Business Owners' Policy / BOP

Since 1970s business owner's policies have been very popular with small to medium sized businesses after it was first developed then. A typical small business needs certain specific coverage that this policy provides and at a standard premium package. This policy is offered generally at a lesser price than would be required to purchase individual policies. It is a comprehensive package that is chosen by several small sized companies as a potential bargain.

Business owner's policy covers property and equipment related to business, loss of income, any liability and extra expenditure. This has been mainly designed for small-to-mid-size businesses and provides much wider coverage than in-home business policy. However, this policy does not provide compensation for workers, disability insurance and health insurance.

Automobile coverage is an important part of business insurance. If your business requires you to have a car then make sure that you have the proper auto insurance for the same.

Since you cannot predict an accident, it is better that you get an insurance policy to cover your business. You may like to think that your business is safe and is away from harms length. But what would you do if a natural disaster affected your business? However, remote these may seem, you may go for a business owner's insurance for the safety of your business.

Anyone who owns a business may opt for business owner's policy. However, to be able to purchase this policy you must meet certain criteria

1. You must have 100 or less than 100 employees.
2. Your revenues should not exceed $1 million.

If companies do exceed these limits then purchasing individual business insurance would be the best option. Even if this is one of the most common types of insurance, some business may find the coverage limits to be too low and may also not like the lack of other flexible options. However, the lower premiums make up for the lack in flexibility of other options.

Normally with business insurance you may be offered:

• Insurance for your property such as buildings, inventories and equipments.
• Insurance for business interruption includes losses that occur if you have to shut down your business or even reduce production temporarily.
• Protection for casualty or any liability. If any employee or products harm any third party or their property, this insurance will cover.
• Insurance to cover crime like loss of money or securities due to a burglary or theft or any other kind of destruction. It also covers any loss due to theft by employee.
• Insurance for liability that arises from accidents or from the sale of a product that damages a customer's property. If you get accused of slander, invasion of property or copyright, this policy provides cover.
• Insurance for any damage from rented or borrowed vehicles.

Companies with BOP or business owner's insurance may still need to purchase other insurance policies like automobile insurance and worker's compensation separately. Your insurance agent or broker should be able to suggest any specific type of insurance pertaining to the risks in your type of business in order to provide complete protection to it.

More liability insurance is what small businesses should look at. The liability coverage provided in the BOP may not always be adequate since the liability that you may face will be industry specific.

When you purchase business owner's policy (BOP) for your business, make sure that your business is neither over insured r underinsured. You may make a comprehensive list of your property, equipment and inventory so that you are able to decide better on the amount and type of insurance that you need. Get help from your insurance agent or broker to identify risks and suggest specific coverage.