jeffs, Author at EPG Insurance

Business Insurance: What It Does (and Doesn’t) Cover

March 4, 2021 jeffs

Buying insurance can be confusing and expensive. It’s easy to get frustrated when you know you won’t see the benefits unless you have an accident, loss, or claim.

But whether you have insurance can make or break your business.

Without the right business insurance, a disaster or theft can lead to devastating losses. A data breach lawsuit could leave you struggling to pay your employees, let alone attorney fees.

Many small business owners haven’t evaluated their insurance needs. So, they don’t have appropriate coverage. Forty percent of small business owners don’t have any insurance at all.

Business insurance can help pay the costs of lawsuits, property damage, loss of income, and other covered losses. Businesses often buy more than one coverage or combine several into one insurance policy.

What do these policies cover—and is there anything that’s not protected by business insurance? Keep reading as we answer these questions and more.

Do You Need Business Insurance?

If you’re the owner of a sole proprietorship, limited liability company, a corporation, or another business entity, you need business insurance.

These policies protect you from being personally liable for potential debts and judgments. However, most standard business insurance coverage won’t protect your business from a flood, earthquake, data theft, or a wrongful termination and harrassment. Your insurance also can’t come to the rescue if you’re personally accused of being negligent.

Luckily, there are options if you would like to explore adding more coverage.

To determine whether you need business insurance, ask yourself a few questions.

Does your business have any property that you can not easily afford to replace? This property includes computers, inventory, and machinery. If you work from home on a laptop, you may not need to insure it. However, if you hold tens of thousands of dollars in inventory, adequate insurance is vital.

Is there a moderate chance that someone could sue your business for a large amount of money? Let’s say someone has an accident on your property, you suffer a large data breach, or you sell a defective item that injures someone.

If you answered yes to either of these questions, you should minimize your risk with business insurance.

State Requirements

Depending on where you live, you may be required to buy an insurance policy whether you determine you need one or not. State laws vary by state, so it’s essential to review your state’s laws.

Federal laws require every business with employees to have unemployment, disability, and workers’ compensation insurance.

To ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, always consult with your business insurance agent. They will help you find an insurance policy that meets state requirements and stays within your needs and budget.

Types of Business Insurance Policies

One of the most popular business insurance policies is the business owners policy (BOP).

A BOP typically wraps several coverages in one policy. It can protect your business from several claims, including property damage and bodily injury. It will also usually include general liability insurance coverage.

Combining coverages in this way is more convenient and helps business owners save money using bulk discounts.

If you’re a business owner, looking into a BOP should be your first step. Then you have the option to add additional coverage.

Business Property Insurance

Business property insurance offers extra protection for your business’s buildings and personal property. Property may include desks, tools, inventory, and equipment.

Business Income Insurance

If you close temporarily due to a covered loss such as property damage from fire or theft, business income insurance can replace lost income. This coverage also helps you continue to pay business expenses while you arrange property replacement or repair.

Professional Liability Insurance

You can be held liable if your business makes errors in rendering its professional services. Professional liability insurance can cover costs related to these claims.

Let’s say your assistant makes a clerical error that causes a big client to lose a lot of money. With this insurance, you can help cover the costs if the client files a lawsuit against you for damages.

You don’t necessarily have to do anything wrong to get sued. In some cases, professional liability insurance coverage can also apply to defend your business in court if sued.

Home-Based Business Insurance

More businesses are operating out of homes than ever before. Home-based business insurance can cover the cost of liability risks if you run your business from home.

If you have office equipment or supplies at home, or frequently have employees or customers stop by, this is an add-on to consider.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

If employees cannot work due to a work-related injury or illness, they can utilize workers’ compensation insurance. This allows them to focus on getting better and back to work by providing reimbursement for their medical bills and lost wages.

If an employee or their family sues your business after an accident, workers’ compensation can come into play here, as well.

Cyber Liability Protection

Cyber liability insurance protects your business from the risk of cyber threats. The costs associated with a data breach are high. Not only do you have to find the source of the attack and mitigate the damage, but you must also communicate the breach to those affected.

There are also public relations costs to consider as you manage your companies reputation. If you collect personal information from employees and customers, a policy that includes cyber liability insurance is a must.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Does your company own vehicles that you or other employees frequently drive for business? It would be best to have commercial auto insurance to cover potential bodily injury claims and property damage stemming from accidents.

It’s vital to understand that personal auto insurance policies do not cover third-party claims if you or an employee is in an accident while driving a company vehicle.

Commercial Umbrella Insurance

If you’re concerned about risk, consider a commercial umbrella insurance policy to offer additional coverage if other policies reach their limits.

For example, let’s say a customer falls and injures himself as they walk into your store. Afterward, he files a claim against your company for $1,150,000 to cover his medical bills. If your general liability policy only covers up to $1,000,000, you would be responsible for the difference. A commercial umbrella policy would cover the remaining $150,000.

Commercial Flood Insurance

In the case of a flood, commercial flood insurance can cover the cost of property that suffers water damage. It can also cover damage to your property’s physical location.

For example, floodwater seeps into your company’s basement, where you store computers. A commercial flood policy would cover the cost to repair or replace the computers and flooring.

Employment Practices Liability

Employment practices liability insurance will protect your business if an employee sues you. Even if you’re innocent, defending any lawsuit is a pricey endeavor.

If an employee makes a claim against your company for harassment, discrimination, or wrongful termination, this policy can help cover the costs.

Risk Management

Risk management services are designed to create a safer work environment. These services include an assessment of risk exposure by professionals and can often be provided by the insurance company.

You’ll receive improvement programs and plans designed to train you and your staff to follow safety protocols to handle accidents. Utilizing risk management services can lead to a more productive, safer, and profitable business.

Multinational Insurance

If your business operates outside of the US, a multinational insurance policy can provide coverages for all of your business’s insurance needs.

Multinational insurance has many moving parts and requires coordinating specific binding instructions, including policy issuance, claims payment, and engineering services across multiple countries and cultures. Find a policy that can provide seamless coverage, no matter where your businesses are located.

What Does Business Insurance Not Cover?

If you have a standard business insurance policy, it may not cover losses from floods, earthquake, and other major weather events. These policies also won’t cover damage done to customers’ property while they are at your business.

Intentional and fraudulent acts are also not covered by standard commercial insurance policies. Standard policies also don’t include auto accident coverage. As discussed above, you need a commercial auto policy for that.

As you can see, standard policies can often be restrictive in what they cover. To add some of the coverages we discussed above, speak to your insurance agent about your available options.

How to Choose the Right Business Insurance

When you’re ready to choose business insurance, you know how important a decision you’re making.

Without adequate coverage, you may leave yourself paying for unexpected incidents out of pocket. This gets expensive fast, and most small business owners can’t afford it.

You also need to spend time finding the right insurance company. An insurance company is more than the policies they offer. They must also provide excellent customer support, so you know you’re in the right hands when filing a claim. Without the right customer support, your business could suffer.

Here’s how to assess and choose the right insurance coverage for your business.

Assess Your Business and Understand the Risks

You now know that policies are unique to each business. This is so you can tailor your insurance to the specific risks that your business faces.

Some questions to consider:

Do you have employees?
Does your business have a physical location that employees or the public access?
Do you use your own vehicle or a company vehicle when working?
Can your business survive the financial strain of a hefty insurance claim?

To determine which coverages you need, use these questions to assess your business needs.

Research Business Liability Insurance Policies

To protect your business from a variety of risks, you’ll probably choose more than one policy. We’ve listed several policy options above.

