Small Business Insurance

In an increasingly digital world, cyber-attacks have become an existential and costly threat for many businesses across the country. Companies in the US spend an average of about $8.19 million on data breaches, not to mention malware and hardware failure. 

You can lose valuable data like tax information, client records, and sales projections to a single data breach. What’s more, some data breaches can lead to law-suits and third-party claims that may cost your company a fortune. However, you can sidestep the financial repercussions of data breaches and other IT mishaps with cyber liability insurance.

In today’s post, we’ll be looking at why cyber liability insurance is so important for your company and why you should get it ASAP. 

What Is Cyber Liability Insurance?

Cyber liability insurance is an insurance policy covering cyber threats and other computer-related events that may lead to financial losses. They include both first-party and third-party coverages with diverse policies that depend on the insurer.

Insurers offer a wide range of coverages that they develop themselves.  Some coverages are automatically included in the policy, while some are optional. Coverages may have separate limits or one limit that applies across the board.

Why Is Cyber Liability Insurance So Important for Businesses?

Cyber liability insurance offers protection from financial losses arising from data breaches, malware, and hardware failure. Apart from business liability insurance, here are a couple of reasons why your business should also get cyber liability insurance:

Covers for Business Losses Because of Interruption 

Data breaches and malware attacks can lead to IT failure, which could put a stop to all business activities. It could also lead to extended downtime and subsequent losses that could cripple your entire business. In fact, 60% of companies fail within six months of a cyber-attack? 

For some businesses, the losses they incur are just too much to recover. If you don’t want your business to crumble because of a data breach, consider taking out cyber liability insurance. 

For Legal Support

As mentioned above, some cyber-attacks could result in legal action and third-party claims. This mostly happens when hackers gain access to private information about your clients that you should’ve kept confidential. If private client information leaks, clients have the legal right to sue your business.

The same can happen if the cyber or malware attack leads to a breach of contract on your part. Cyber liability insurance can help you cover legal costs if you ever have to battle it out in court. This coverage includes everything from lawyer fees, advisement, and counsel after legal proceedings. 

To Cover Cost of Data Breaches

Companies have to pay through the nose even for minor data breaches. First, the law requires that companies report any data breaches to any entities or individuals that the breach affects. Companies must then address the consequences of the breaches, including security repairs, identity theft, and of course, legal action.

This can be a real financial burden, especially for startups and small businesses. Cyber liability insurance covers the cost of data breaches. This can save your business a bundle so that you can use the money for more profitable business activities.

To Help With Forensic Support

Behind every cyber-attack is a malicious individual or group looking to gain unauthorized access to your company’s information. It’s up to you to determine the source and extent of the breach and how it affects your company. That way, you can take legal action against the perpetrators and get the justice you deserve.

To do so, you’ll need a competent team of IT professionals and help from the authorities. Hiring an IT firm could be costly, especially when it comes to matters concerning cybersecurity. Cyber liability insurance can cover the cost of paying forensic experts to investigate the attack.

What’s more, some insurers can throw in 24/7 support from cyber specialists to keep hackers and ransomware at bay. That way, you can keep it business as usual without having to worry about subsequent cyber-attacks.

Protects From Cyber Extortion

Have you ever heard of ransomware? Ransomware is a type of malware designed to restrict IT infrastructure access or leak private information unless you pay a fee. Criminals use ransomware to extort large amounts of cash from businesses.

Twelve major ransomware attacks occurred in 2020, with the largest one, the ISS world attack, costing a whopping $75 million. You never know; maybe this year could you could experience a ransomware attack. So it’s best to take precautionary steps before it’s too late. 

Should you fall victim to ransomware, your cyber liability insurance provider will step in to pay the ransom to free your data or keep your private information safe. This can help businesses get back what they lost from ransomware attacks.

It’s a Step Above General Liability Insurance

For most businesses, insurance stops at general liability insurance or workers’ compensation insurance. Both are essential insurance policies, but unfortunately, none of them cover cyber-attacks and other related events.

If you want a foolproof insurance strategy, make sure to include cyber liability protection in it. That way, you can take your insurance strategy a notch higher and protect both your physical and digital assets. In doing so, you can have peace of mind knowing that your entire business is fully protected from unexpected tragic events.

Common Cyber Liability Insurance Coverages

Getting cyber liability insurance is a great way to protect your digital assets and your business in general. If you’re in the market for cyber liability insurance, here are a few coverages you should expect.

Income Loss and Extra Expenses

This covers all the income lost due to the downtime caused by the cyber-attack or hardware failure. It also covers the expenses that a business incurs to restore operations and get things back to normal. The policy will cover income loss from malware, data breaches, and hardware failure.

Some insurers even cover losses that a partner company incurs because of the data event. For instance, a supplier may suffer heavy losses because your company’s activities have ground to a halt due to a cyber-attack. The insurer will also cover the supplier’s losses.

Data Restoration

A cyber-attack or malware may wipe all or most of a company’s crucial data. This data includes everything from software, documents, and programs. The cyber liability insurance can help pay for the data recovery process.

