The following are the most common commercial business insurance coverages most organizations need in order to protect their operations. Make sure to review your current insurance program and call us if you have any questions or concerns.
Most General Liability policies exclude Abuse and Molestation coverage. Various specialty programs provide Abuse & Molestation as part of the General Liability policy. Coverage can be written on an Occurrence or Claims made basis and most insurance carriers will require employment screening i.e. federal fingerprint, pre-employment background checks, etc. Abuse & Molestation coverage is written in a variety of ways including the following: • Sublimit-Abuse & Molestation coverage is provided as a sublimit to the policy. Sublimit may include defense coverage only. • No Exclusion under General Liability- If there is no exclusion for Abuse & Molestation, it may be considered a covered liability exposure. • Deductible may apply to Abuse & Molestation Coverage Form
There is no “standard” coverage form for Abuse & Molestation coverage. Therefore it is important that you review the coverage to determine if it fits your business needs.
Accidents don’t just happen – they are caused..which means they can be prevented. It is important to develop an effective loss prevention program. Your insurance carrier can assist you with your loss control program. Call us
Business Owners who purchase vehicles in the name of the business need to be careful that they are properly insured and that they carry high enough liability limits to protect their operations. Hired and Non Owned Automobile Liability coverages are a must for most business owners. It provides Automobile Liability to a business or social service organization when a vehicle must be hired or borrowed to conduct business. The most common scenario is when employees use their own vehicles on behalf of the business. Hired and Non Owned Auto Liability will protect the business while the employee is driving their own vehicle (i.e. sales or service call, running errands, client home visits etc.). Many of our clients (employers) get confused because they make sure that every employee they hire provides proof of their personal automobile insurance. The problem is this: if their employee is involved in an at – fault automobile accident, the injured party could go after the employee personally as well as the business for damages. We recommend no less than $1million coverage. Your attorney and Accountant can also assist you in determining the amount of liability coverage. If your operations require that employees use their own vehicle to transport others, please contact our office. It is imperative that both the employee and the employer carry high enough automobile liability limit. Make sure to keep properly screen employees and volunteers who are likely to operate their own vehicles on behalf of your business. Evaluating a driver’s accident history and driving record can ensure there are a minimal number of non-serious auto accidents. Our insurance carriers can assist you with Loss Control information.
Business Property can be insured under a Business Package policy or separately, under a Business Property Policy. Business Property coverage is designed to replace property damage from a “covered peril”. A “peril” refers to the cause of loss. Some losses are covered i.e. fire and windstorm. Other losses may not be covered. For example, an earthquake loss is usually not covered under the business property policy. Once you have most cases you need to purchase a separate earthquake policy. determined what coverages you may need, Valuation (Replacement Cost, Actual Cash Value and Functional Replacment Cost) and Co-insurance need to be determined. Be prepared by having a professional assess your building’s value. The Co-Insurance clause requires that the insured must carry an insurance limit on its property in the amount great than or equal to a certain percentage of its total value, usually 80, 90 or 100 per cent. If the insured fails to carry a sufficient limit to comply with this provision, a penalty will be applied that results in the insured becoming a “co-insurer” on the claim, thus the term co-insurance. The insurance industry offers several options which may be confusing to the policyholder. Always consult with your insurance broker to make sure that you are insured to value. The most common property coverages include: Building, Personal Property, Loss of Income, Loss of Rents, Extra Expense, Earthquake Sprinkler Leakage, Fire Legal Liability, Personal Property of Others: , Equipment Breakdown, Building Ordinance . We can assist you with all of your property coverage needs.
Accidents don’t just happen – they are caused..which means they can be prevented. It is important to develop an effective loss prevention program. Your insurance carrier can assist you with your loss control program. Call us
General Liability is a form of insurance designed to indemnity the business for third party claims due to negligence. This form of coverage is considered the most common insurance purchased by most businesses and social service organizations. Coverages can include premises and operations liability for onsite and jobsite accidents and products liability claims for products that injure third parties. Consider endorsing Employee Benefits Liability coverage to the General Liability policy in order to protect against claims caused by the administration of your employee benefit program. When adding additional insureds on to your general liability policy, remember that you are sharing your liability limits with this additional insured. Always purchase high enough limits of liability to protect your operations. Report all operations, locations, services, products and activities to your broker to insure that that you are adequately covered.