With an idea of what each policy offers, it’s time to go deeper in your research to determine which benefits you need. When you meet with your insurance agent, come prepared to guide the conversation toward the policies you need.

Get a Quote

Next, you’ll need to obtain a quote for business insurance. Reach out to the companies you’re interested in and ask for a quote that includes:

Coverage details
Prices
Customer testimonials

When you have quotes in front of you, you can begin comparing insurance rates. Pay attention to coverage details and policy specifics, as these vary by insurer.

Don’t let cost be the deciding factor. Cheaper isn’t always better—especially if it means getting a policy that doesn’t offer the protection that your business needs.

Take an adequate amount of time to read customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials. You can learn a lot from a company’s existing and former customers.

You also must be sure that customer service is up-to-par. If the worst-case-scenario comes true, you want to know you have an insurance company that is dedicated to helping you.

Purchase Your Policy

Once you’re happy with a policy and price, you can work with an insurance agent to buy a policy.

They will walk you through the process and be your contact if anything should ever go wrong. It’s also essential to periodically review your coverages as your business grows.

For example, if you’re suddenly getting more sales, you may need to up your general liability insurance coverage to mitigate potential risk. Alternatively, you may find that you’re carrying too much coverage and decide to reduce it over time.

Request an Insurance Quote Today

You’ve worked hard to build your business, so protect your investment with the right business insurance coverage. Several kinds of policies are available, including coverage for property damage, employee-related risks, and legal liability.

Don’t waste time doing all of the legwork on your own. EPG Insurance is committed to providing a better insurance experience. We will work on your behalf to shop for business insurance that meets your business’s needs and budget.

Let us know what you’d like an insurance quote for, and we’ll get to work today.

All the Valid Reasons Why You’ll Need Small Business Insurance

February 25, 2021 jeffs

Did you know that 40% of small businesses are uninsured and 75% of small businesses are underinsured? Put plainly, this is dangerous.

If your business doesn’t have the legal and financial protection it needs, you may find yourself paying for problems that you didn’t anticipate. This can leave your business in ruins.

Let’s change that by talking about small business insurance and why you should invest in it as soon as possible. Keep reading to learn about all of the reasons why you need small business insurance. The answers may surprise you.

1. It’s Illegal Not to Have Insurance

The Small Business Administration (SBA) tells business owners that they are required by law to have business insurance. Depending on the state that the business is in, the requirements could range from workers’ compensation to unemployment and disability insurance.

However, the SBA also states that they highly recommend that you get the right kind of insurance for your kind of business, even if this exceeds the requirements of your state. It protects you, your clients, and your employees.

If you decide to go against the law and not get the coverage that your state requires, you may find yourself with fines, civil penalties, and even criminal penalties. With this, you may receive cease and desist orders. You could even be removed from all public contracts that you have.

All of these individually and together are going to cost more than the price of an insurance policy.

Save yourself the trouble now and invest in the right kind of business insurance for your business.

2. You Might Get Sued

People will sue for anything. You might think that you’re safe, but there’s no guarantee that you are. One broken contract or one slip-and-fall accident could put your business in a courtroom.

Even if you happen to win the case, the legal fees may close your business for good.

This is where business liability insurance comes into play. Liability insurance can protect you in the case that someone does sue your business. The list of suable offenses is long, so you should protect yourself up-front so that you don’t suffer later.

3. Your Business Will Stay Afloat

When times get really bad, business insurance is there to save the day. Property and causality insurance covers the loss of property, including the building and the equipment in it. When there’s a natural disaster like a storm or lightning strike, insurance covers your business.

If you had to pay for the damages on your own, you’d likely go out of business because of the loss of money.

When a disaster hits, coverage like business income or business interruption can reimburse you the income that you would’ve normally made during the time that it is shut down. This is assuming that the insurance covers the disaster that happened. Business Income Insurance would also compensate for normal operational expenses like rent and utilities that you may have during that time period.

Some insurance plans also cover employee pay during this period of time. This is usually capped for a certain period of time, such as 12 months.

4. You’ll Look Credible

Customers, employees, and partners look for businesses with credibility. Insurance is one of the best ways to prove this.

Having insurance shows that you care about the longevity of the business and everyone involved with it. You’re protecting yourself, the business, its employees, and more by investing in insurance.

It also shows that everyone is going to be safe if something bad happens. This is especially important for companies that hold a lot of liability, like janitorial companies or auto repair shops. Having coordinated insurance will put everyone (including you) at ease.

Just think about it. Would you want to hire a contractor or mechanic that doesn’t have insurance?

There are risks with owning different kinds of companies like those risks that come with owning a restaurant or the risks that come with owning a bowling alley. Each business is unique.

Proving Credibility

Many people assume that businesses have insurance, even though this is a poor assumption to make. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to make your insurance known. In other words, you need to prove your credibility.

But, how can you do this?

The best way to prove credibility is to be up-front with the coverage that you have. Some businesses have phrases like “licensed, bonded, insured” in their tagline.

Saying that they’re insured is a fool-proof way of showing that they have their customers’ backs. Thus, more customers are likely to pick and choose these companies for the things that they need and want.

5. You’ll Protect Your Employees

Arguably, the most valuable asset for a company is its employees. You can fix broken equipment and find another rental space. You can replace products and improve services, but you can’t replace hardworking employees.

Your employees work every single day for you. They leave their homes to work for what you stand for.

That’s why you need to protect them to the best of your ability. The easiest way to do that is through having insurance.

As we mentioned earlier, workers comp is a type of required insurance that your business needs. However, you should also consider offering disability coverage. Even if you have to charge your employees for a portion of the cost, it’s more helpful to do that than not having it at all.

By protecting your employees, you’re also protecting yourself and your business. Having insurance is the number one way to protect yourself against any problems that may come up with an employee. If you get sued, insurance will protect you.

6. You Won’t Have to Pay for Acts of God

An “Act of God” is an event that is not caused by humans. This includes the following:

Hail
Tornados
Hurricanes
Lightening
Fires

The list goes on and on. If you or another human didn’t cause the problem, it is may be considered an Act of God.

Luckily, insurance can cover you in the event that an Act of God takes place. If your small business wants to protect itself against Acts of God, you need to look into property and casualty insurance. Specifically, you’ll want to look at all-risk and peril-specific insurance.

All-risk policies cover all Acts of God unless otherwise mentioned in the policy, while peril-specific policies list particular Acts of Gods that they cover.

If you live in an area that is notorious for one or two specific kinds of natural disasters, you may be safe to choose peril-specific insurance. For example, if you live in Oklahoma, you might be interested in protection from tornado damage.

The type of insurance that you choose to protect yourself depends on the natural disasters that are known in your area as well as how much coverage you’re looking to have. If you want to be extremely safe, all-risk policies may be the best choice for you.

7. Your Human Assets Will Be Covered

As a small business owner, you need to think about more than the physical properties and elements of the business. You also need to think about the people that are contributing to your business. This includes you.

Small businesses and large businesses alike need to take care of their human assets. What happens if you have a heart attack, stroke, or another debilitating event? Even worse, what happens to your business when you die?

It’s not easy to think about these things, but you need to take care of them if you’re going to protect your business even after you’re gone.

Life and disability insurance can provide payments to cover the loss of income during a time when you physically cannot work. If you have a permanent disability or you pass, your insurance can provide funds for the purchase of your business.

There are similar policies for employees. Having this “key man” or “key person” insurance will cover you and your employees’ families if an employee were to have a permanent disability or pass.

Take these extra steps to protect yourself, your family, your employees, your employees’ families, and your business. It’s much easier to get ahead of the issue now than to wish that you had done something later.

