Starting a business for the first time can be a daunting task and sometimes planning for Insurance is the last thing on your mind. \u00a0However, it’s important to realize that even though your business may not be worth millions when you start, there’s always a scenario where you can cause damages to others that exceed your business’s income. \u00a0Beyond liability, you may also have a need to protect property that’s on or off your premise. \u00a0If you have employees, you will most likely need or want Workers Compensation and Employment Practices Liability Insurance. \u00a0Below are the types of Insurance that every new business owner should at least consider.<\/p>\n
General Liability (GL) Insurance protects your business from claims of bodily injury and property damage arising from work that you’ve done or a product you’ve sold. \u00a0Liability insurance only pays out to “the other guy” and never pays to your business. \u00a0One important benefit of GL insurance is that it pays for defense costs even if the lawsuit is groundless, false, or fraudulent. \u00a0General Liability Insurance is usually the first type of insurance a business will get and many consider it the most important. \u00a0Some examples of claims that GL Insurance would pay for are below<\/p>\n
Property Insurance is a pretty broad term and can cover lots of different property. \u00a0However, it can be broken down to 3 main categories for most businesses.<\/p>\n
In my experience, a lot of startups don’t have company owned cars, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider a Commercial Auto policy. \u00a0One easy and fairly inexpensive coverage to carry is known as Hired and Non-Owned Auto coverage. \u00a0This coverage protects your business<\/span> from liability claims in the event that you or one of your employees causes damage while driving for business reasons. \u00a0It’s important to note that this coverage does not protect the driver personally. \u00a0Of course, if you do have company owned vehicles, a commercial auto policy can protect you from both liability and physical damage to the owned vehicles.<\/p>\n Inland Marine Insurance is another broad coverage that can covers property in transit and away from your business locations. \u00a0Regular property coverage usually only protects property that stays on your company property and doesn’t normally include property owned your customers. \u00a0In the following cases, there is a need for Inland Marine Coverage.<\/p>\n If someone gets hurt or disable on the job, the employer could be liable to pay for medical costs arising from the injury. \u00a0For this reason, most states require Workers’ Compensation for any business that has employees. \u00a0In most cases, payment is made to the employee no matter who was at fault for the injury. \u00a0Because the employees are covered for injuries on the job site, they are usually unable to file suit against the employer.<\/p>\n General Liability Insurance protects you if you cause bodily injury or property damage, but what if you’re sued for making a mistake or omission that causes damage that’s not bodily injury or property damage? \u00a0Well, that’s where Professional Liability Insurance comes into the equation. \u00a0Professional Liability Insurance is sometimes referred to as Errors and Omissions (E&O) or in certain industries, Malpractice Insurance. \u00a0This type of insurance is usually pretty specific to the type of industry of the business that is purchasing it. \u00a0The coverage for a software developer’s policy will look very different from a doctor’s office’s coverage. \u00a0Below are a few examples of claims that a Professional Liability policy might cover.<\/p>\n Like General Liability Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance also covers defense costs even if the lawsuit has no merit.<\/p>\n Employment Practices Liability Insurance commonly referred to as EPLI protects your business from claims arising from wrongful employment process including wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. \u00a0Like the other liability coverages mentioned above, EPLI coverage includes defense costs. \u00a0Most companies offer limits starting at $50,000 but they can go up to $1,000,000 or more.<\/p>\n This really isn’t a type of Insurance but it’s worth mentioning as a large portion of new businesses start with this type of policy.\u00a0 A Business Owners Policy is a package of liability and property coverages that can include the aforementioned types of Insurance (except workers compensation). \u00a0These types of policies are usually but not always less expensive than a typical commercial package policy and can give you very broad coverage. \u00a0Not all companies\u00a0are eligible for a Business Owners Policy but its good to ask as it can help simplify the Insurance process.<\/p>\n These coverages may not all be required for your business but it’s a good idea to at least know that they exist as you grow your business. \u00a0Have a conversation with your agent about your business so they can understand exactly what you do and they can make sure you get the right coverage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Starting a business for the first time can be a daunting task and sometimes planning for Insurance is the last thing on your mind. \u00a0However, it’s important to realize that even though your business may not be worth millions when you start, there’s always a scenario where you can cause damages to others that exceed Read more about 7 Insurance Coverages to Consider for Your Business Startup<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,10],"tags":[17,11,12,13,14,15],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carsonagency.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Inland Marine Insurance<\/h3>\n
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Workers Compensation<\/h3>\n
Professional Liability<\/h3>\n
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Employment Practices Liability Insurance<\/h3>\n
The Business Owner Policy<\/h3>\n