One of the most overlooked insurance coverages is Cyber Liability. For any business or organization that has a website, you need to protect your operations from the impact of a data breach i.e. financial loss, business distraction, Loss of Customers and Damage to Reputation. Your standard General Liability, Property or Crime policies will not traditionally cover damage to or loss of intangible assets (data and systems) so there exists a significant gap in coverage, both in terms of exposure and because of the ever greater dependency on technology to be able to do business. Cyber Liability provides several coverage options including Copy Infringement, Personal Injury, Combined Content and Errors, Omissions & Negligent Acts Coverage.
Directors & Officers Liability (D&O) coverage is designed to protect officers and directors of a corporation against damages from claims resulting from negligent or wrongful acts in the course of their duties. D&O also covers the corporation (and the officers and directors in some cases) for expenses incurred in defending lawsuits arising from alleged wrongful acts of officers or directors. Specialty Programs that underwrite Non Profit Corporations usually include broader coverage to include employees, volunteers and committee members. Policies are written on a claims made basis and usually require a Deductible . Note that each insurance carrier writes its own specialized Directors & Officers policy, so please make sure to review it carefully.
Most business owners are vulnerable in the day-to-day operations or their businesses and operations. Employment Practice Liability coverage is designed to protect employers against sexual harassment and discrimination type claims in the work place. Most policies are written on a claims made basis and require a deductible. There are various coverages and enhancements to these policies so make sure to adequately review the coverage form. There is no “standard” coverage form. There are several insurance carriers that will underwrite a combination policy that includes Directors & Officers Liability and Employment Practice Liability
Accidents don’t just happen – they are caused..which means they can be prevented. It is important to develop an effective loss prevention program. Your insurance carrier can assist you with your loss control program. Call us
In order to obtain coverage for an accidental breakdown of business equipment and systems (circuit board failure, electrical arcing or mechanical breakdown of parts) you must purchase Boiler And Machinery Coverage . Most property policies exclude losses that involve electrical line surges, insulation deterioration and poor connections. Typical losses include a voltage fluctuation which cases terminal boards to burn out.
A Fidelity Bond reimburses an employer for losses resulting from dishonest acts of employees. Most companies are vulnerable to crime committed by an employee and should have strong internal controls in place i.e. someone who cannot deposit or withdraw funds reconciles bank accounts, counter signature requirements, etc. We recommend having an annual audit of operations performed by someone outside of your company annually i.e. accountant, C.P.A, etc. If you hire Independent Contractor notify us as coverage may not be included under the Fidelity Bond for the acts of the independent contractor. Fraud is big business..so be prepared!
In order to make sure that your General Liability policy includes coverage for your special events or fund raisers, you must notify your broker. Many General Liability policies can not provide coverage for special events and therefore you will need to purchase a separate Special Event Liability policy. Also make sure to notify your insurance broker if liquor will be sold / served at the event. If you hire independent contractors for the event, make sure that they carry their own General Liability coverage. Always obtain a Certificate of Insurance from independent contractors i.e. food service vendor, bartender, entertainment, valet parking, etc.
Most business owners purchase this coverage as protection from a catastrophic liability loss. The Commercial Umbrella is a form of liability insurance protecting policyholders for claims in excess of the limits of their primary automobile, general liability and workers compensation policies. There are commercial umbrella policies that will include coverage for Professional Liability and Abuse & Molestation Coverage. Not all policies are created equal and so please make sure to review your umbrella policy.
Most States require that employers provide workers’ compensation benefits to their employees. Worker’s Compensation provides benefits to employees for any injury or contracted disease arising out of and in the course of employment. When an employee suffers an injury, it must be reported to the worker’s compensation insurance carrier. If an employee is unable to return to work due to a permanent injury, the insurer pays to re-train the employee for another line of work. If the employee dies, the insurer pays a death benefit to the employee’s family. Workers’ Compensation provides coverage for all employees of the business or organization. It can cover the business owner if the business is a corporation, and the owner is actively involved in the business. Sole proprietors are not included in coverage. Partnerships – general partners may be excluded from coverage, limited partners may not be excluded. Non compensated officers of non profit corporations may be excluded from coverage. Non profit corporations that “hire” volunteers can endorse coverage for the volunteers. Another option for many non profit corporations is to obtain a Volunteer Accident Policy for their volunteers. Workers’ Compensation premium is primarily based on the size of payroll, job classifications and the company’s rates. Claims history impacts the overall premium via the Experience Modification. The Experience Modification is published by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) in accordance with the Experience Rating Plan and must be applied to the policy premium. Call us for a quick quote. We represent the leading insurance carriers and provide effective claims management.
Accidents don’t just happen – they are caused..which means they can be prevented. It is important to develop an effective loss prevention program. Your insurance carrier can assist you with your loss control program. Call us