8. You’re More Likely to Bring in and Keep Employees

People who are applying to work for your small business are going to be looking at what you’re offering. They look at benefits, flexibility, and – yes – insurance.

The better the deal that you give them, the more likely that they’re going to stay.

Having insurance is a major bonus for employees who are looking for benefits packages that include life, health, disability, and long-term care. If you don’t offer these bonuses, it’s likely that you’re not going to retain employees like you want to.

The fact of the matter is that there are other companies out there offering these kinds of benefits, and your employees will not hesitate to take advantage of those companies and everything that they’re offering.

Perks mean a lot to employees. And, as we said earlier, your employees are one of the most important aspects of your business. Treat them well, and they’ll remain loyal.

Plus, your business will grow a reputation of treating its employees well, attracting more and more applicants with each hiring cycle. This means that you’ll have the advantage of picking the best of the best for your team.

9. Your Contracts Likely Require Insurance

In the business world, there are contracts for everything. From the building your in to the equipment you’re using, you’ve likely got contract after contract to keep up with.

It’s also likely that all of these contracts require different types of insurance as broad as liability insurance and as specific as auto-detailing insurance. Here are some examples of the types of contracts that may require specific types of insurance:

Your renting or leasing contracts may require you to carry insurance, as the landlord or owner may not cover it
Any contracts linked to financing loans
Your contracts with your clients
Contracts with freelancers and partners that you work with

We suggest skimming through your contracts and making sure that you’re not in breach of any of them. If something goes wrong with the contracts, you could get in serious trouble for not having the necessary insurance.

10. You Can’t Predict What May Happen

Insurance is there to protect you and your business against all of the things that you can’t predict. There’s no way to predict exactly when a natural disaster is going to strike or an injury may take place on yoru premises. You never know when a customer is going to sue.

There are too many unpredictable things in life. Insurance is there to protect you when those things come out of nowhere.

With proper small business insurance, you can stay calm in the face of any situation. No matter what natural disaster happens. No matter what happens with employees, clients, partners, and others, you can have peace of mind.

You shouldn’t gamble with what may happen over time. In fact, it’s more likely that you’ll save money by investing in insurance.

Disasters, whether natural or man-made, are expensive. You don’t want to incur those costs independently.

By paying your designated amount to your insurance company, you’re paying for them to help with and pay for your problems later. You aren’t losing money. You’re saving for the worst.

Invest in Small Business Insurance

No matter what kind of small business you have, you need the right small business insurance. This differs for every kind of business because each business incurs different kinds of risks.

Restaurant insurance policies are going to look different from retail insurance policies. Restaurants need to worry about food poisoning, fires, natural disasters, customers suing, and more. Therefore, those establishments need insurance for those kinds of needs.

Cleaning businesses need cleaning business insurance. This may cover slip-and-fall accidents, disability, equipment malfunctions, and more. The insurance is suited to that specific business.

The bottom line is that you need to find the insurance that’s right for your business. The sooner you’re insured, the better protected you are in the case that something goes wrong.

5 Pro Tips for Finding the Right Restaurant Business Insurance

February 23, 2021 jeffs

Restaurants can be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars due to lawsuits. Major lawsuits can even cost restaurants millions of dollars.

These types of lawsuits can run restaurants out of business if they do not have insurance.

If you are planning on opening up your own restaurant, know which types of restaurant business insurance you need to buy. It can save your restaurant from having to shell out serious cash in a future lawsuit.

We have outlined the most valuable 5 pro tips on how you can choose the best restaurant insurance for your business.

1. Know the Required Types of Insurance Your Restaurant Needs

All restaurants and new businesses need certain types of insurance. The following are the recommended insurance policies you should buy no matter what state you operate in.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance is meant to be used in the event that one of your employees is injured while on the job.

An injured employee may not be able to work following an injury. Instead of suing you as the restaurant owner, workers’ compensation insurance will cover the employee’s lost wages, medical bills, and other related costs.

Property Insurance

Property insurance is necessary as it covers every physical piece of property your business owns. This can include the actual building and any equipment like stoves, refrigerators, and dishwashers.

Property insurance will cover the resulting damages in case of a fire, major storm, natural disasters or other covered perils.

Property insurance can also help cover any loss of income if these types of events shut down your business in order for repairs to be completed.

Liability Insurance

Liability insurance is another required form of restaurant business insurance you need to have. Liability insurance will cover most costs related to lawsuits brought about by customers and others against your restaurant.

Always speak to your insurance representative as certain things are not included under a general liability insurance policy. If you feel as if you need extra protection against certain events, such as assault and battery or liquor liability, look into different policies that could cover that.

2. You Will Probably Need Specialty Insurance

In addition to the required types of insurance policies listed above, you will also most likely need extra insurance coverage for specific features of your restaurant.

An example is commercial auto insurance. If you run a pizza shop or send out your employees on food deliveries in cars, you need commercial auto insurance. If you have a valet service at your restaurant that you manage as an owner, you also need commercial auto insurance.

Commercial auto insurance is to protect your employees and yourself from financial and medical damages in the event of an accident while doing a business activity.

If you hire a third party to manage your valet service, make sure they have commercial auto insurance. Otherwise, you could potentially be held liable if one of your patrons’ cars gets dented or scratched while at your restaurant.

Another type of specialty insurance is food contamination insurance. On occasion, restaurants can receive shipments of spoiled produce or contaminated food. Poor refrigeration in delivery trucks can be the culprit.

If a restaurant does not have food contamination insurance, they may have to eat the costs of this unusable food. If they do have food contamination insurance, they can receive the money-back they paid for that order of food.

3. Know How Certain Factors and Risks Will Affect Your Insurance Rates

There are a variety of factors that will influence the rates and overall costs of your restaurant business insurance.

Serving liquor is one such risk. It is an unknown risk every time you serve alcohol to a customer on whether or not they will cause any sort of physical harm to other customers or somebody else’s property.

You as a restaurant owner can be held liable for overserving a customer who later dies, goes on to injure someone else, or causes property damage.

You can purchase liquor liability insurance to mitigate these risks. Liquor liability is specialty insurance that will cover any medical costs, legal fees, or legal settlements resulting from damage or injury from overserving alcohol.

Other risks and factors that can affect your insurance rates include your hours of operation, what type of property you are on, additional activities you provide, and how long your restaurant has been open.

Restaurants that have been in operation for longer have typically had lower business insurance rates. This is because there is more data available to their insurance provider of the types of risks that are more likely to occur.

If your restaurant is typically busiest at night or is open past midnight, your insurance rates will most likely be higher, as that is when alcohol is more likely to be consumed. Crime is also more likely to happen at restaurants at night.

If your restaurant is located near or on top of a body of water, your insurance rates will reflect that greater risk.

So many factors influence your insurance rates that it is necessary to discuss in detail with a licensed agent what your risks are. In that way, you may find out that you may actually qualify for lower insurance rates.

4. Shop Around to Get The Best Rate and Deal

It is critical as a restaurant owner to save costs where you can and get the best price possible for your insurance policies. Shop around for the best deal on your insurance policies.

Because you need so many different types of required and specialty policies, you may feel compelled to get separate policies from separate insurance companies. Rather than shopping for multiple quotes yourself, you can work with an independent agent who will find the best pricing and coverage on your behalf.

You should also talk to your agent to see which insurance companies offer bundling. If you can bundle your required and specialty insurance policies, you pay less in overall fees.

You are only paying fees and related costs for one insurance provider rather than paying costs to four or five separate insurance providers.

You should also look for customer testimonials prior to getting an insurance policy. Customer testimonials will help you avoid insurance agencies that do not provide quality service or good rates to their customers.