Crisis Management and Damage Control

Most cyber liability insurance policies contain comprehensive crisis management programs that insurers cover. These programs help reduce the severity of the cyber-attack and prevent the situation from worsening. Examples of crisis management measures include hiring IT experts, a public accountant, and a private investigator to uncover the people behind the attack.

Cyber Extortion

As mentioned earlier, the cyber liability insurer will pay the ransom should you fall victim to ransomware. The insurer also pays any related expense, for instance, the cost to physically transport cash, if need be. The insurer may also pay the negotiator should you decide to hire one.

Notification Fees

Remember we mentioned that you have to notify all concerned parties about the cyber-attack. The insurer takes care of all costs for notifying the relevant parties. Some insurers also take care of credit monitoring and even putting up a call center.

Regulatory Proceedings

The insurer will cover fines and penalties imposed on the company by regulatory agencies because of breaching certain requirements. This also includes the cost of hiring a lawyer to represent your company in a court of law.

 Privacy Liability

Sometimes, data breaches occur because of your employees’ negligence to protect sensitive data. Sometimes minor omissions or errors may expose private data to a myriad of data threats.  If this is the cause of the data breach, you should brace yourself for a few legal claims.

The insurer will cover all court proceedings and cover the expense should things go wayward.

With that in mind, keep in mind that cyber insurance doesn’t cover the following:

• Utility failure
• Upgrading computer systems 
• Deliberate acts of dishonesty by your business
• Any events that occurred before you got the insurance
• Acts of terrorism

This should put you up to speed on everything you need to know about cyber liability insurance coverage.  Ensure you check with your insurer to know what they cover and what they don’t.

Get Cyber Liability Insurance Today

The best time to get cyber liability insurance is right now. That way, you can protect your business from cyber-attacks and other events that may send your business crumbling. Take time to review different insurers and policies and find one best suited for your needs.

The most comprehensive cyber liability insurance is a phone call away. Contact us today, and we’ll give you the cyber liability protection you deserve.

Did you know that a whopping 75% of employees admit to stealing from their employers at least once? If you’re a business owner, supervisor, or even a regular employee, that statistic can be a tough pill to swallow.

You may think of your company as your “family.” You may spend as much time with these people as you do at home. You form friendships and establish trust with your co-workers and employees.

These feelings can do lots of positive things for your business, but they can also leave you vulnerable to employee theft, fraud, and dishonesty. To add insult to injury, many thieves take advantage of the trust you place in them. Even a company’s most beloved, senior employees may betray your company.

While many thefts are small-scale, some can bankrupt businesses. Unfortunately, that goes double for small businesses. These companies may lack adequate resources to fully deter employee theft or the financial resources to recover.

Dealing with theft and employee dishonesty is key to your company’s survival. But this problem often requires a multi-prong approach. Read on to learn more.

Conduct Background Checks and Ask for References

Many employees who steal eventually wind up getting caught and fired—though not before they’ve done a lot of damage!

That means you have to be vigilant during the hiring process. An employment termination that the candidate explains away may actually be a theft-related firing.

Ask for and follow up with references to get a complete picture. Background or credit checks may also be appropriate for some positions. Be aware that many state laws stipulate certain procedures and disclosures for employee background checks.

It’s possible, of course, to find applicants with a theft history who are genuinely remorseful and ethical. It’s also possible to find a repeat offender with a good sob story. Thorough reference checks can help you tell the difference between the two.

Don’t Tolerate “Minor” Theft

That 75% figure might have taken you by surprise. A few bad apples among your employees can still do a boatload of damage. But are three-quarters of your workforce truly untrustworthy?

Employee theft tends to start small. An employee may borrow a few bucks from the tip jar, give a family member a free meal, or take a package of pens home from the supply closet.

Many of these small infractions feel so minor that employees hardly think of them as “bad.” That may explain why such a shockingly high percentage of people admit to theft at work. Many of the thefts barely feel like thefts at all.

But these small thefts can still harm your company in many ways. That’s especially true if your employees think small thefts are easy and consequence-free.

If everyone is doing them, your cumulative losses can be substantial. Think of “death by a thousand cuts.” Small thefts can also encourage escalation into more serious fraud. Many employee theft insurance policies won’t cover theft committed by known offenders, even if their prior offenses were minor.

The solution to this problem isn’t to fire everyone who snags a free fry or takes a pen home. But you should create (and enforce) written policies that show your employees you take even small theft incidents seriously. Think of it as reducing the temptation for your less theft-prone employees and reducing escalation opportunities for more criminally-minded ones.

Implement Cash Handling Procedures

In many businesses, physical cash is a prime candidate for employee theft. Often there’s little or no paperwork trail to follow when physical items disappear, whether that item is inventory or a dollar bill. For some kinds of theft, such as a waiter taking cash from a tip pool jar, it may be hard to prove the stolen asset existed in the first place.

Basic cash handling procedures can mitigate this kind of theft substantially. Cash-heavy businesses should use regular cash drops. Restrict cashiers from taking over each other’s tills or waiters from taking over each other’s tabs.

Track Inventory to Minimize Shrinkage

Investing in proper inventory management is a must for a bunch of reasons. You can monitor stock levels, identify low-selling items, and predict upcoming stock shortages.

