck for your business, you will have to get commercial car insurance for it. In some states, commercial car insurance is required by law.