5. Read the Fine Print to Know Exactly What Is and Is Not Covered

The worst thing that can happen to a restaurant is to experience an event or business interruption and find out that the resulting losses will not be covered by your insurance policy.

Before you sign any insurance policy document, be sure to go over the policy with a fine-tooth comb. Make sure you ask about certain perils and situations that are not covered under your insurance policy so you know what they are.

Often times there are endorsements you can add to the policy to include certain risks and perils if not already provided on the base policy.

Knowing what is and isn’t included can save you from painful hidden costs down the line.

What Happens if You Do Not Get the Right Restaurant Business Insurance

Getting the right business insurance is more than just an item on a checklist you have to complete. If you do not get the right restaurant business insurance policies, you can face severe legal and financial responsibility.

Restaurants have been driven out of business because of lawsuits brought against them by customers and former employees. They were unable to pay the legal fees and were forced to close their doors.

Business interruptions are also another major event that can shut businesses down for good if they don’t have insurance to cover the disruption.

COVID-19 has caused major disruptions to the restaurant industry. Many restaurants were shocked to discover that their insurance policy would not cover pandemic-related causes.

In the future, you should always focus on buying the best type of restaurant insurance possible. Consulting with insurance agents prior to opening a restaurant can help you avoid financial ruin.

Contact Us to Help Choose the Best Restaurant Business Insurance

Choosing the best restaurant business insurance is vital to the success of your restaurant. It will save you from a costly lawsuit in the event of an unfortunate event. It can also help keep your doors open in times of financial trouble.

But not all business insurance is made equal and you want to make sure you are getting the right insurance for your business needs.

Here at EPG Insurance, we can help you find the right insurance policies for your restaurant or business. Our dedicated team of agents can evaluate the policies you need and help lower your overall insurance costs.

Reach out to get an insurance quote in seconds.

Protecting Your Workers: The Occupational Risk in Auto Repair Shops

February 2, 2021 jeffs

Did you know that there were 5,333 worker fatalities from a related injury in the U.S. in 2019? Every owner of an auto workshop must guarantee the safety and health of everyone who works there. Therefore, it is highly recommended for workshops to be adequately covered with the right type of auto repair shop insurance.

Your employees may face risks, such as chemical exposure. Even your clients could become injured by slipping on wet floors or tripping over electric cords. Your business could be damaged due to fire or catastrophic weather. That is why an auto shop should carry the right auto shop insurance policies to cover all business aspects.

Fortunately, your customers, employees, and small business property should be covered when you carry the right auto shop insurance types.

Keeping Safe in Your Auto Repair Shop

Automotive repair work carries a certain degree of danger for mechanics since it is done all-around dangerous machinery, tools, and chemicals. As a workshop owner, you will not one hundred percent guarantee that your workers will never get hurt. You can lower the risk of an injury by ensuring they receive regular basic safety training on the job.

Protective Gear and Equipment

Apparel worn on the job should be long-sleeved shirts and long pants that will protect the arms and legs from cuts, scratches, and burns.

Wear well-fitting clothing as loose clothing can get caught in equipment or running motor.

Tie up long hair and no wearing jewelry as these can cause potential injuries if caught in running engines and equipment.

Supply protective clothing and equipment to all employees, such as goggles, gloves, kneepads, and the most essential, safety glasses.

Workshop Chemicals

When you first enter the auto repair shop, you may not anticipate seeing containers filled with hazardous substances, but they are there. Different harmful materials are needed for particular repairs in engine parts.

Mechanics get exposed to these workshop chemicals day in and day out. If they get exposed to these chemicals, that can prove to be a serious health issue.

How do they get exposed, you ask yourself? Well, by breathing in dangerous fumes and spillage which could come into contact with their skin.

What are the symptoms of exposure to chemicals? Skin rashes, chemical burns, poisoning symptoms, and organs’ failure like kidneys, eyes, and lungs.

Electrical Safety

Auto repair shop owners and workers must always enforce and obey suitable safety protocols and regulations. Protection policies effectively safeguard staff, their co-workers, clients, and cars from unintended accidents and injuries. Here is a general electrical safety tips list:

Don’t smoke near or in auto repair shops. Flammable and fuel fluids in cars can be readily set alight
A clean and organized work area is a must. Any potential materials lying around could be a fire hazard
In case of a fire, auto technicians need to have easy access to fire extinguishers. There are extinguishers filled with various types of materials that help combat different kinds of fires. i.e., diesel fire, petrol fire, and electrical
Batteries should be disconnected when technicians are working on electrical systems or around electrical wiring. Even when the car is off, there is still a potential fire hazard when the battery is connected
Remove ignition keys before working on the electrical wiring of a car. If the key is in the ignition in the ‘on’ position, it can draw an electrical charge from the battery

In addition to the above safety rules, government standards for electrical safety in auto body repair shops lie with the business. The owner or manager’s responsibility is to periodically inspect the auto shop and train their staff on electrical safety.

What Auto Repair Shop Insurance Do I Need

Auto repair shop insurance is essential for the livelihood of your car repair shop. It can be challenging to choose which type of insurance policies to subscribe to.

That being said, every auto repair shop needs the following:

General Liability

Accidents and injuries happen at the drop of a pin, and the harm it does to your business is devastating, especially when you do not have insurance.

What is general liability insurance? It is a form of insurance to cover customers’ claims or any public member against your company. These claims could be anything from injuries, property damage, an illness caused by something at your company, or sold by your company.

Let’s look at a typical example. Say a member of the public slipped on a wet floor on your business property and injured themselves. They have a potential claim for compensation as a result of their injuries. That will potentially lead to costly legal proceedings and end in a potential payout in settlement of the claim if you are found responsible.

That is where general liability insurance comes into play. The insurer can cover these costs and payout, leaving you with peace of mind.

Garagekeeper’s Legal Liability Insurance

If you offer services such as towing or servicing of cars, you need Garagekeepers insurance to protect you from legal liability when you are storing clients’ vehicles.

Garagekeepers insurance protects you in case of theft, vandalism, or collision.

Garagekeepers’ insurance coverage is designed for garagekeepers who run service stations or offer towing services, and it is an optional coverage. It protects your client’s vehicle when it is parked or stored on your premises.

Workmen’s Compensation Insurance

Worker’s compensation, as it is now known, and was changed from Workmen’s Compensation to make it gender-neutral, offers compensation to staff who suffer injuries or illnesses due to their jobs. That insurance is explicitly aimed to pay for medical treatment, missed wages from lost hours at work, and more.

While each state’s rules on worker’s compensation differ, the overview is that worker’s compensation provides wage and medical benefits.

No matter what state you work in, employers are responsible for the payment of workers’ compensation. The contribution for this insurance is calculated as a percentage of your salary.

Workers’ compensation protects the rights of both employers and employees.

Commercial Property Insurance

What is commercial property insurance? It is insurance that helps cover your business and its physical assets. In essence, commercial property insurance pays out to repair and replace any business assets that get destroyed or damaged caused by natural disasters, fire, and theft.

What does it protect? Here are some of the assets:

The building itself
Equipment and machinery
Work tools
Business furniture
Inventory
Personal property lost or damaged whilst on the business premises.

What Does Commercial Building Insurance Cover?

It can also help protect a business’s income. An example is if you have a fire in your workshop and it damages machinery, you will not be able to open for business until it has been fixed. This type of insurance will cover the loss of income of a business during the closure.