It’s also crucial for minimizing inventory shrinkage. A good inventory management system doesn’t just detect inventory shrinkage. It also helps you identify and address shrinkage causes.

Shrinkage can come from paperwork errors, inventory damage, shoplifting, and yes, employee theft. Employee theft causes almost half of all inventory shrinkage.

Build redundancies and thorough record-keeping into receiving and stocking procedures to reduce employee theft. Automated tracking using barcodes and RIFD tags can help you keep better tabs as well.

Keep an eye out for business shrinkage avenues specific to your business type. Restaurants and bars, for example, can see a lot of liquor disappear mysteriously thanks to employee theft. Tracking liquor inventory is a better investment of a bar owner’s time than counting bar napkins.

Employees may hide stolen inventory in the trash (to “take out” later) or stash goods in their bags. Create specific, written policies around handbag checks, end-of-night trash handling, and other major shrinkage sources.

Double-Up Duties

One of the simplest ways to reduce employee theft is to create accountability. And one of the best ways to create accountability is to double-up employees working on theft-prone tasks.

This doubling-up practice can (and should) take many different forms. If one employee is responsible for cutting payroll checks, another should be responsible for verifying and signing them. Employees intaking new inventory in teams are less likely to pocket items in front of a witness.

Multi-person trips to the bank while depositing cash are safer for the same reason. Employees can count each other’s cash and calculate tips as teams to create accountability. The more vulnerable the activity is to theft or fraud, the more accountability you should create around it.

Of course, thieves may collaborate instead of holding each other accountable. Rotate positions of accountability when possible, or create multiple levels of oversight. If you suspect an employee team of collaborating on theft, break that team up (and keep an eye on each member).

Insure Yourself for a Worst-Case Scenario

So you’ve done everything you can think of to reduce employee theft.

The good news is that these measures can make a huge difference. The bad news is that no number of anti-theft policies can totally eliminate your risk of employee fraud and dishonesty.

That’s why you should consider employee theft insurance coverage. These policies protect you from direct losses related to employee theft. They can make the difference between bankruptcy and survival for a small business that experiences employee fraud.

You may think you already have employee theft covered under your crime insurance policy. But check again: many crime policies only cover non-employee incidents.

Employee theft coverage generally comes in two forms: loss sustained and discovery. Loss sustained covers losses that occurred during the policy’s coverage period. Discovery covers losses discovered during the coverage period.

Businesses that are more prone to employee theft may face higher premiums. You can sometimes reduce those premiums by enacting robust theft prevention practices.

Employee theft policies often have coverage exceptions, so read your policy carefully. Your policy likely won’t cover theft committed by an employee previously caught stealing. Theft by a founder or executive usually isn’t covered.

Your policy typically won’t cover theft by a non-employee (even if an employee helps them). Most policies only reimburse direct losses, not indirect ones such as legal fees.

Employee theft insurance is sometimes called a fidelity bond. A special type of fidelity bond, called an ERISA bond, is often legally required for companies with retirement plans. These bonds protect the company and employees from pension fund fraud.

Customers Need Employee Theft Protection, Too

What if you’re a janitorial or cleaning company?

These businesses often send employees into their clients’ homes and workplaces. That means the business itself isn’t the victim of employee theft. Instead, it’s the customers.

Employees stealing from customers can be even worse than employees stealing from the business. Customers who discover the theft can make claims against you. Theft can also destroy your reputation—no one wants to hire a janitor who steals things!

Employee theft insurance and crime insurance don’t always cover this kind of employee dishonesty. That’s why you may need an additional business services coverage policy.

These policies pay your customers for losses if your employees steal from them. Just like with standard employee theft policies, premiums are higher for higher-risk businesses.

Contractors, janitors, home aides, and many other kinds of employees face unique working conditions. That means they may require unique insurance policies. You can get theft coverage from a policy package designed for your industry.

Don’t Let Employee Theft Destroy Your Business

Employee theft can feel like a multi-headed hydra. Just when you think you’ve addressed one source, another springs up.

As a business owner, you want to trust and value your employees. But worrying about theft constantly can make you feel distrustful of even your most senior hires. It’s enough to make anyone paranoid—and it’s seriously demoralizing.

A combination of robust theft prevention protocols and insurance coverage can lift that heavy burden. At EPG insurance, we specialize in a wide array of insurance policies for a wide array of businesses. Employee theft policies, janitorial business coverage, contractors insurance—no matter what kind of insurance your business needs, we can help you get it.

Once you’re less worried about thieves, you can get back to enjoying running your business. Contact us today to learn more about finding the right policy for you.

Are you looking for ways to protect the future of your business? Do you lie awake at night worried that a workplace incident is going to derail your progress? If so, then you need to learn about how business insurance can help you.

More importantly, you need to understand the different types of business insurance policies that you should invest in. They can cover different emergency scenarios to ensure your company doesn’t experience a financial setback.

See below for an in-depth guide on the different types of business insurance, what they are, and why they are a necessary investment for your company.

1. Industry-Specific Business Insurance

It’s no secret that different industries have different risks. A janitorial business can have just as much liability associated with it as a restaurant business, but there are different risks associated with the two. For that reason, different industries will require certain insurance packages.

