5 Reasons to Invest in Commercial Insurance for Your Business
Why do you need to invest in commercial insurance coverage? Most people don’t like paying for insurance, but are very grateful for it when they need it. Maybe you own a fledgling company, just starting out and trying to find the best deal for your needs. Your company may have been in business for awhile, is doing well, but you just aren’t 100% sure that your insurance needs are covered. That’s what Partners Direct Insurance provides for our clients: good, solid advice on what coverage you need today. We take your unique business and give you tailor-made solutions. Here are a few things to consider:
1) Professional Liability
Professional Liability Insurance, or PLI is also known in the industry as Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance. It protects professional advice and service-providing individuals and companies from bearing the brunt of a lawsuit where a person or corporation is claiming damages from your services. It protects you from the full cost of defending against a claim, and any damages that may be awarded following the lawsuit. This kind of policy covers things that wouldn’t be covered under a general liability insurance policy. Physicians and attorneys, for example, have PLIs to cover them in case of alleged negligence.
2) Workers Compensation
In the state of California, every employer is required by law to provide workers’ compensation insurance, even if the employer only has a single employee. Workers compensation is solely the responsibility of the business owner: an employee cannot be asked to assist in paying the premium. It is also California law that you post the “notice to employees” poster in a prominent place at the work site. This gives employees information on your workers compensation coverage and where to go for medical care for any work injury.
You must also provide newly hired employees with a workers’ compensation pamphlet explaining their rights and responsibilities. Should an employee get sick or hurt on the job, you are required to provide them with a claim form within one working day after the injury or illness is reported. You are also required to return a copy of the completed form to the employee within a working day of receiving it.
3) Commercial Property Insurance
You never want to imagine something going wrong at your business, but life happens and it is important to be covered in case of problems. Commercial property insurance may cover theft, accidents, or natural disasters. You may own a freestanding building, or lease an office, or work from home, and commercial property insurance can keep you covered. We are very familiar with wildfires in southern California. What if your business was destroyed by the Santa Ana winds and fire? Maybe a water pipe burst during the weekend while you were away and now your business is flooded and your inventory is ruined. So are your computers, furniture, equipment and other valuable documents that were stored in your office. Maybe the sign for your business was damaged in a storm and you now have the cost of replacing it. Perhaps the fencing and landscaping surrounding your property was damaged, or a storm caused damage to a neighbor’s property. Commercial Property Insurance will cover you from these out-of-pocket surprises.
4) Commercial Auto Insurance
You have to have commercial auto insurance to cover the cars, vans or trucks that help you do business. It doesn’t matter if you have a large fleet or just a truck or two, you should be covered just in case. When our team at Partners Direct Insurance meets with you, we’ll figure out the best policy to keep you covered in case of physical damage or liability. There are differences between personal auto insurance and commercial auto policies. A commercial vehicle insurance policy will cover:
- Bodily injury liability coverage: injury or death resulting from an accident where you are at fault
- Property damage liability coverage: if your vehicle damages another person’s property
- Medical payments, no-fault or personal injury coverage: if an employee is hurt in your vehicle
- Uninsured motorist coverage: if the ‘other guy’ in a wreck has no insurance or is under-insured
- Collision coverage: when your business vehicle is hit or hits another object
- Comprehensive physical damage coverage: for vehicle damage caused by theft, vandalism, fire or flood
5) Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
This policy protects you against employee lawsuits. It will cover you in case an employee makes a claim against you alleging discrimination (based on race, sex, age, etc.) It also protect you from legal fees if someone brings a wrongful termination, failure to promote or harassment claim against you.
At Partners Direct Insurance, we take the “Partners” very seriously. We know small companies don’t have HR departments to provide this information to them, and may not know what insurance coverage they need to operate. We pride ourselves on offering custom, individual attention to you and your business and work hard to find solutions that cover you, so you can get back to doing what you do well: open for business!