Every business has different needs. Insurance companies will consider this and customize a policy to suit your business.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Unfortunately, data breaches and other cybercrime are a part of today’s world. The figures come from one of the industry’s most renowned cybersecurity reports, the Verizon Business 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Cyber liability policies can cover a company’s cost for recovery from a data breach, virus, or other cyber attacks. It will also cover any legal claims arising from that breach. Data infringements have resulted in substantial fines and legal costs in the past few years.

Besides the exorbitant legal fees and expenses, cyber policies normally cover:

Notification to clients regarding the breach
To have the personal identities of affected clients restored
Recovering the said data
Repairing computer systems affected by the virus etc

Cover-Up and Take Care

Auto repair shops vary in their services, from car mechanical and electrical repair to auto body repair services. Auto technicians or workers in the automotive industry are among those who face many different kinds of dangers in the workplace.

If you own and run an auto repair shop, you are exposed to more than a reasonable share of risks. These include liability risks from possible vehicle damage or theft and employee risks when interacting with heavy machinery and tools.

No businesses are the same, so you must seek a qualified business Insurance professional who can take you through the right choices of auto repair shop insurance is good for your business.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’!

Let’s get going! Call or head on over to our webpage and click our quotes page to get started.

We will make it easy in every way!

Why a Cleaning Service Business Needs Janitorial Liability Insurance

January 21, 2021 jeffs

Are you a janitorial business owner? Are you thinking about getting janitorial insurance or trying to find better insurance? If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Anyone who owns a janitorial business or another cleaning service of some kind should have janitorial business insurance. It’s worth the price if you choose the right company.

To learn more about how janitorial insurance can save you time, aggravation, and money, keep reading. We’ll give you the insider’s scoop on why you should get ahead of the game and purchase this insurance for your company.

1. Janitorial Insurance Gives You Peace of Mind

Insurance was created to give other people peace of mind. Insurance is meant to calm you down and make you feel better in dicey situations.

Janitorial business insurance does exactly that. Just like other kinds of insurance, janitorial liability insurance looks out for the owner and seeks to put them at ease. It does this by covering a wide range of situations that could arise as the owner of that business.

Instead of worrying about every little financial situation, you can invest in insurance that can save you years down the road. It’s also better for the sustainability of your business.

Without insurance, your business may not be able to survive a catastrophe. When you invest in insurance, you’re investing in longevity for your business. This includes investing in your job and all of your employees’ jobs.

The best thing is that getting a quote for insurance is easy. You can figure out what your insurance will cost quickly.

Talk about a quick and painless process!

2. Janitorial Insurance Is Marketable

Companies like to work with other companies that have insurance. This is why having insurance is marketable.

For janitorial businesses, having proper liability policies and bonding in place shows that you’re serious about making sure that everyone is covered if a bad situation arises.

Companies with insurance are also more likely to be seen as responsible, timely, and professional. Obviously, these are all traits that you want your company to be associated with.

When you invest in janitorial marketing, you’re actually setting your business up for further success. With that, you’ll have more business and more income.

It’s unlikely that most companies will want to work with someone who cuts corners. By avoiding insurance, you’re showing that you’d rather risk everyone’s assets than spend some of yours upfront to protect everyone later.

In today’s world, having insurance is a courtesy that no one is willing to give up.

3. Janitorial Insurance Covers Damages

Accidents happen. You shouldn’t have to pay full-price every time one of your employees makes a minor mistake.

Good janitorial insurance covers any damages that your employees may accidentally cause. Whether it’s a scratch on the wall or a carpet ruined by the wrong kind of cleaner, janitorial insurance has your team covered.

This will also give your clients peace of mind. They know that their stuff won’t be irreplaceable if one of your employees happens to make a mistake.

4. Janitorial Insurance Replaces Equipment

If your equipment becomes damaged, janitorial insurance can cover the replacement of it. So, if an employee breaks a vacuum handle while cleaning, or burns out a floor buffer, you may be able to file an insurance claim for replacement equipment as long as you have this insurance.

Hopefully, you aren’t planning on an employee breaking an expensive piece of equipment. However, it’s never a bad thing to protect yourself and your company.

Plus, it means that you don’t have to incur the cost if things happen to go wrong next week. Save yourself heartache in the future by taking the time to cover yourself now.

5. Janitorial Workers’ Compensation

Don’t ever think that you’re safe from workers’ compensation claims. Workers across the nation claimed 18.4 million workplace injuries and illnesses in 2015 alone. It’s highly unlikely that you won’t face a workers’ compensation claim in the near future.

That being said, you need to protect yourself.

The right janitorial business insurance can help protect you and your employees if a work-related injury were to occur in the future.

Just think about all of the things that your employees come into contact with. They’re likely working with large machines that are powerful enough to cause bodily harm. This is not to mention all of the chemicals that they’re around on a daily basis.

6. Janitorial Bonding Protects Your Clients from Theft

It’s likely that your clients are worried about possible theft. Anyone letting strangers into their home or business would be.

However, with fidelity bonding for your janitorial business, you can tell them that theft is covered.

For an even stronger case, you can conduct background checks on your janitorial staff. Combined with these background checks, your risk management plan will be an unstoppable marketing technique.

7. Janitorial Insurance Should Include Commercial Auto Insurance

The best janitorial business insurance includes commercial automotive coverage. If your work truck is in an accident and you’ve intelligently invested in janitorial commercial auto insurance, you can be covered.

It’s not unlikely for a vehicle that is being used multiple times a day to get into an accident at some point. You should also consider that that vehicle is also carrying multiple people and heavy equipment, which increases your risks and exposure.

It just makes sense to cover your business with a comprehensive insurance policy. If anything, you’ll have the peace of mind that everything will be okay even if your commercial vehicle breaks down.

Finding the Best Janitorial Insurance

After you’ve taken the time to read this article, we know that you’re excited to jump on a janitorial insurance quote. There are too many advantages to ignore.

Lucky for you, we have the best janitorial insurance plan right here at EPG Insurance. No matter what your janitorial business encounters, it’s likely that our janitorial business insurance plan can help you through.

Feel free to take a look at what our plan offers and bask in the protection. You’ll be able to enjoy all of these advantages we’ve listed and more.

The Risks of Running a Restaurant Leaving Owners With a Bad Taste

January 19, 2021 jeffs

When it comes to restaurants, all anybody talks about these days is Covid-19. Should restaurants open? Should they close? Are the public health restrictions placed upon them too harsh?

Forget about that a minute. Restaurant owners are some of the most pioneering and passionate business owners on the planet. Did you know the average profit margin of a restaurant is three to five percent?

What else but passion and bravery could lead a person to own a business where the margins are so slim and so many things can go wrong?

You need to protect your profit and restaurant insurance is how you do it. Read on, dear restaurant owner, about the necessity of insuring your restaurant.

Owning a Restaurant

Restaurant ownership is the dream of so many people who toil within the service industry. Go to a bar where cooks and waiters congregate after a long shift in the weeds and you’ll hear the conversations.

It’s one thing to talk about owning a restaurant. It’s another to invest your hard-earned money in a dream where you know you won’t see much return.

Yet, despite knowing that 60% of all restaurants close within the first year, and 80% close within the first five, people still do it. Why?

Passion. Any cook who works their way up through a kitchen culture that so often rembles a caste system to become an executive chef believes in their food. They want to present their vision with complete freedom.

Servers and bartenders who’ve spent years weeded in dining rooms and cocktail lounges experience the fatal flaws of a poor operation and believe they can do better. They know great food and wine and they know crisp service.

They believe they can do better. So they save their money, secure investors, and dive headfirst into one of the riskiest investments someone can make.

You felt that same call and decided you had a great restaurant concept. You secured investment, took out loans, crafted a menu, and now it’s time to open your doors.

Once you open to the public, however, you assume an enormous risk.