At EPG Insurance, we want to help your business get all of the business insurance policies it needs, and none of the policies that it doesn’t. We believe that the right combination of business insurance policies can help you weather any emergency.

For example, let’s say that you’re the owner of a commercial cleaning service. At first glance, you might think you only need typical liability insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.

But what about the company vehicles that your workers use to drive to your client’s site? Who’s insuring them? What will you do if your business liability insurance doesn’t cover the entire cost of a claim? Umbrella insurance would sure come in handy at a time like that.

We want to help you save time and money by working with an experienced insurance agency. Be sure to reach out to us to learn about the policies you need to ensure your company’s future is secure.

2. Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Imagine the horror of one day getting a phone call and hearing that one of your top workers has been injured on the job. Suddenly, their focus shifts from working hard for your company to ensuring that their family’s finances are protected.

Workers’ compensation is a must-have for any business. In fact, all but one state in the USA legally requires businesses to have workers’ compensation.

If a worker is injured or ill from their job, workers’ comp can cover:

• The worker’s medical bills
• Lost wages that the worker accrues as they recover
• The cost of recovery (such as rehab, physical therapy, etc.)
• Funeral costs if the worker were to pass away

This is even more crucial to have if your business involves a service that goes to your client’s properties. For example, an HVAC service, contractor, cleaning service, janitorial service, and so on.

You want to make sure that your clients aren’t held financially responsible if one of your workers gets injured on their site. As a matter of fact, many clients refuse to do business with companies that don’t have their small business insurance needs in order.

3. Business Liability Insurance

No matter how efficient, experienced, or trustworthy your business is, there is always risk involved. All it takes is one slip-up by you or your staff to cause a financial setback for your clients. This could be in the form of:

• Bodily injury to another party (such as your client)
• Damage to the client’s property or belongings
• Defamation to your business by someone trying to seek compensation

Without business liability insurance in place, any one of these three scenarios could cause a financial setback for your company. A setback that you might never financially recover from.

However, with a business liability policy in place, you’ll have more peace of mind. This also has a positive reflection on your brand. It shows that you care about protecting your company, your clients, and your staff.

4. Umbrella Insurance

But let’s say that your business liability insurance coverage doesn’t cover the entire cost of the claim. It isn’t uncommon for a claim to exceed the limits of your policy.

Many small business owners run into this unforeseen dilemma and are forced to cover the remaining costs out of pocket. As you might imagine, this can prove to be quite an obstacle for a company’s growth.

That’s where umbrella insurance can save the day. It’s meant to extend the covers of your business liability insurance to ensure you don’t have to pay any more than your deductible on a liability claim. That way, your budget, and cash flow is never sabotaged.

5. Commercial Auto Insurance

If your company has any commercial vehicles in its business model, you need to invest in commercial auto insurance. It will cover both the vehicle and the driver.

Commercial car insurance covers a wide variety of situations, such as:

• Comprehensive and collision coverage
• Uninsured motor vehicles
• Liability
• Medical payments related to a car crash
• Emergency roadside assistance

The list goes on and on. It’s cost-efficient and can be a lifesaver for your small or medium-sized business.

Not to mention that it can help protect your overall brand. With added benefits such as emergency roadside assistance, we’ll make sure to get you back on the road and headed towards your clients as quickly as possible.

Invest in These Types of Business Insurance Today

Now that you have seen the different types of business insurance that your company needs, it’s time to make sure your small business insurance needs are met.

Be sure to visit this page to learn more about EPG Insurance and why we’re so passionate about helping small businesses such as yourself!

To get started, please visit this page to receive an online quote for your small business insurance needs and we’ll be happy to assist you further.

Around two-thirds of new businesses fail within their first 10 years. While there are many causes of business failure, one of the most overlooked is the inability to recover after a disaster or interruption. 

Small or young businesses rarely have the financial reserves to withstand these incidents and get back on their feet. Business interruption insurance can help. Keep reading now to learn what it is, how it works, and who needs it. 

What Is a Business Interruption? 

A business interruption is when a company has to shut down for a short period of time due to perils beyond its control. Common examples include being unable to open or operate due to:

• Fire
• Wind or storm damage
• Theft or vandalism of equipment 

While standard business insurance will pay for the repairs to the property itself, it does not cover the wide range of other costs businesses face during their shutdown. This is where business interruption insurance coverage comes in. 

What Does a Business Interruption Insurance Policy Cover?

Business interruption insurance can cover the various costs your company is likely to incur in the event of a temporary shutdown. These include:

• Mortgage, rent, or lease payments
• Lost revenue
• Wages and benefits
• Debt 
• Taxes
• Relocation expenses 

Mortgage, Rent, or Lease Payments

Even if your business can’t open its doors or bring in any income, you are still responsible for making your payments on your mortgage or leasing agreement. Business interruption insurance can cover these payments. This ensures that you don’t:

• Lose your physical campus
• Rack up hefty late payments and penalty fees
• Ruin your credit rating through non-payment

Debt and Taxes

Even during a shutdown, you must continue to pay on any business loans, credit cards, and other forms of debt or credit you have in the name of your business. You also need to pay whatever taxes come due. Without interruption insurance to cover them, these bills can be impossible to pay when you have no income. 

