Business Insurance: Four Basic Principles for Those Starting a New Business

Business insurance is vital for a new business. If you are in the planning stages for starting a new business, you’ll need to plan for your insurance coverage. You likely already have insurance for your home and automobile. But the insurance needs for a business are somewhat different and you must address all of your new business exposures.

Here is a list of the four basic components of a business insurance policy:

1. Property:
a. The building you own. If you’re leasing a building, your lease may require you to insure the building.
b. Your business personal property, including your furniture, machinery, computers, office equipment, inventory and raw materials.
c. Your vehicles.

2. Liability: If your business will be dealing with the public, there is a chance that you will cause a loss to others due to negligence. This covers errors you may make and personal injury or property damage to others.

3. People: If you will have employees, Workers Compensation insurance will be necessary. You might also consider Health Insurance and/or Life Insurance for your employees. “Keyman” life insurance protects the business from loss of a key owner or employee. Worker’s Compensation is mandatory, other coverages are optional.

4. Income: The lifeblood of any business is its income. If that income is interrupted or stopped, the business will likely not survive. Business Interruption coverage provides replacement of the lost income due to a covered peril.

When you are preparing your business plan for your new business, you should be able to generate the information necessary, such as property values, number of employees and anticipated revenue. Share this information with your insurance agent so that together you can design a business insurance policy for you that meets all your needs.

If you have experience a Business Insurance loss, whether property, liability, people or income, you need to know winning insurance claim strategies. The insurance company will not tell you the claims process, but I will. I will show you how to take control of your insurance claim, and add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlement. For more information, go to the website listed under my photo.