Restaurant Risks

If you stop and think about them for too long, the risks of owning a restaurant might prevent you from making the investment.

What other workplace features razor-sharp knives, 500-degree broilers, boiling fryer oil, and delicate glassware that’s hand washed? Then add the stress of a busy dinner rush where stressed workers can easily make a mistake.

On top of that, you’re inviting the public into this atmosphere. Sure, they’re not working in the kitchen. Yet, they’re surrounded by servers carrying trays of drinks and hot food.

It’s funny. The difference between a service industry veteran and someone who’s never worked a shift in a restaurant is massive. Servers, bartenders, and cooks operate like ducks.

They’re completely calm on the service while swimming underneath.

When you open up your restaurant to the public, you’re also assuming dietary risk. Your diners may have allergies that your servers or cooks weren’t aware of. Or if they were aware, they forgot.

Who covers that? The last thing you need is for someone to go into anaphylactic shock because they ate a dish featuring pine nuts when they have a tree-nut allergy.

Still, you open your doors to these risks in hospitality every single day.

Risk Reduction

As an owner, you train your staff on the steps of service you believe will provide diners with the out of this world experience that will keep them coming back. You teach them the proper ways to serve a bottle of wine and make a martini.

You quiz your staff about the menu ingredients so they can answer any questions. You make them take wine and spirits courses so they know all the ins and outs of your wine list. This is done to increase sales.

The cooks learn the recipes and know the proper cooking techniques for each dish. Yet mistakes still happen. They’re inevitable, and in a lot of these service scenarios, a mistake is no big deal.

When you train your staff on service techniques and beverage knowledge, you do so to increase your clientele and sales. You know from years of experience that an untrained staff freelancing through a shift is a recipe for poor reviews.

Though you desire to increase your business, you also have to train your workers to protect themselves, the diners, and the restaurant’s reputation. You need to train them to protect your business.

There are several ways you can train your staff to reduce your restaurant’s liability concerns. Here are a few.

Food and Beverage Safety Training

When you serve people food, you assume an incredible risk. Reduce your chance of a lawsuit for food poisoning or negligence by training your staff on food safety.

These food and beverage safety courses teach your entire staff about the proper temperatures to serve safe food. They also teach your staff how to avoid cross-contamination to prevent disease or allergic reactions.

OSHA Training

Safe restaurant staff is a happy and profitable staff. Restaurant work is dangerous. There is such a high occurrence of injury that it’s important you teach your staff OSHA procedures to reduce your worker’s compensation liability.

Alcohol Safety

Did you know your restaurant can be held liable if someone drinks too much at your establishment and injures someone on the road? It’s true and it’s called liquor liability. The good news is that you can help mitigate that risk through proper insurance policies.

When you deal with the public and their alcohol consumption, you are responsible for their safety. Because of this, you must teach your staff the proper way to serve alcohol safely.

Accidents Will Happen Regardless

Restaurant accidents will happen even if you train your staff. In the restaurant business, they’re unavoidable. That’s why you need an insurance agency you can trust.

Restaurant business insurance is the one, true way you can protect your business. Without it, you’re like a server without a wine opener. You’re like a cook working with only a butter knife.

Here’s how comprehensive restaurant insurance protects you.

General Liability

General liability is a type of policy that protects you from a number of insurance claims. This covers injury, property damage, and personal injury should you be found liable.

Say a patron warned a server about a severe onion allergy and they were served food containing onions. This insurance can cover you against situations like that.

This general liability is such a key component of restaurant insurance thanks to the amount of staff and diners who walk into your business on an everyday basis.

Workers Compensation

Your workers will get hurt. Combine a fast-paced atmosphere like a restaurant with all the potential dangers, and injury is unavoidable. You can reduce it with proper training, but the risk still remains.

Loss of Income

Anyone who works in the restaurant business knows all too well about the loss of income from this past year. This insurance protects you if your restaurant closes due to a covered insurance claim.

Given that your profit margins are already so slim, any time spent closed can cause financial ruin.

Property Damage

This covers you should any part of your restaurant property suffer damage. It’s quite an investment to open a restaurant. The equipment alone costs tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then consider the liquor and food inventory you carry on a daily basis. If something should occur that jeopardizes your food, your equipment, or your building you want to know you’re covered.

Crime and Vandalism

You can’t intimately know everyone you hire. If you own and operate a restaurant, your theft risk runs high. There’s just so much to steal.

There’s the money in your bank. There’s expensive food, wine, and liquor. If big-ticket items go missing, you don’t want to be on the hook for them.

Likewise, it’s impossible to know what will happen over time. Someone might come along and wreck your place. Protection from crime and vandalism helps secure your investment.

Liquor Liability

If you serve alcohol, someone will leave your restaurant intoxicated. While there are so many variables as to what happens once they walk out your door, you could be liable if you or your employees over-serve them.

Liquor liability covers you in case one of your patrons overindulges and injures themselves or others once they leave.

Restaurant Insurance Costs

Many restaurant insurance plans can be purchased a la carte. Some owners do this to reduce their financial premium burden.

Though the cost of a comprehensive restaurant insurance plan might seem expensive, the negative cost of an underinsured business will be much higher.

You’ve already laid so much on the line by opening a restaurant. Your bravery in the face of statistics and the passion of your belief in your restaurant’s business model deserve protection.

Are you a restaurant owner? You need comprehensive coverage. Contact us today and we’ll help you find the plan that best protects your investment.

Senior Placement Agent Risk Management Strategies – Verifying Facility Insurance

January 14, 2021 jeffs

An unsettling truth about group home and assisted living facilities

A lot of people don’t know this, but there are only a handful of states in the entire country that require assisted living facilities and group homes to carry liability insurance as part of the licensing process. Now, the caveat to that is if they have a Medicaid contract, typically they are going to be required to carry insurance, but most of the facilities that a placement agent works with are private pay facilities that are not subject to the Medicaid requirements.

What impact can that have on your placement agency?

Now, why is that a big deal? A lot of the facilities, in fact a shocking number, don’t have insurance at all. I would say about 50% of the facility and group home owners that come to us for insurance quotes have never carried it before. What does that mean for you as a placement agent? Unfortunately if you place a client into an uninsured facility and they get injured, your business may be on the hook for the claim. You never want to be stuck footing the bill for somebody else’s negligence.

How to protect your placement agency

At this point we know two things; first, a large portion of facilities don’t carry insurance at all. Second, you could be dragged into a lawsuit because of that. So what do you do to protect yourself? It’s actually a pretty straightforward and easy process. Doing these two things can dramatically reduce your risk:

Build into your research and contracting process that you ask for their certificate of insurance. By doing so, you can show the families that you’re working with, that all the facilities you recommend carry active liability insurance.
Ask for an updated certificate of insurance from them every year. Since insurance policies renew every 12 months, you’ll need to update your files annually as well.

Reviewing their certificate

So, since you’re not an insurance expert, how do you verify that they have adequate insurance limits? Well, it’s actually pretty easy. The simplest route is to take your insurance certificate that we provide you after writing a policy and you line it up right next to the insurance certificate that the facility gives you. The coverages should look almost identical.

You’ll see a couple of key coverages listed on the facility’s insurance certificate. One of them being general liability, you want to see at least $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 aggregate limits.

You also want to see professional liability, which will be listed down towards the bottom of the certificate. The professional liability limits should also be $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 aggregate limits.

Some facility certificates will also list out the sexual abuse and molestation coverage. Ideally, we want to see at least $100,000 per incident and $300,000 total for the abuse and molestation coverage. Additionally, you may see things like hired and non-owned auto, employment practices liability, employee benefits liability, etc.