Salaries and Wages

A business interruption insurance claim can help you keep your workforce and keep their benefits intact during a shutdown. This gives you the platform you need from which to rebuild.

Lost Revenue

Losing revenue means more than just not being able to pay your bills. It robs your company of critical funding you would normally use to:

• Perform maintenance and scheduled upgrades
• Grow and expand your business
• Offer employee incentives and bonuses

Business interruption insurance bridges the gap by giving you the money you should have made during your shutdown. In many cases, policies will cover up to a full year’s worth of lost revenue. This replacement income is critical to your ability to rebuild and move forward from catastrophe. 

Relocation Costs

Business interruption insurance can help pay for the costs of moving your operations while your property is restored after a disaster.

Restoration Periods

Every business interruption insurance policy has a set “restoration period.” This is the period of time between when your policy kicks in and when it stops paying for your business interruption expenses. 

Under most policies, your restoration period starts when your coverage goes into effect. This can be 48 or 72 hours after your business first shuts down. Importantly, if you drop down to partial operations before fully shutting down, the 48- to 72-hour waiting period usually does not begin until full shutdown. 

Your policy will specify how long your restoration period is. Common lengths of coverage would be 3, 4, 6 or 12 months. The cause of your shutdown does not impact the length of the restoration period and restoration periods cannot be extended. 

Policyholders cannot simply wait until their coverage is about to expire before acting, however. They must act in good faith to restore their businesses to full operational status as soon as is reasonably possible. If they do not, they risk disqualifying themselves for continuing coverage. 

What Doesn’t Business Interruption Insurance Cover?

While a business interruption insurance plan covers many key costs during your restoration period, it does not cover every expense you may encounter during a shutdown. It also may not cover shutdowns due to certain causes. 

Exempt Causes

Coverage varies from plan to plan, but many policies do not cover shutdowns caused by:

• Floods
• Earthquakes
• Pandemics or communicable diseases

If your business is at risk of these things, you may need a separate policy or special rider to protect against them. 

Exempt Expenses

Many costs potentially associated with a shutdown are not covered under a business interruption insurance policy because they are already covered under other standard business insurance policies. 

For example, your property insurance covers damage to your physical property and equipment. Your liability insurance covers third-party injuries associated with storms or disasters. As such, neither of those things falls under your business interruption insurance.  

Business interruption policies also may not cover:

• Utility costs 
• Undocumented income
• Extra or unusual expenses (e.g. equipment rental or hiring temporary help)

Exempt Interruptions

Interruptions lasting less than the amount of time stated on your policy do not qualify for coverage. Most policies kick in at 72 hours.

Also, your company must completely shut down to file a claim. Scaling back to partial operations is not enough to activate your coverage.  

Contingent Insurance 

Contingent or dependent properties insurance is often confused with business interruption insurance. Their similarities make this understandable, but they are not interchangeable. 

Under a contingent insurance policy, your insurer protects you against interruptions to your business that result from changes somewhere else in the industry pipeline rather than from physical incidents at your campus. 

For example, imagine that one of your key suppliers suffers a massive fire. They shut down operations and you become unable to get the components you need. This causes your operations to falter.

The fire was not on your property so your business interruption insurance does not apply. A contingent policy could. It may also kick in if something happened to force a shutdown by your:

• Buyers
• Providers
• Local leader locations

The modern marketplace is globally interconnected. It relies heavily on just-in-time-delivery. As a result, these types of disruptions are becoming increasingly common.

Businesses’ best protection is to get comprehensive coverage by bundling:

• Contingent insurance policies
• Standard business policies
• Business interruption insurance

Extra Expenses Insurance

Like contingent insurance, people often conflate Extra Expenses policies with business interruption plans even though they are not the same. 

Extra expenses policies cover the unusual but necessary expenditures that companies encounter while dealing with physical disasters at their properties. Common examples include:

• Renting equipment to replace damaged equipment while getting operations back up and running
• Hiring temporary staff 
• Paying existing staff overtime
• Renting a new secondary location from which to work while your primary site is repaired  
• Relocating personnel and functional equipment to a new temporary site

In short, extra expenses policies pay all the unexpected costs you face while trying to reopen your doors as soon as possible after a disaster. As with contingent policies, savvy business owners tend to bundle extra expenses policies with their standard business policies for maximum coverage. 

Other Policies

There are two other types of insurance that business owners can purchase separately that are easily confused with business interruption insurance. 

The first is Civil Authority coverage. These policies kick in when federal, state, or local authorities prevent companies and workers from accessing their primary campus due to physical damage somewhere nearby.

For example, a governor declares a State of Emergency in the area in which a company is located. They prohibit all non-emergency or non-essential travel, preventing company owners and workers from accessing the site.  

Civil Authority coverage tends to be very short-term in nature but can provide the same protections as business interruption coverage in situations where the latter does not apply because the business itself suffered no physical damage.

The second type of coverage often confused with business interruption insurance is a utility services endorsement. These policy add-ons build coverage for utility expenses into business interruption or extra expenses policies that would not otherwise include them.

Who Needs Business Interruption Insurance?

