What Commercial Insurance Products Do I Need for a Small Business in LA or Elsewhere in CA?
Greater California and the Los Angeles area specifically can be very expensive places to start and run your own small business. Protecting your budding company with all of the commercial insurance you need might be even more important here than if you opened for business in a less expensive part of the country.
Not every company needs every form of commercial insurance coverage, of course. Some lines are for specific types of businesses or those facing unique threats. But every California-based new entrepreneur would benefit from an introduction to a comprehensive portfolio of products.
With this information, you can meet with your commercial insurance agent, ask the right questions, and see which plans might be critical to the financial security of your new venture.
Here are just a few of the types of commercial insurance products you might consider.
Workers Compensation
This is a very basic and mandatory type of coverage if you have employees. It protects against worker injury or illness while on the job. Workers compensation might cover anything from an employee getting hurt on a machine or while lifting a heavy object to a case of carpal tunnel syndrome due to repetitive motion or a company driver who gets hospitalized in a road accident.
There are countless ways your people can get hurt. That’s why you need workers’ compensation coverage. Of course, the reality is that some jobs are more dangerous than others. If you’re starting a factory running lathes, saws, and other cutting tools, you can expect to pay more for your workers’ compensation insurance than if you hire a half dozen people for on-site sales and clerical jobs.
Liability Insurance
Liability coverage comes in many, many forms. In general, it offers protection against legal actions brought against the company or some of its workers, owners, investors, or other stakeholders.
Various forms of liability insurance might protect against perceived product defects, harmful business practices, or even such occasions as injuries to vendors, customers, or visitors while on your company’s premises. Just as your workers can be hurt in abundant ways, so too can customers, clients, or others with which you work find fault for your actions or others connected with your company or bring charges against your company for other reasons.
Liability insurance will cover your legal costs and pay damages up to your coverage limits.
Depending on your type of business, you might wish to review the liability benefits of vehicular insurance, malpractice insurance, omissions and errors insurance, or directors’ and officers’ liability insurance.
Few companies would need all of these and other forms of liability coverage, but it’s entirely possible that one or more plans would be ideal for your operation.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Based on what you do for a living, you might have an entire fleet of trucks or automobiles for delivery, sales calls, courier services, lease, or rentals. Or maybe just a single car in which you send a part-time employee out to run errands as needed. On the other hand, you might not have or need a single company vehicle for any purpose.
But if you own or lease wheels in which you or at least one other worker will ever conduct official duties on even a casual or occasional basis, you need some form of insurance for that vehicle. You’ll want to cover not only the cost of repairs if it gets damaged but also claims from others for accidents at the fault of the company driver.
In addition to vehicular damage, your insurance will cover medical costs, property damages, and liability if your company gets sued for the behind-the-wheel actions of you or an employee.
Business Interruption Insurance
Consider being put totally out of business by a fire, flood, riot, burglary, or other natural catastrophe or man-made event. Your physical property and supplies or inventory are out of commission. Until you can get back on your feet, you and your employees are sitting on your hands, contracts are going unfulfilled, and customers are gone. What do you do?
Business interruption insurance can replace your lost income until you can restart your operations, whether it takes weeks, months, or longer.
Commercial Property Insurance
This covers the physical structure in which you do business and everything in it. This might replace inventory ruined by a roof leak. It might handle damage and theft caused by vandalism, break-in, or pricey equipment lost in a fire.
Think of commercial property insurance as being the equivalent of the homeowners insurance or renters insurance you own off the job. It’s basically the same thing in a business setting.
Find an Independent Insurance Agent You Trust
You have your challenges cut out for you in establishing and growing your new business in L.A. or elsewhere in the Golden State. According to this study, California is the number one ranked costliest state in the nation in which to run a business.
All that means to you is that you need every advantage. Start by consulting with an independent commercial insurance agent you trust.
Independent agents don’t work for just one company. They represent the product lines of multiple major carriers. These include familiar and highly rated brands you might already use.
What your independent agent will do, after scoping out your company goals and practices, the type of work you’ll do, and the setting in which you’ll do it, is to approach several insurers. Your agent will get competitive offers and find the commercial policy that best reflects your needs and budgetary realities.
Find Affordable Commercial Insurance in California Today
Just contact an independent insurance agent at Cost-U-Less to discuss the commercial coverage needs for your L.A. or California-based company. Call (800) 390-4071 to speak with a friendly and knowledgeable agent. Or go online for a quick commercial insurance quote. You can also find a California location close to you. Meet with an agent who can help you find the coverage that works best for your new company.