One of the most important coverages is going to be the professional liability because that’s what picks up their care of the residents. I would never recommend placing into a facility that can’t provide you with a certificate listing that specific coverage. If something goes South and the facility doesn’t have insurance, the placement agent tends to be one of the first people on the hook that gets sued. So, be careful out there and always verify that your facility and group home partners carry proper insurance coverage.

If you have any questions at all, or if any of this is unclear, feel free to reach out to us directly. We love coaching people and we are passionate about the senior placement insurance industry.

Big Problems Avoided with Auto Repair Shop Insurance

January 7, 2021 jeffs

Are you the proud owner of an auto shop? Do you lie awake at night, worrying that something unforeseen might happen to your assets? If so, then you need auto repair shop insurance to give you peace of mind.

Doing so can help protect your shop and yourself from any damage or loss. No matter what the dilemma is, it will be a minor setback with auto repair shop insurance in place.

See below for an in-depth guide highlighting the many problems that you’ll dodge when you have auto repair shop insurance for your store. Be sure to consider them all.

1. Slips and Falls

Did you know that over 1 million Americans suffer some form of slip, trip, or fall injury every single year? Not only that, but over 17,000 of those people end up passing away from the injuries they’ve sustained.

Needless to say, these injuries are nothing to scoff at. Whether it’s an employee or a client, a slip and fall accident can lead to big-time costs for your company.

Without proper insurance in place, you could be left on the hook for things such as that person’s injuries, medical bills, or loss of wages due to the incident.

Not only that, but companies with employees who are found without some form of workers’ comp insurance are liable to huge federal penalties. These fees come in amounts that will be hard for you to financially recover from.

Most importantly, you want your auto repair shop to be a safe place for business. While you prioritize safety and keeping the floors clear, accidents happen. All it takes is mere seconds for a slip, trip, or fall to take place.

For example, your worker could slip on a puddle of leaking oil, your client could trip over the ledge of a door, and so on. Auto repair shop insurance protects you from all of these situations.

2. Employee Theft

Unfortunately, this is a very real scenario. The temptation to steal is all over the place in an auto repair shop business setting. They could steal things like the following:

Money
Confidential Client Information
Car Accessories from a Client’s Vehicle (Such as Subwoofers, stereos, etc.)
Materials
Tools
Car License Plates
Cleaning Supplies
Food and Beverage

The list goes on and on. While you will do everything in your power to hire the right personnel, you want to make sure you stock up on coverage.

Proper auto repair insurance can protect you and your shop from employee theft. You will be able to itemize what was stolen and right the wrongs of your staff.

Just as a side note: make sure that you aren’t convicting an employee of theft too early. Always use your words carefully and compile evidence before you make any claims.

If you have sufficient evidence, then you’ll want to file a polic report and terminate the employee right away. Regardless of the worker’s reliability, seniority, or position, it’s important that you terminate them and subsequently alert the police. That way, you can file a report for your insurance provider to reference.

3. Fire

Chalk this up as a harsh reality that you hope your shop never faces. However, to not protect yourself and your shop from the possibility of a fire would be unwise.

There are simply too many things in a car shop that could cause a fire. A repair shop contains oil, electrical systems, wiring, paints, degreasers, and so on. All are highly flammable, meaning that if a fire starts, it will likely consume the entire shop quickly.

By investing in auto repair shop insurance, you’ll be able to protect your finances and the future of your business no matter how great the fire. All losses will be accounted for.

This will help you rebuild from the ground up. While it may take some time to get everything back to the way it was, it will be but a minor setback in the grand scheme of things as long as you have insurance.

4. Damage or Theft of Client’s Car

If a client’s car is damaged, broken into, or stolen while on your property, you’re likely to be held at fault. The client can argue that you didn’t protect their vehicle well enough, leading to the incident.

With proper auto repair shop insurance in place, you’ll have a way to help your clients recover their losses.

Not only will this help save your brand reputation, but it can also show your customers how much you care. You won’t rest until they get compensated for what happend.

5. Damage During Repairs

All it takes is the negligence of one employee to lead to a faulty repair. As a result, your client may find themselves on the side of the road shortly after paying for your service.

This cannot be tolerated. You have to have a backup plan. Fortunately, auto repair insurance covers general liability, such as damage to a client’s car while a service is being performed.

This way, rather than losing out on money, you can pay for the client’s car to be fixed and all damages that resulted from the incident.

Avoid These Big Problems With Auto Repair Shop Insurance

Now that you have seen a plethora of big problems that your auto repair shop insurance provider can protect you from, it’s time for you to find a great fit for your needs.

Be sure to visit this page to learn more about EPG Insurance and why we’re the best fit for your auto repair shop insurance needs.

For more inquiries, please be sure to reach out via our contact us page and we will be happy to assist you further.

6 Key Auto Repair Insurance Plans Every Repair Shop Should Have

January 4, 2021 jeffs

As the owner of an auto repair business, you wear a lot of hats.

On the one hand, you’re more than likely a skilled and experienced mechanic who’s well-versed in all the ins and outs of repairing and doing auto detailing for various types of cars. On the other hand, you have all the standard concerns and worries of managing a small business, from securing supplies to managing employees and keeping customers happy.

That’s why auto repair insurance is such an essential thing for a shop to have.

The truth is that even if you’re the most careful business owner on this side of the western hemisphere, there’s always a chance that an accident could happen or that you could end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit. And just like that, all of your hard work could be jeopardized in an instant.

Protecting your business in the event that the unthinkable occurs is more than possible with the help of top-notch auto repair insurance.

Here’s a list of 6 insurance coverage options that auto repair businesses can’t go wrong considering.

1. Commercial General Liability Insurance

If you’ve heard of those classic “slip and fall” lawsuits on TV or in conversation, then you’re already familiar with a situation where commercial general liability insurance would be important for a business to have.

As an auto repair shop, you more than likely have lots of people coming in and out of your building on a monthly or annual basis. All it takes is one wrong step on the part of a customer for you to be in a world of hurt.

Worst of all, even if it turns out that you’re not legally responsible for the injury, the lawyer’s fees and the court costs alone could severely impact your company’s cash flow for years while the case works its way through the legal system.

While commercial general liability insurance is mostly known for its ability to cover the litigation and judgment costs associated with slips and falls, it also extends to property damage and false advertising claims. Put simply, commercial general liability insurance can help prevent lawsuits from becoming financially disruptive to your operations.

2. Business Property Insurance

It goes without saying that running an auto repair shop requires investing in a lot of highly-specialized equipment. And that’s before you even begin to consider your point-of-sale equipment and the like.

Although one of the best things about running an auto repair business is that no two days are ever truly the same, you also never know if this is the day that a disaster might strike. A broken pipe could result in serious water damage overnight or a fire could break out and damage most of your equipment.

And when you get right down to it, if you had to replace everything overnight, would you be able to do it without straining your company financially? Or would you have to decide between paying yourself a salary that month or getting the equipment you need?

Business property insurance means that you don’t have to make those types of difficult decisions because your company assets will be protected. And in the grand scheme of things, that counts for something.

3. Employee Theft

Approximately 33% of business bankruptcies are thought to be the result of employee theft.

As much as you want to try your best to be careful during the hiring process as a business owner, sometimes employees are more untrustworthy than they actually seem. But when push comes to shove, no one wants to wake up one day and find themselves stuck with no money in their business accounts and no means of getting it back in a timely fashion.

If you can see yourself hiring employees and giving them access to company funds, employee theft insurance only makes sense. This way, if you ever find yourself having to learn the hard way that you’ve hired the wrong person, at least you’ll be covered financially.