In today’s deeply interconnected marketplace, every company needs business interruption insurance. Coverage is particularly important for:

• New businesses
• Small businesses
• Businesses with limited cash reserves
• Businesses operating in areas prone to storms and other natural disasters
• Businesses where damage to their office or equipment will impact their ability to operate

For those worried about business interruption insurance cost, it is important to be aware that this type of coverage is very affordable. 

How Much Does Coverage Cost?

As with other insurance policies, the cost of your business interruption insurance policy will depend on the details of your business. Specifically, insurers look at:

• The value of your physical property, including the cost of your mortgage or lease
• The average risk associated with your industry and location
• Your average income or revenue
• Your average payroll and other expenses 
• Your prior claims experience 

Companies can purchase only the coverage that they need. Most insurers also offer great pricing on business insurance bundles, which offer the best coverage all around. Above all else, companies should keep in mind that no matter how much their policy costs, it is far more affordable than any other type of protection against disaster and business interruption. 

Putting Things in Perspective

American emergency responders handle more than 50,000 fires on commercial properties every year. Depending on the type of property, these fires cause an average of between $8,000 and $130,000 in physical damage alone. The costs of the ensuing shutdowns and income lost during repairs are exponentially higher. 

Even businesses operating out of small home offices are at enormous risk. More than 350,000 homes catch fire annually.

Homeowners’ insurance will cover some of the physical losses. Standard business policies will cover other business losses. But entrepreneurs without interruption coverage can still have their businesses devastated. 

While fires are only one type of potential business interruption, they provide a representative example of everything that is at stake for companies without the right insurance coverage. 

Every day that you go without income and without interruption coverage puts you at higher risk for:

• Incurring crippling debt
• Missing critical payments on loans or property
• Losing key employees
• Hitting the point at which you can no longer financially recover

This is true regardless of the size or nature of your business. 

How Much Coverage Do You Need?

There is no standard level of coverage that every business needs when purchasing a business interruption insurance policy. Each policy can be customized to meet an individual business’s situation.

An insurance agent can help you evaluate the following factors to determine how much coverage you need.

• What industry you are in
• Where you are located
• How many employees you have
• Your average revenue and expenses per month 
• Your prior claims experience 
• Estimated relocation costs
• Other relevant factors

When selecting a policy, it is essential to look at your overall coverage. How much coverage you have under other policies can influence how much coverage you need under your business interruption insurance policy. Layering or braiding policies tends to produce the best result. 

It is also important to keep in mind that you cannot get coverage for unreported income or expenses. If either of these regularly plays a role in your operations, talk to your insurance advisor about how to account for them in your policy. Failure to do so can make it harder to get back on your feet in a disaster. 

Buying a Policy 

Buying a business interruption insurance policy doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming, but it does require careful consideration of your business’s needs. Request a quote today and let our experts help you craft the coverage your business deserves. 

Now that you have plans in place to start your business, you are wondering what type of insurance plan that you will need to follow government regulations. Business insurance is completely customizable to the specific needs of your business. This includes business liability insurance coverage. It also includes commercial property insurance and business income insurance.

In 2018, only 54% of business owners had general liability insurance. Only 42% of business owners had a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) in place. The decrease seems to have been a result of increasing insurance pricing. Yet, you will still need certain types of insurance to make sure your business is covered. Insurance claims will inevitably crop up at some point. The good news is that there are still low cost, high coverage policies available when you work with the right agent.

Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about business liability insurance.

What Is Business Liability Insurance?

Business liability insurance, or commercial general liability insurance, refers to a type of insurance that business owners have to protect against claims brought against the business. Business liability insurance covers:

• Bodily injury
• Property damage
• Medical expenses
• Cost of litigation
• Product injury
• Personal/advertising injury

Professional liability insurance, or emissions and omissions insurance, protects your business from claims where your customers sue for the business’s alleged negligent behavior during the time of business. This type of insurance policy covers economic/ financial losses rather than bodily injury and property damages.

A business liability insurance policy may not be enough coverage for your business. You may find that you also need other types of insurance. This might include:

• Commercial property insurance
• Business income insurance
• Data breach insurance
• Commercial umbrella insurance
• Commercial auto insurance

Generally, every small business should have business liability insurance in place. The type of policies that you will have in addition to that will depend on the specific needs of your business. The combination that works for your industry may not work for another. The different types of insurance work together as a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP).

Why Do I Need Business Liability Insurance?

A business owner who has the potential to cause bodily injury or property damage to a customer or their possessions, needs business liability insurance. If your business stands to be sued for large amounts of money, you need to have liability insurance. Having a policy in place will help you to minimize the impact of these events that may occur.

Businesses that don’t have the proper insurance coverage may stand to pay out all these costs at the business owner’s expense. This type of financial strain may ruin your business.

Business liability insurance protects your business’s physical assets. It helps prevents action against your personal assets. It may also help to cover the cost of litigation (even if you aren’t held liable in the claim!).

The benefits of business liability insurance extend to more than protecting your business.

It Opens You Up to a Larger Clientele

Clients don’t want to be responsible for the possible mistakes or liability claims of others. This includes mistakes that their manufacturers or partners might make. Your potential clients are automatically looking for a business that handles their own actions. They like to know that you can resolve any potential liability claim with their own financial standing or insurance policies.

