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Commercial Insurance Topics
- Businesses capsize without business interruption insurance.
- How to keep your business premiums low.
- Why buy Business Property and Income Insurance?
- Why buy Business Liability Insurance?
- Why buy Commercial Auto Insurance?
- Why buy Crime & Burglary Insurance?
- Why buy Umbrella Insurance?
- Why buy Farm and Ranch Insurance?
- Insurance for Non-Profit Social Service Programs.
Businesses capsize without business interruption insurance.
Business interruption insurance is as important as fire insurance. Most people would never consider opening a business without buying insurance to cover damage due to fire and windstorms. But too many small business owners fail to think about how they would manage if they had to relocate or temporarily shut down due to damages caused by a fire or other catastrophe.
Business interruption insurance compensates you for lost income if your company has to vacate the premises due to disaster-related damage that is covered under your property insurance policy, such as a fire. Business interruption insurance covers the profits you would have earned and covers continuing operating expenses.
If you are considering business interruption insurance, make sure the policy limits are sufficient to cover your company for more than a few days. After a major disaster, it can take more time than anticipated to get the business back on track.
Business interruption coverage is not sold as a policy by itself. It may be added onto a property insurance policy or included in a package policy.
How to keep your business premiums low.
There are a number of measures you can take to minimize your risks and keep your insurance premiums low. Following good practice for comprehensive risk assessments is one measure.
General insurance premiums - liability insurance, for example - will be lower if you have effective health and safety policies and procedures to help ensure a safe working environment. Such policies will also help reduce the possibility of an insurance claim.
You can minimize other business risks by ensuring that equipment and machinery is safe and in good repair and that you have all the necessary quality certification and licences. The use of best materials and equipment, ideally environmentally friendly and non-hazardous, will help to reduce risk and bring down your premium.
Training staff to follow correct health and safety procedures will also help to prevent accidents and lower your insurance premium. Encourage key employees to have regular health checks and holidays. Your previous insurance claims record will in part determine the size of the premium you pay. In other words, if you have submitted a claim or claims in the past this will be reflected in the size of the premium the insurance company will quote.
It is essential to keep detailed records of accidents, risk assessments and equipment purchases, as insurance companies require documentary evidence if you do submit a claim. The clearer your records, the more likely it is that your claim will be accepted without difficulty.
Business Property and Income Insurance
Business property insurance covers the physical parts or your business. These are things like your building, equipment, furnishings, fixtures, inventory, computers, records and other valuable items. This coverage helps repair or replace the building and its contents, and can also help provide income if your business can't operate for a while after a covered loss.
What if...
- Your business is totally destroyed by a fire.
- Water from a broken pipe floods your store.
- A power surge in your office damages all of your computers.
A large property loss could bring your business to a halt for months or longer. While your property is being repaired or rebuilt, business income insurance will help cover the costs to maintain your operation and continue to support your customers and employees. Without this coverage a business may not be able to recover lost income or lost customers.
Even if your building is not damaged, your equipment can be. You can add Rice Insurance's equipment breakdown insurance, which covers repair or replacement of damaged equipment, due to mechanical and electrical breakdown.
Business Liability Insurance
Business liability insurance protects your business if your company is sued for being responsible for bodily injury or property damage to someone else.
What if...
- A customer slips and falls on your property.
- A person claims that a product you make has injured them.
Your agent can put together a package of property and liability coverages designed to give you the best value while still protecting you from many of the inherent risks in operating your business.
Commercial Auto
Just like the insurance on your own car, commercial car insurance is there to protect you and your assets.
What if...
- While on company business one of your employees fails to stop at a light and hits another car.
- An employee is making a delivery and is hit and injured by an uninsured driver.
- Your fleet of trucks is vandalized and all the windows are broken.
Your agent can help you select from a variety of auto liability, medical, uninsured motorist, collision and comprehensive coverages and deductibles to create a policy that meets your company's needs.
Crime & Burglary
Although burglary is a crime, not all crimes are burglaries. And, each situation requires different insurance coverage. Crime & burglary insurance covers a variety of losses such as the loss or damage to your property in the event of a theft resulting from a violent, forced entry into your business or an armed hold-up. Fidelity coverage will protect against non-violent losses like employee theft.
What if...
- In checking your inventory you realize that part of a whole shipment is missing.
- One of your locations is held up and you've lost cash and valuable inventory.
These are all situations that are only protected by crime and/or burglary insurance. Your agent can recommend coverage that protects you from the specific risks you face.
Umbrella
Even small businesses are occasionally exposed to huge lawsuits or catastrophes. The news is filled with huge court settlements that are far beyond the limits of most business liability insurance. Umbrella insurance takes over when a lawsuit exceeds the limit of your other commercial coverage. This second layer of protection usually starts at limits of $1 million. Higher limits are available.
What if...
- One of your drivers backed into a pedestrian in a crosswalk leaving the person paralyzed from the waist down.
- A product you sell caused an accident that seriously injured several people.
In both cases you could be found liable and the damages could reach into the millions. Once the limit of your liability insurance is reached you could be personally liable for the difference.
Your Rice Insurance Agent has experience helping businesses like yours protect themselves with this relatively inexpensive insurance that could someday save the business you worked so hard to build.
Farm and Ranch Insurance
Farm and Ranch insurance covers both the personal and business aspects of your operation. This includes protecting things like your home, outbuildings, farm equipment, livestock and other valuable items along with liability protection for you and your farming and ranching business.
What if.
- A tornado destroys your home and outbuildings
- Your combine is totally destroyed by fire during harvest
- Your cattle escape causing bodily injury or property damage to others
Your local agent can put together a package of property and liability coverages designed to protect you and your farming operation from the risks associated with your individual operation.
Non-profit Social Service Program
The right insurance coverages help protect your nonprofit, allowing you to focus on what you do best - acting as a lifeline to thousands of economically, physically, emotionally and mentally challenged individuals.
Our goal is to offer you the comprehensive coverages you need to maintain a viable organization, even in the event of an unforeseen loss.
What if.
- Your non-profit agency suffered a significant water damage claim due to the backup of a sewer, drain, or sump pump? While excluded in many insurance policies, we provide this valuable coverage under our Peak Property Program.
- Your non-profit agency was found negligent in the hiring and/or supervision of a volunteer acting on your behalf who allegedly committed an act of sexual molestation? Our Sexual Misconduct Liability coverage addresses this type of exposure and automatically extends to cover volunteers acting on behalf of your agency.
- Your non-profit agency was found vicariously liable due to an adverse medical reaction of a client who was given medication by a contracted medical doctor? If your agency provides medical care to clients, this may be the largest liability exposure you face. Our Professional Liability coverage provides vicarious liability for the acts of MD's, psychiatrists, and independent contractors.
Sometimes the standard property and liability coverages are not enough. Your nonprofit social service organization may also require the specialty coverages mentioned above.