7 Top Insurance Coverages for Your Business
You’ve worked hard to build your business. Getting the right business insurance coverages are essential to protect you and your business.
Here are the 7 top coverages for your business:
1. Commercial Liability Insurance (CGL)
Commercial Liability Insurance is one of the most basic and important types of insurance coverage for your business. Why?
It protects you as a business owner if you are found legally liable for bodily injuries or property damage to a third party caused by unexpected accidents or negligence. It also helps protect your full-time employees.
If your business is sued, CGL insurance usually covers damages awarded against you and helps pay your legal defence costs, regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome.
Here are two examples of how commercial liability insurance can protect you:
A customer or supplier slips and falls and breaks an ankle at your business. Your commercial liability insurance would help you with the costs you that may result from the accident.
As a contractor, a client sues you for damage to their property while you are working there. Your CGL insurance would help with the legal costs and any damages resulting from a lawsuit.
Commercial general liability insurance also protects you against allegations of defamation, libel, slander, or false advertising.
It doesn’t matter how big your business is or isn’t, talk to your insurance expert about CGL so that you will be protected against the different types of liability you could face as owner.
Without commercial liability insurance, you would be responsible for paying any liability costs out of your own pocket.
2. Commercial Property Insurance
Commercial property insurance covers the physical assets of your business inside and out, including your store or your warehouse, inventory, electronics and equipment. It covers exterior fixtures such as outdoor signs or fencing.
If you suffer damage or a loss, commercial property insurance will help take care of your repair and recovery costs so that you can get your business back up and running. It’s designed to help with the repair or replacement costs for tools, equipment, inventory, electronics, and other assets that are needed to run your business.
Again, business size doesn’t matter.
Whether you are a large manufacturer in Toronto, or you rent space in Bolton, lease in Waterloo or own a commercial space in Petawawa, you need commercial property insurance.
3. Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance supports you when your business cannot operate as a result of a covered loss. Bills like repairs, inventory, rent and payroll keep rolling in even if your business is forced to close.
Some examples of losses that can force your business to shut down:
- Your business is damaged by fire or vandalism
- A disruption in your supply change
- Damage to a neighboring business prevents your business from operating
Business interruption insurance can help with expenses such as payroll, rent, utilities, property taxes and relocation of your business.
It can mean the difference between temporarily closing and permanently closing your business. Get the specifics from your insurance expert to protect your business.
4. Product Liability Insurance
When you sell a product, your business is at risk for product liability lawsuits.
Product liability insurance covers third-party property damages or bodily injuries caused by a product you make, sell, import, or distribute.
For example, a customer gets a severe rash after buying one of your products and you are sued for bodily injury. This type of insurance helps protect your business against legal and court costs or damages awarded against your company.
Make sure to speak to your insurance expert about product liability insurance to meet your business’s specific needs.
5. Errors and Omissions
If you are a financial planner, accountant, consultant or real estate agent who sells a service or professional advice, you could be sued on the basis that your advice failed to fulfill its professional obligations.
Errors and omissions insurance protects your business from the costs arising from legal action involving charges of professional negligence or failure to perform your professional duties. Whether a claim is justified or not, defending a legal action can be financially draining for your business.
6. Commercial Auto Insurance
You need to protect the vehicles that help power your business and deliver your products. Your personal car insurance doesn’t cover your business vehicles.
Commercial auto insurance will cover damage to your business vehicle if you or one of your employees gets injured in an accident and your liability to others.
It also provides replacement car coverage if you need to rent a temporary car for your business after a covered accident.
However, if you typically carry business-related equipment in your vehicle, you will need to add an endorsement to your policy to cover it against theft or damage.
If you own 5 or more vehicles, you will need fleet coverage.
7. Cyber Insurance
Does your business use e-commerce? Does your business store your clients’ data electronically? If your business uses computers for any purpose, you could be at risk for a cyberattack or data breach, whether it’s large or small.
No matter the size of your business, bad actors can attack and compromise your computers. Cyber insurance helps protect your business against the financial impact of a cyberattack or data breach.
Remember that a cyberattack or breach has far-ranging consequences. The cost of restoring information can be time consuming and expensive and it could affect your business’s operations. You may also be liable for damages to third parties whose information has been stolen.
Cyber insurance can help protect your business against consequences of an attack that can be devastating to your bottom line and reputation.
We know that you are already busy running your business. Make sure that you have the coverages you need to protect your business as it grows.