It Keeps Your Head Above Water (When Claims Arise)

Having business liability insurance allows you to expect the unexpected. When claims of liability do arise, you can rest easy knowing that you don’t have to pay out-of-pocket for legal expenses or settlements. When businesses don’t have enough coverage, they may fall into financial ruin.

It Shows That You Are Serious About Your Business

Having liability insurance isn’t a cheap investment so when you have it, you are telling your clients that you are willing to take the responsibility for anything that goes wrong with your business. It helps you to prove that you are an established business with what it takes to be successful.

Requirements for Arizona

Arizona requires small businesses to have workers’ compensation insurance and commercial auto insurance because accidents happen. Whether an employee gets injured on the job or an employee is in a car accident while driving for business purposes, they need to be covered.

While business liability insurance isn’t required, it is definitely recommended. The combination of insurance that you purchase for your business can be bundled under a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP).

Examples of Business Liability Insurance

Liability insurance coverage for your business depends on the industry that you are a part of.

An accountant would want to be covered with professional liability to back their economic standing. A landscaper will want to have business insurance with an extension for off-premises operations. This is in case an accident happens on their job site. A real estate agent is going to want commercial auto insurance. This would be in case there is an accident while driving between properties.

Get Business Insurance Today

You may only be looking for business liability insurance, or you may need several types of insurance to be covered. You must know what your policy consists of and how it is working to protect your business. Even if you don’t do anything wrong, you may find yourself in the middle of an insurance claim. You should be preemptively covered for these things.

Let us help you figure out the best business insurance plan for you. We want to see that your business is successful while being properly protected for possible issues that may arise at any time. Contact EPG Insurance today for your business liability insurance quote. From there, we will be able to help you plan for your business owner’s policy.

Did you know that, according to Oberlo, there were 30.7 million small businesses in the United States in 2019? They are also major drivers of the growth of the global economy.

If you run a small business, then you’re probably curious about business liability insurance.

Maybe you’ve recently heard about it from someone in the industry. Now, you’re worried about potential lawsuits and want to make sure you’re protected against them.

Or maybe you’ve recently had to pay a lot of money for a lawsuit, and you don’t want it to happen again.

Whatever your reason, it’s a good idea to invest in a business liability insurance policy. It protects both your business’s reputation and ability to survive.

In this article, we’ll review everything you need to know about business liability insurance. That way, you can know what’s covered, what isn’t, and whether it’s right for your small business. Read on to learn more.

What Business Liability Insurance Is

There are many different types of business liability insurance you can benefit from investing in, but today we will focus on 3. These are commercial general liability insurance, product liability insurance, and professional liability insurance. Commercial general liability is the most common.

However, you should consider the other types of business liability insurance, too.

What General Liability Insurance Is

As a business owner considering getting this type of insurance, it helps to know what general liability insurance is. Basically, this an insurance policy that protects you financially if you end up having to be responsible for an accident that occurs at your business.

This might include something like someone’s property being damaged or a customer getting injured at your business.

Additionally, business liability insurance may cover you if you need to defend yourself when someone has accused you of slander or libel.

In our modern world where so many claims are made and misunderstood online, this is an especially important aspect of business liability insurance.

For this reason, most small businesses purchase general liability insurance. Often, this is the first one that they invest in before investing in other types of business liability insurance.

Note that this type of insurance is often also called commercial general liability (CGL) insurance.

What General Liability Covers

General liability is designed to cover accidents that have caused physical harm, the damage that has occurred to property that belongs to someone, and legal issues such as slander, libel, and copyright infringement. Let’s review these in detail.

Accidents That Have Caused Physical Harm

When you have this general liability type of business liability insurance coverage, your policy can cover you for accidents that have caused physical harm. Even though no one plans for accidents, they happen with many businesses.

For example, if you run a gym, and someone trips on a piece of exercise equipment and breaks their wrist, they might sue you.

If you have general liability insurance, this type of claim can be covered. Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees or for this person’s injury, the insurance may step up to cover the legal costs and resulting injuries.

Usually, there are three types of lawsuits that are covered by general liability insurance:

Loss of Income

Let’s say that an accident occurs at your business. As a result, someone is injured, after which they aren’t able to return to work. In this case, your general liability insurance can cover the income they’ve missed out on.

Bodily Injury

If someone is injured at your business, then that person’s medical expenses may be covered by general liability insurance. However, this is only up until your policy’s limit, after which you’ll have to cover the rest.

It also excludes you and your employees.

Pain and Suffering

If there is an accident at your business, and someone has additional pain or suffering after, general liability insurance may cover this, too. For example, if mental strain results, your insurance might cover the treatment the injured person receives.

Damage to Someone Else’s Property

Not all accidents harm a person. Sometimes, they harm the property of that person. Let’s say, for example, that during a construction project, you accidentally damage someone’s car. Or, if you run a salon, you might accidentally spill product on someone’s expensive shoes.

Instead of having to pay for these costs, general liability insurance can cover them.

Libel, Slander, and Copyright Infringement

Libel, slander, and copyright infringement legal costs may also be covered by general liability insurance. These might include people suing you for breach of privacy or defamation of character. Even though you do your best to do everything legally, mistakes do happen.

