Business Owners Insurance Part 2: General Liability Coverage Client

Posted on Nov 08, 2017

Business Owners Insurance Part 2: General Liability Coverage Client

Every business owner needs a minimum amount of insurance protection to help their business recover when emergencies arise. A business owner’s policy, or BOP, offers a bundle of essential insurance protection that will help you get back on your feet and operational in the aftermath of certain covered events.

General liability coverage is one of the types of insurance coverage that is typically bundled into a business owner’s insurance policy. There are a few things you need to understand about general liability coverage for businesses before you make your purchase, though.

What is a Business Owner’s Policy?

A BOP is a bundle of business insurance products designed to help businesses avoid devastating losses you’ll be unable to recover from when covered events take place. These events include things like:

  • Fire
  • Windstorms
  • Tornadoes
  • Theft
  • Acts of Vandalism

You will need to discuss the specific events your policy protects against with your insurance agent when choosing the best plan to meet the needs of your business.

Most BOPs offer three main points of protection:

  1. General Liability Coverage
  2. Business Income Insurance
  3. Property Damage Coverage

These three coverage types are essential for today’s businesses, but you may find that they are not adequate, at least not in the amounts offered by your BOP to meet your needs and comfort level.

Why is General Liability Coverage So Important?

General Liability Coverage is what will protect your business in the event that someone slips and falls on your business property if your sign falls on someone’s car, or one of your products causes an injury.

Having General Liability Coverage might not seem all that important to many business owners. You plan to make sure your business is safe and kept in good working order at all times to avoid situations like those covered by it. Unfortunately, not all lawsuits have merit, and even those can prove costly when you are trying to defend the good name, honor, and integrity of your business.

Legal fees alone can add up, even if you not liable for the injury or damage alleged. General liability insurance helps to cover those legal fees so you can focus on building your business and not on paying for attorneys.

The general liability included in your business owner’s policy offers a wide range of protection, including:

  • Property Damage Protection
  • Physical Injury Protection
  • Advertising Injury

It is important to note, though, that this does not cover every liability contingency. In fact, your general liability coverage does not protect against professional liability — sometimes referred to as malpractice or errors and omissions, employee injuries (you will need worker’s compensation coverage for this type of protection), or data breaches. To cover data breaches and the liability associated with that, you will need to purchase cyber liability insurance coverage.

Additionally, you might want to consider purchasing additional liability insurance coverage for your business in the form of an umbrella liability policy. Umbrella insurance can help when the judgment against your business is greater than the general liability coverage you have with your BOP. Without umbrella coverage, your business, or you personally as the business owner, is responsible for the remainder of the damages and those costs can add up quickly.

It is important to work with an insurance agency you can trust to help ensure that you have the proper balance of affordability and coverage for your business owner’s insurance policy.

Who Needs Business Owner’s Insurance?

If you own a business, you need a solid business owner’s policy. You will most likely also want worker’s compensation insurance, umbrella insurance, business auto insurance, professional liability insurance, data breach (cyber liability) insurance, or more depending on the type of business you own.

Working with an insurance organization who has a solid reputation for providing outstanding customer service, product selection, and attention to detail, like Otterstedt Insurance Agency, can help you buy your business owners insurance with confidence that you’re getting the right product to meet your needs. Here at Otterstedt Insurance Agency, we have been serving the needs of businesses throughout New Jersey and beyond since 1919. Let us help you protect your business by contacting us today.

 

View Parts 1 and 3:

Business Owners Insurance Part 1: Property Damage Coverage
Business Owners Insurance Part 3: Income Insurance

Companies We Represent. View More >

  • Plymouth Rock Logo
  • Hartford Insurance Logo
  • Hanover Insurance Logo
  • Travelers Insurance Logo
  • Harleysville Insurance Logo
  • Selective Insurance Logo
  • Chubb Insurance Logo
  • ISU Logo