Business Insurance to Combat Business Disaster

by Guest » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:13 pm

You may be extremely enterprising and may have taken your business to great heights. Definitely you do not want any hindrance to your already successful business. But accidents don’t happen with a warning. To be sure you can recover from any problem to your business, getting a business insurance would be a sensible idea.

What coverage can you expect from business insurance?

Business insurance coverage is sold to business owners as a package offering coverage for both major property as well as liability risks. Some companies may also sell you separate policies. The Businessowners Policy (BOP) is a popular package purchased by mid-sized or small companies. Commercial policy packages are usually designed and purchased by bigger businesses. The Businessowners Policy includes:

Property Insurance: The 2 different types are standard and special. This covers for buildings and any content owned by the company. There are, however, exceptions to property insurance. Find out more.
Business Interruption Insurance: This is designed to cover loss of income as a result of disrupted operations of the business caused by fire or any other accident. This policy may sometimes also cover the extra expense that you have to bear in case you need to shift operations to a new location temporarily.
Liability Protection: In the event that your company causes any harm to others, this policy provides protection against such an event. This harm may be bodily injury or property damage caused by defective products, service errors and faults in installation.

The Businessowners Policy, however, does not cover professional liability, workers' compensation, auto insurance, disability insurance or health insurance. These will require you to purchase separate policies.

What can be your plan to combat disaster in office?

You do not know which employee will suffer a chest pain in your office premise, or when there will be a fire threat or any other accident. So that you and your employees may be able to combat the situation, you need to make a plan. The process is ongoing but once organized it can be a very smooth process. Take some time out to make the plan. Learn how from the steps to follow.

Put together the address and contact numbers of local hospitals, Emergency Medical Services EMS, and nearest disaster responders.
Store the location of important documents.
Have the mobile and personal contact numbers of all key personnel in the company.
Keep a list of the contact numbers of the safety contractor, fire fighters (contractors), landlords and others key personnel.
Make a list of employees who may require special help to evacuate the office premise in case of an emergency.
Prepare a list of doctors/nurse (if any) or anybody with special training in such a field.
Test contacts for outdated numbers and update as and when required.
Check whether the representatives listed in the plan respond to calls since they must be available 24x7.
Put all of the information in one place e.g. a binder and put separate tabs for better understanding and quick searches. While doing so, consider the language all of the employees understand, whether anyone has impaired sight and any other condition. These binders must be accessible to all.
Make sure to delegate the right disaster issue to the right person. If one person is given responsibility of all issues, he/she may not be able to attend to the tasks properly.
A step-by-step scenario specific instruction always helps. Prepare a simple plan and test the plan to judge its effectiveness e.g. fire drills, tornado drills, test exit routes. Do not forget to get employee feedback on this.
Get your employees involved in the disaster plan you prepare and encourage them for Red Cross first aid and CPR training. Lessons on disaster planning must be given.
The plan must also be circulated amongst employees. This is to increase the effectiveness of the plan.

How would you insure your home business?

When you are running your business from your home, you may need extra protection for your property since you may not have enough insurance to protect it. Homeowners insurance may only provide partial coverage for your property and you may need extra coverage. There are 3 basic policies that you may choose from, in order to provide protection to your business.

Homeowners Policy Endorsement: A simple endorsement added to the homeowners policy you own, may increase your coverage for business equipment to double. A homeowners liability insurance will be essential if there are chances that your clients or any delivery people injure themselves in your premises. This liability insurance is designed for businesses that have few visitors e.g. writers, teachers, piano teachers.
In-Home Business Policy/Program: This policy not just provides protection for your business but most of the policies also reimburse you for conditions such as loss of important documents, accounts to receive and off-site property belonging to the business. Some policies pay for loss of income due to damage caused to your home by fire or any other accident. If you need to operate from a temporary location, this will also get compensated.

This policy may provide a wider coverage like legal responsibilities or lawsuits for injuries that are a result of products or services that you give to others. The policies in home business are available with homeowners insurance companies as well as specialty insurers.
Businessowners Policy (BOP): Covers any property that is related to business.

How would you file a claim for business insurance?

There are very simple and easy steps to be followed and kept in mind when filing a claim. In case of theft, fire or any accident:

You must get in touch with your insurance company or may be also your agent. The police too, should be informed about the event.
Go through your insurance policy to find out how you are covered and what procedures you must follow to get your claim.
See that your property does not get further damage from temporary repair works. If your property needs immediate repair, you may do so, but keep the damaged parts for the adjusters to review in case they need to.
The cost to repair your property may be huge. So try and get at least 2 quotations/bids for costs that may be needed to repair the damage.
The income generated by the business before and after an accident is necessary for filing a claim for business interruption. Keeping a detailed record of the business process always helps. If you need to move to a temporary location, this can determine the cost to be incurred during that period.

For those who are dissatisfied with the process in which your claim was handled, you may:

Discuss with your insurance agent or claims manager and get a feasible solution.
Contact the consumer affairs or the complaint cell and explain your situation.
Get in touch with your state’s department of insurance.
Consult an attorney specializing in insurance related issues.

Starting a business requires a lot of planning. There are a lot of aspects involved in establishing a business and taking it to great heights. Insurance is such an important aspect. No matter whether you have a small business or a bigger one, it can get affected from any natural disaster. It is always sensible to get your business insured to protect yourself from unnecessary losses.

What are the things that I should know before applying for business insurance?

Total Comments: 15

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 11:47 am Post Subject:

It's deffinately worth it

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:30 pm Post Subject: thanx

Hey friends I'm a online marketer & I just gone through all the posts & got so much needed information about business insurance. This will surely help me applying for a suitable insurance plan

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 01:05 pm Post Subject:

What are the things that I should know before applying for business insurance?

Your question is not very clear, but I guess a simple answer might me: If you don't have business insurance and are sued by a customer, a contractor, an employee or someone else, you could not only lose your business, but personal assets as well.

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 05:25 pm Post Subject:

Do I need to separate group mediclaim, property insurance, fixed assets, political insurance and many of them from business insurance or there is any package or a firm that includes all of these insurance without missing any of the aspects of my business because I am conscioud of any type of risk remained unaware of that particular insurance and became a culprit. Can anyone list so that we businessmen get a fair idea of what type of assurance options we have?

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 08:23 pm Post Subject:

Business insurance is probably the most complex, complicated and misunderstood form of insurance for a lot of reasons:

(1) Start-up businesses have no idea how to project their total sales.
(2) Some business owners who use a vehicle in their business keep it insured under their personal auto policy.
(3) Many business owners operate their business from their home and feel quite comfortable with the insurance coverage provided in their home insurance policy.
(4) Some business owners just don't understand that a few dollars spent on measures to make their businesses safer will save them hundreds or even thousands of dollars in insurance premiums.
(5) Small business owners just don't include a commercial insurance premium in their budget.