Here are some examples of what you’d be covered for.

Copyright Infringement

Considering how many businesses are out there now, copyright infringement can happen very easily by accident. Perhaps you created a logo that you think is totally original. Months down the line, someone with a similar logo sues you for copyright infringement.

You can get your legal fees covered in this situation with general liability insurance.

Breach of Privacy

Perhaps the business you run is painting landscape pictures of people’s properties. To show off your craft, you posted a picture on Instagram of your landscape picture next to someone’s home and yard. They consider this a breach of privacy.

Instead of having to pay for a lawyer when this happens, your insurance policy may step up to defend you.

Defamation of Character

Let’s say that you get in an argument on Twitter with a rival company, and you end up saying some things to defend yourself that you believe to be true about the rival company. However, if these things aren’t true, they can sue for defamation of character.

Instead of being bogged down by legal fees, you may be covered.

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance is another type of business liability insurance. If you sell products or make them, then this might be a good insurance type for you to invest in. After all, if there are any issues with your products or they end up harming someone, you need protection.

Marketing Defect

When there’s a marketing defect with your product, it’s not the product itself that has a problem. Instead, it’s that the product was marketed in such a way that it might harm the customer. You could end up getting sued as a result.

Some examples of marketing defects include insufficient instructions, safety warnings that are incorrect, a lack of safety warnings, or incorrect food labels.

Manufacturing Defect

If there’s a manufacturing defect with one of your products, you might not even be aware of it. This is certainly the case for many e-commerce small business owners who design products remotely, after which they’re manufactured and shipped directly to customers.

When your product has a manufacturing defect, it might be missing a piece that’s important. It might also have been assembled incorrectly.

If the manufacturing defect causes a serious problem for your customer, then you might have to pay them a lot of money. Product liability insurance may cover these costs.

Design Defect

If your product has a design defect, then there’s something wrong with it even before it goes through the manufacturing stage. If you sell any type of technology, furniture, or something else that needs to be physically handled, a design defect could be dangerous.

Protect yourself from the damage caused by a design defect by investing in product liability insurance.

Professional Liability Insurance

If you offer services, then you might want to invest in professional liability insurance. This type of insurance is also called errors and omissions insurance. Basically, if you’ve done a service for your client and they’re dissatisfied with it, this insurance protects you.

Let’s say, for example, that you’re a marketing manager who handles a different number of clients.

For the most part, they’ve been happy with your work. But you have one client who is convinced that your services resulted in a loss.

Even though it’s actually because you’ve had to switch their target audience, which means starting over with building customer loyalty, they want their money back.

They might even be trying to sue you. In this case, you can use professional liability insurance to pay for these costs.

Professional liability insurance can also be used to protect you if there are errors in your work. For example, let’s say you’re a graphic designer. Perhaps you made a small mistake and sent the client the wrong draft of their logo.

Unfortunately, they used this version of the logo when making a presentation to potential funders.

As a result, they not only want their money back but also want to sue you for this costly mistake.

If you work in a service-related industry where the quality of your work has a direct impact on client success, you should consider getting professional liability insurance.

This is the right protection for IT consultants, accountants, architects, engineers and designers.

Other Types of Business Coverage

So far, we’ve covered the main types of business liability insurance. There are a few others you should consider, depending on what industry you’re in. These include cyber risk and data breach insurance, property insurance, and commercial auto insurance.

Cyber Risk and Data Breach Insurance

If you store a lot of your client’s personal information or data, you might want to invest in cyber risk and data breach insurance. Considering that cyber attacks are becoming more common, this will protect both you and your clients.

After all, if a cyber attacker demands money in exchange for getting your data back, you’ll be at a loss for what to do.

Additionally, your clients might want to sue you for not having the right protections in place.

If you store important information, such as credit card information, identity-related information, or health information, you should definitely invest in this type of business insurance.

Property Insurance

If you’re a designer who relies on your computer to get all your work done, then covering your computer with property insurance is smart. If you run a much larger operation—for example, a construction business—then a piece of equipment not working can cost you thousands of dollars.

Whether you want to protect office equipment, technological equipment, stock, or tools, property insurance is a good idea for any business owner.

This way, you can avoid costly repairs and replacements.

Whether it’s because of an accident on-site or an issue like inclement weather that causes the damage, property insurance will make it possible for you to keep getting your work done.

Commercial Auto Insurance

If you run a small business where many of your employees use cars, you’ll need to invest in commercial auto insurance. This will keep your drivers safe and protect you if there are any accidents when they’re out getting the job done.

Whether you use these cars to drive clients around or to deliver your products quickly, this type of auto insurance is a must for any business that uses cars.

Need More Information?

Now that we’ve reviewed the different types of business liability insurance you might want to invest in, you might have additional questions. Maybe you want to learn about the potential business liability insurance cost you’d have to pay.

Or maybe you want to find the right business liability insurance provider for you.

Whatever you need, we can help. At EPG Insurance, we’re experts when it comes to insurance for businesses. We also offer insurance products across 49 states, excluding North Dakota and Puerto Rico.

To learn more about how we can help you, contact us now.

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.

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.