As a small business owner, it’s important to have the right types of insurance in place to protect your your amazing company from surprise expenses that could slow down or even derail your success.
General liability is often the first type of insurance a new business carries. It may be required in a contract you signed with your landlord, a vendor or other partner. Your clients may even require it. But you may not know that carrying a bare minimum of this single coverage is not enough to protect your company's success.
(Want to skip ahead to getting an instant online review of your coverage needs? Start here!)
General Liability insurance protects businesses from financial losses resulting from third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage and personal and advertising injury. Untangling the terminology, a “third party” is someone who isn’t an employee of your business, and “claims” refers to any demands for compensation from your business, which can include medical expenses and pricey lawsuits.
If you're only carrying general liability to meet a requirement, your company will be on the hook if other common expenses come along.
PROPERTY covers the costs of repairing or replacing your own damaged, lost or stolen property (such as valuable inventory destroyed in a fire or by a sprinkler system).
COMMERCIAL AUTO covers injuries or damages caused by your company vehicles (and from your employee's cars driven on the job).
WORKER'S COMPENSATION covers illnesses and injuries that happen to your employees at work. (It also helps shield you from most employee lawsuits).
It's usually not a good idea to purchase the bare minimum of coverage at the cheapest price. Unfortunately, new business owners often find out too late that they don’t have the right levels of coverage for their specific risks.
The good news: you can save money by combining general liability, property and other coverages in a money-saving Business Owner's Policy (BOP).
We recommend working with an insurance agency that looks out for the best interests of small business owners (you won't be surprised to learn we recommend Mylo!) An insurance consultant can identify the right products and coverage levels to safeguard your growing company. Then you can find the best combination of coverage and price by comparing quotes from more than one carrier.
After that, you'll really be good to go!