Article Reviewed by a licensed insurance professional: Sam Meenasian (CA dept of insurance license #0F75955).
Business insurance is designed to protect your company from suffering financial losses due to accidents, injuries, and unexpected events. The types of things your insurance can protect you from vary based on the type of business insurance you select.
General Liability insurance, for example, protects you from unexpected events, hazards, and perils that can cost your business money. Unexpected events include things like a customer hurting themselves in your store. If a customer slips and falls on a freshly waxed floor, for example, general liability will pay for their hospital or doctor’s bills. If a customer’s car is damaged while on your business premises, general liability will pay for the cost of repairs. General liability also covers damages, lawsuits, and settlements involving personal injury, such as claims of defamation of character.
A Business Owners Policy (BOP) includes general liability and allows you to add a variety of different types of coverages based on what your company needs. You can add insurance to protect your business assets, for example, such as retail stores, warehouses, and inventory. If your store is damaged by hail and rain during a storm, for example, a BOP can pay to repair the building and roof, repair or replace interior furnishings, and replace destroyed inventory.
Professional Liability, or Errors and Omissions insurance, protects you from lawsuits that arise when you make a professional mistake. Many business owners are treated as consultants and professional advisors by their customers, and if you make a mistake, it can cause your customer to suffer from losses and damage. For example, if a professional electrician makes a mistake when wiring electrical plugs in a new room on a customer’s house, that mistake can cause a fire to start. The customer may sue the electrician for damages. Errors and omissions insurance pays for damages caused by professional mistakes of this sort.
Business Auto Insurance is an important coverage for all companies, particularly those that rely on vehicles for day-to-day operations. Florists who deliver flowers, for example, caterers who drive to a customer’s location, and truck drivers who haul cargo over longer distances all need this coverage. Commercial auto insurance pays for bodily injuries and property damage if your vehicle causes an auto accident. It can also pay the medical bills that result from your company driver and any passengers in the vehicle. Business auto insurance can also protect you from losing your company vehicles. Some types of coverage pay for the repairs and replacement of the vehicle itself when it is damaged or destroyed in an accident. This coverage is particularly important for companies that lease vehicles and for those who are still paying off auto loans.
