Business Owners Package policy, commonly called a “BOP” contains many of the insurance coverages needed by most small businesses.

While these policies are not standard, there is great variation from insurance company to insurance company; there are certain common elements. The basic BOP offers business property for both building and contents, and liability insurance protection for the operation of your business. This liability protection will generally include both the operation of your business, at its established location, and the liability from your products or completed operations.

Some, but not all of the policies, will also offer business income and extra expense protection after an insured loss. BOP policies do not contain all of the coverages needed by a small business.

Notably, they do not cover any workers’ compensation, professional liability, or business vehicle coverage.

A commercial auto insurance policy is required under most circumstances when the vehicle is used for business purposes and meets certain other requirements. It is not just the registration that determines the requirement for a business automobile insurance policy. Other requirements are ownership by a corporation, use in hauling goods for hire and gross vehicle weight of the vehicle. Some small trucks can be owned and insured under a personal automobile insurance policy under specific circumstances.

Commercial automobile insurance policies are not regulated in pricing, as are private passenger policies. There is price competition between insurance companies for good commercial automobile insurance.

Commercial property insurance is a special type of insurance that covers the company building as well as the contents owned by the company. “Property” can include a variety of types: lost income or business interruption, buildings, computers, money, and valuable papers.

Under the liability policy coverage, the building should be protected from damaging events such as fire, burglary and vandalism. It may not be enough to cover just the building; the aftermath of such damage should be covered as well.

If you own a business, you probably own some form of general liability insurance to protect you in the event of a lawsuit due to negligence on your part.

However, there may be situations where the limits of your general policy may not provide adequate protection.

A commercial umbrella can provide you and your business with additional liability protection.

Think of Directors and Officers Insurance as a management Errors and Omissions policy.

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance provides financial protection for the directors and officers of your company in the event they are sued in conjunction with the performance of their duties as they relate to the company. 

Directors and Officers Insurance is often confused with Errors & Omissions Liability. The two are not synonymous; Errors & Omissions is concerned with performance failures and negligence with respect to your products and services, not the performance and duties of management.

Generally, it is a good idea to carry both Directors and Officers Liability Insurance and Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) is insurance that helps protect you against claims from your employees that result from the general conduct of your business.

Common examples of employee related claims include claims relating to:

• Discrimination
• Wrongful Discharge
• Sexual Harassment
• Hostile Working Environment
• Wrongful Termination
• Lack of Advancement

Normally, it is difficult for businesses or general contractors to work without general insurance. General liability insurance is intended to guard operators and owners of companies from claims that may come from a broad spectrum of sources. These exposures could be just about anything, including liability engendered by accidents from the operations of the insured party, contractual liability, products manufactured by the insured party, etc.

The liability you select, whether it is one, two, or three million dollars, determines the cost of general liability insurance. Also factored into the rates are the kind of work undertaken, gross receipts and total payroll expenses. Similar to auto insurance, when it comes to general liability insurance, you will first have to make a down payment and then follow it up with installments. Before buying general liability insurance, it is best to compare the quotes available in the market.

It is the business owner’s or general contractor’s job to make sure that the people working under him/her are covered by an insurance policy. If for example, a person who is not a part of the project gets injured, the injured person’s lawyer can target just about anyone involved in the project. The more individuals that are involved, the greater the chances of a successful lawsuit.

Product liability insurance protects you in case a product you produce or provide causes harm to a user or a user’s property. A “product” is anything that is tangibly used, touched, or consumed. This type of insurance is recommended for every business that manufactures a product but is especially important for companies that produce food, clothing, toys, or anything else that could conceivably cause harm to someone.

Most business owners’ policies include limited product liability coverage. If, for some reason, you do not have this coverage through a business owner’s policy and your product runs the risk of inflicting harm on other people, you may need to buy product liability separately.

Similarly, if your product presents a higher risk of injury (for example, it contains a hazardous material), you may need to purchase additional coverage.

Professional liability insurance, also sometimes referred to as Errors and Omissions insurance or E&O, protects businesses or individuals in the event that a customer holds your company or business owner responsible for a service that was provided, or failed to be provided, and did not have the expected or intended results.

Professional liability insurance is separate from a General Liability (GL) insurance policy which would cover you mainly for bodily injury or property damage liability.

Whether you are planning a corporate event, holding a large festival, or organizing a sporting event or race, you will need special event insurance to ensure that you are covered for unexpected occurrences that may spoil the success you and your company may receive when the big day arrives.

Sample List of Events:

• Corporate Events
• Company Meetings
• Bike Races
• Running Races
• Triathlons
• Concerts
• Sporting Events
• Festivals

We offer a broad range of coverages that are cost-effective and perfectly tailored for your business requirements if wholesaling or distributing. Get coverage specifically designed for today’s wholesalers and distributors.

Our wholesalers and distributors insurance programs include detailed risk assessment and loss control expertise that can help reduce insurance costs for everyone from the small supplier to the large distributor.

Workers’ compensation insurance protects employers from claims resulting from injuries to employees. It protects your business from lawsuits and provides employees with compensation for on-the-job injuries.

By law, most employers are required to provide coverage for lost wages and medical bills incurred as a result of on-the-job accidents or illnesses. For many businesses, workers comp coverage is the largest part of its insurance expense.