4. Business Auto Insurance

Do you pick up any of the supplies that you use for your shop? Does your company go the extra mile in terms of customer service by offering towing services? Do you or your employees ever do home visits?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions and then started wondering what towing services or supply pickups had to do with insurance, then you’ll really want to keep reading here.

12 million vehicles were involved in accidents in 2018.

Whether you’re spending hours on the road or just a few minutes, there’s no way to predict when or if an accident might occur.

And if you’re traveling at all for business purposes, your personal vehicle insurance may not provide you with the amount of coverage that you would expect. If your shop owns vehicles or if you and your staff are often driving for business purposes, commercial auto insurance is a coverage option that you may want to leave on the table.

5. Business Interruption

The simple reality of being a business owner is that you only make money if you’re able to provide services to your customers.

However in the aftermath of a serious fire or some other insured peril, for instance, it might not be possible for you to immediately get back to work while your building is being repaired.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the bills from continuing to come in.

And while business property insurance may cover the damages to your building, coverage doesn’t usually extend to loss of business income even if you can directly trace it all back to an insured loss and your company is out of commission through no fault of your own.

Business interruption insurance can compensate you for the income losses that you may sustain in the aftermath of an event that you’re insured against. This is why these policies often go hand in hand with other forms of commercial insurance.

6. Workers’ Compensation

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 1,133,670 non-deadly workplace injuries and illnesses in 2018 that resulted in workers needing to take time off.

Over the course of a single day, your staff could be looking under car hoods or laying under raised vehicles in order to diagnose and perform repairs. If an accident were to occur on the job, your injured employee could be looking at a very, very serious injury.

Medical costs are expensive. Physical rehabilitation can be pricey. Paying out benefits for additional care if it’s needed can also cost a lot of money.

Simply because of the stakes involved on both sides, you’ll want to make sure that you have the right amount of workers’ compensation coverage. In many ways, this is the type of insurance that you’ll be glad you had if you’re ever in a situation where you need it.

Why You Should Work With an Insurance Agency For Your Auto Repair Business Insurance Needs

We’ve talked a bit about the coverage options that are available to auto repair business owners. Now we’re going to give you a sense of why an insurance agency may be your best shot at getting the coverage that you deserve.

1. You’ll Get The Best Insurance Available

Even within the same industry, every business is unique.

If you’re a sole proprietor, you’ll have different needs than that massive franchise-driven corporation that operates in multiple states.

We get it.

And it’s important that you work with insurance professionals who will listen to you discuss the needs of your company so that you don’t end up operating your business without being adequately insured. When you work with an agency, you get to work with someone who will be able to give you objective advice.

2. You Get Professional Expertise On Your Side

You wouldn’t expect someone to be a rockstar mechanic if they hadn’t spent time getting to know the different makes and models of the cars that come into your repairs garage. Believe it or not, the same concept applies to insurance.

There’s a lot of jargon, industry-specific knowledge, and policy distinctions that you really only learn and know about through experience.

But here’s the thing:

You’re an incredibly busy professional. When you’re not running your business, you’ve got family obligations and other obligations that require your attention. Working with an experienced insurance professional means that you won’t have to spend your time shopping for insurance policies on your own.

3. You Get Support If You Ever Need Help

Your insurance strategizing doesn’t stop when you sign the dotted line. As your insurance needs change over the years and your business grows or new insurance products become available, you may need to make adjustments to your policy.

In addition, if you’re ever hit with a situation that requires you to file a claim, navigating the whole process can be very intimidating if you’ve never done it before.

When you work with an agency that’s known for its customer service, you know that you’ll have the support you need during every phase of your insurance journey.

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The Complete Guide to Cleaning Business Insurance

December 29, 2020 jeffs

As a small business, insurance is considered one of the most important things to have. Also known as commercial insurance, general liability insurance can be a lifeline to your small business should you ever need it. Its main purpose is to protect your business’s assets, income, and property. If you own a small cleaning business you want to make sure you have the proper insurance. For example, your cleaning business insurance will differ from auto detailing insurance.

The reason for that is because each company has its own unique set of insurance needs.

With so many coverage options, it can be helpful to have tips about choosing the right insurance. So, we’ve created a complete guide to cleaning business insurance to help you protect your small business.

What is Cleaning Business Insurance?

Cleaning business insurance for a small business is often referred to as a business owner’s policy, BOP, or small business owner insurance. Your insurance will typically have three basic coverage types. Those coverages are general liability coverage, business property coverage, and business disturbance coverage.

What Will Your Cleaning Business Insurance Cover?

There are a few things to understand about what your cleaning business insurance will cover. The first thing it will cover is property damage caused by you or your employees. As a cleaning professional you are going to be on various properties all the time.

Being that accidents happen, the most basic form of liability can save you a lot of worry down the line. For example, let’s say one of your employees gets a cleaning solution on your customer’s carpet. The cost to replace the customer’s carpet may be covered by your general liability coverage.

Your cleaning business insurance would also protect you in the event your customer sustains a bodily injury. An example of that would be if your customer fell on a freshly mopped floor. Your insurance can cover their medical bills and any legal costs if it were needed.

Another thing that your cleaning business can help cover is any legal proceedings. This would be in relation to libel, slander, or copyright infringement. This is important especially in the digital age that we are in.

News can travel fast, especially on social media. This has made the risk for slander and libel claims more prominent.

If someone prints something untruthful about your business that is considered libel. If someone were to speak something untrue about your business that is considered slander. Your business is only as good as your reputation.

So having your cleaning business insurance with basic liability protection is valuable. One more thing that your cleaning insurance can cover is an interruption in your business income.

The loss of income has to be due to relocation or disaster. It is important to note that this coverage may or may not come with a basic business owner policy. You want to check with an insurance agent to ensure that coverage is apart of your insurance policy.

What Your Cleaning Business Insurance Won’t Cover

Just as you want to understand what your cleaning business insurance does cover, you also want to know what it won’t cover. Your cleaning business insurance will not cover any type of negligence.

For example, if your cleaning supplies get near an open flame and cause a fire your small business insurance claim won’t cover that.

This is also true if you are doing business in an area that has natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. Protection from these natural disasters is a separate coverage that has to be added to your policy by way of endorsement.

Another thing your cleaning business insurance won’t cover is injuries to your employees. General liability insurance is for protecting your business and your customers. It does not extend protection to your employees.

State law requires that if you have at least one employee you must carry workers’ compensation insurance. This is the only type of insurance that will cover the injury of an employee.

One last thing to note is that a basic cleaning business insurance policy will not cover a lawsuit for misinformation. For instance, if you were to tell a customer that a specific product is not harmful to pets, and it causes their pet to get sick you would not be protected.

It is important to know that if you want protection for instances such as the ones listed above, you can buy more for extra money.

The Cost Of Cleaning Insurance

As a small business, it is understandable that cost is a major deciding factor when purchasing insurance. Yet, it’s value will far exceed its cost. The range for basic cleaning business insurance depends on a few factors.

The first factor is the size of your cleaning business. How many employees do you have? What type of properties are you cleaning? Answers to those questions greatly determine your rate.

The next factor is the number of endorsements or more coverages required. Everything that a general liability policy doesn’t cover you will have to add that coverage for an extra cost.

Another factor in the price of your insurance is the state or location of your business. Some states have different requirements for the amount of coverage a cleaning business will need to carry.

Choosing Insurance That Is Right for Your Business

Choosing insurance for your small cleaning business can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. If you are looking to learn more about cleaning business insurance we can help! Reach out for a quote today so you can protect the things that matter the most.