Business Insurance

Business insurance is one of the best ways to protect your small business from financial damages that can result from professional mistakes, accidents, property damage, compensation claims, and other incidents. If you are a business owner, having accurate coverage can be crucial when it comes to minimizing the negative impact of claims against your business.

East Insurance Group is here to serve your critical business insurance needs. We know the importance of comprehensive coverage. We’ll fashion a policy or package of policies to insure your business, large or small. Here’s what you need to know about small business insurance and how to make it easier. 

Types of Small Business Insurance

Small Business Liability Insurance Coverage

General Liability insurance covers common business risks like customer property damage, customer injuries, and advertising injuries. Because any business can be sued, general liability insurance protects your small business from the high costs of potential lawsuits. Liability insurance pays damages for which the business is found liable, up to the policy limits, including attorney’s fees and other legal defense expenses. 

Property Insurance

Property insurance compensates a business if the property that the business uses is lost or damaged as the result of common accidents, such as fire or theft. Property business insurance also covers what the insurer refers to as personal property, such as office furnishings, inventory, raw materials, computers, and other items important for your business operation. 

Business insurance that protects property from natural disasters such as hail, fire, severe storms, and other catastrophes is called business hazard insurance. Remember that each specific peril must be included in the policy. 

Business Auto Insurance

A business auto policy covers for vehicles owned by a business. This type of business insurance pays any costs to third parties that result from bodily injuries or property damage for which the business is legally liable. 

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

In all states except Texas employers must have workers’ compensation insurance if there are more than a certain number of employees. This number usually varies from three to five, depending on the state. 

Workers comp insurance covers medical care and replaces a portion of lost wages for employees who are injured in the course of employment, regardless of who was at fault for the injury. 

Do I Need Liability Insurance for My Business?

If you own or rent an office or commercial space, you should probably consider having business insurance. Also, many client contracts include requirements for general liability insurance. 

Even if these requirements don’t apply to your business, small businesses that work directly with clients and customers can benefit from commercial general liability insurance as it can keep your company financially stable if you are sued by a customer or competitor. 

How Much Does Business Insurance Cost?

Many business owners are looking for ways to get cheap business insurance. The least expensive business insurance is usually general liability insurance. The median cost of a general liability policy is around $53 a month. While prices are determined on an individual basis, there are certain factors that impact the price of your business insurance:

• Type of Policy: General liability policies tend to cost the least 
• The Size of Your Business: The physical structure and the size of your property affects both general liability and property insurance costs.
• Your Industry: Your risk profile also depends on the type of business you run. If you are in a higher-risk category like construction, you could pay more.
• Location: Where you set your business affects the value of your property, which can affect the cost of your insurance policy.
• How Many Employees You Have: Workers’ compensation insurance is directly related to the number of people covered.
• How Many Claims You Made: Business owners pay more if they have filed numerous claims. 

The Importance of Business Insurance

There are a lot of different types of insurance available, and many different companies are offering a variety of all these insurance policies. To put it bluntly, it can become very confusing. A good business decision would be to research the different types of insurance policies and the companies offering the policies.

Another good business decision to make will be when you decide on a policy, to spend time reading through the terms and conditions (T&C) associated with the policy in the given “cooling off” period so that if there is something in that particular policy that you aren’t happy with or want changed, or if it doesn’t meet your needs, then you can make these changes at this time. 

Once your “cooling off” period has expired, your small business insurance policy is then a contract-to-supply and you are then obliged under contractual law to abide by it or it becomes null and void and you will no longer be covered. So you would be well-advised to make sure that you are happy with the insurance coverage that is included in your policy during this time frame.

Every small business insurance policy that you take out with any insurance company needs to be one that is geared towards your industry and any potential risk that your particular small business could face. Keeping in mind that all insurance coverage is there for the unknowns that could occur that could affect your small business. If you get lucky and are careful, you may never need to make a claim. Insurance is one of those ephemeral unknowns; that is, you don’t need it until you actually need it.

As weird as that may sound, you or anyone else, can’t predict the unknown and that is virtually what you are insuring your small business against if it happens. Insurance policies are there to guard people and small businesses against unknown and unforeseen calamities.

There are so many different classes of insurance and there are different types of insurance. This is another reason why it is so important to read and understand all the clauses in the terms and conditions of your insurance coverage.

Finally, keep in mind that some risks are excluded under business insurance policies even though they may cause big financial losses. For example, earthquakes and floods are not included in standard property policy because they can cause many large losses within small geographic areas. Coverage for these types of perils are available under specialized insurance policies. Furthermore, some risks such as war, radioactive contamination or seizure by a government authority, cannot be insured at all. 

Need some more guidance on business insurance? Our specialists are happy to help!