What Type of Insurance Do Small Business Owners need?
When you own your own business, you want to do everything possible to protect it. It’s your baby after all. But with so many insurance options, finding and choosing the right small business insurance can prove to be quite difficult and confusing. So, we decided to do the heavy lifting for you and take a closer look at the different types of insurance options small business owners should consider.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance
Worker’s compensation insurance provides insurance to employees who may get injured on the job. It provides wage replacement to any employee who has to miss work due to an injury at the workplace and provides medical benefits as well. In exchange for these benefits, the employee gives up their right to sue their employer and if you own your own business, this means you. As a business owner it’s important to protect yourself and your company from legal matters. State laws vary when it comes to workers compensation insurance but all states require you to have this type of insurance if you have any W2 employees.
General Liability Insurance
Every business needs to have liability insurance. This policy protects you if you, your employees, your products or service provided cause any alleged damage, bodily injury or property damage to a third party. For example, say that you sell pastries and one day, a customer comes into your shop and accuses your pastries of giving them food poisoning so bad, they had to go to the emergency room. Now they are suing you for damages. This is where your general liability insurance comes in.
Commercial Property Insurance
Commercial property insurance protects your workplace and any business property from anything that might happen to it in case of a fire, theft, vandalism, water damage, etc. This is where you can choose different levels of coverage depending on how much insurance you think you’ll need. Some policies even offer coverage in the case of a terrorist attack.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial auto insurance protects your company’s vehicles. You can protect any vehicles used in your business from damage and collision. If your employee’s use their own vehicles for work-related business such as delivering product, then you should consider non-owned auto liability coverage to protect your business in case your employee doesn’t have adequate coverage.
Professional Liability Insurance
If you own a law firm, notary, real estate company, medical office, hair salon, or any other business that offers a professional service, than you should consider professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance. This policy provides protection and damages for failure to or improperly rendering professional services. Your general liability insurance does not provide this type of protection so it is important that you understand the difference.
Overall, this is the basic coverage options that most small business owners should consider. If you own your own business, big or small, it’s important that you talk to your insurance agent about the type of coverage you need to protect your investment.
