You should buy small business renters insurance if you rent an office space or another type to run your enterprise. This kind of small business insurance protects your operations, team and covers property damage.
What is Business Renters Insurance?
A business owner can get this insurance coverage through a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP). These combine three different types of insurace.
- General Liability
- Commercial Property Insurance
- Business Income Insurance
Protect your business even if you’re renting a space because BOPs cover commercial property coverage. A small business gets financial protection from lawsuits, theft, and fire. Plus lost income if the property is covered.
Read More: Types of Business Insurance
Why You Should Have a Business Renters Insurance Policy
Business renters insurance protects small businesses from unexpected events, and issues like property damage. There are several other reasons why this renters insurance is a must-have.
- For Coverage When Employees Damage a Rented Space – There are certain risks other types of business insurance coverage don’t provide. Standard policies don’t look after damages workers make to inventory or a warehouse.
- Your Contracts Might Require A Business Renters Policy – Maybe you’re renting from your landlord. Loan agreements even require a renter’s insurance policy.
- To Cover Damages Made By A Third Party – A business owner should be aware of the difference between actual cash value versus replacement cost.
- For Coverage From Accidents Leading to Lawsuits – Small business renter’s insurance should cover this, make sure. It might not be covered by a standard business insurance policy.
- It’s The Law – Small business renters insurance is required in most states. Without it, your business can face losses due to legal actions, fires and theft.
What is Covered by Business Renters Insurance?
A business owner’s policy like this provides coverage for natural disasters and lawsuits pertaining to bodily injury. Remember when you’re looking for any type of insurance coverage, you should really get a customized quote. Lots of companies have convenient tabs where you can find an agent too.
This insurance covers the following as well:
Professional Liability Insurance
Designed to protect businesses against legal accusations of negligence or harm. Also called errors and omissions insurance. A general liability policy doesn’t cover you professionally, this does.
Consider the following additions. Contractors should look at completed operations coverage. General liability insurance usually covers this.
Advertising injury coverage is usually included with commercial general liability. This covers policyholders and protects them from issues like copyright infringement and slander.
Business Interruption Insurance
Another kind of additional protection covers otherwise missed business income from wind theft, fire etc.
Workers Compensation Insurance
Required in pretty much every state. Workers comp covers business for work-related illnesses and injuries. Also looks after lost wages and medical costs. Landlords require this.
This is pretty much the standard coverage you’ll need. Basically, it covers your responsibilities as an employer. To cover workers in the event of death, disabilities, injuries, and illnesses. Make sure to get liability coverage too.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Part of what you’ll need in distribution and /or transportation businesses. A commercial auto policy covers your business vehicles.
Read More: Business Insurance Benefits
What is Not Covered by Business Renters Insurance?
This type of business policy doesn’t cover everything your small business might need. Here’s what your business won’t get with these policies.
- Coverage for Pests – Bugs are for the landlord’s insurance company to tackle. Most small business renter’s insurance coverage doesn’t cover damage caused by pests.
- Negligent Damage – Likewise for building damage caused by criminal activity or negligence. You won’t get coverage under those circumstances to protect your business.
- Floods – Coverage for property damage caused by water is under a flood policy, not small business renters insurance. Ask your insurance company about this distinction.
- Earthquakes – Professional services and other business renters don’t get coverage automatically. But there could be an add-on to your business owner’s policy.
Remember that small business renters insurance should bundle options. An insurance professional and the insurance company should be able to customize solutions for you.
How Much Does Business Rental Insurance Cost?
Small business owners are usually concerned with the bottom line. Like how much good business renters insurance costs. Remember a good policy combines liability insurance and commercial property insurance. And general liability policies.
There are additional endorsements you can add to renters insurance like a policy for errors and omissions coverage. And other insurance products you might need too. Here’s the bottom line. Business renters insurance should provide coverage mirroring BOP insurance.
An insurance professional can estimate the average cost of one of these BOP policies. That’s usually around $1200 annually for good renters insurance. What you pay might be different depending on several factors. Like the type of property your business is on.
There are many different casualty insurance company choices. Read on to find out how to find the one that supplies good business renters insurance.
How to Choose the Right Business Rental Insurance Company
Finding the right company is a big part of getting business renters insurance coverage. A good insurance company offers income insurance, commercial property insurance and others.
There are several things you can look for to start a search. Make sure that you can bundle policies with any of the companies you are considering. Chances are you’ll need to customize the coverage to get the best deal. While you are at it find out what’s not covered, this can be just as important as finding out what is.
Every company supplies policies that have these exclusions. You need to find out what they are at the beginning. Review your needs before you start any search. Knowing what your business renter’s coverage requirements are is essential. So, you should be reviewing them on a yearly basis.
Here’s how to choose a company that works with your risk management strategies.
- Go right to the insurance company for insurance policies. Do some research. Then build a business policy that suits your needs. Tweak the services to get a customized policy, like one covering the property. And then get a custom quote so you only pay for what you’ll use.
- Get coverage online. Compare services from different providers this way.
- Contact an insurance broker to cover your business activities with the right insurance. It needs to cover everything from policies for professional liability to property coverage where applicable. Looking through these financial products on your own can be confusing. A broker isn’t cheap, but they can guide you through the process.
- Understanding the risks in your industry helps. That can guide you to the right insurance. For example, product liability insurance works best for restaurants.
- Learning what affects your insurance rates is critical. Don’t let a business owner’s policy lapse. That will increase the premiums on items like professional liability insurance.
Best Small Business Rental Insurance Providers
Effective business insurance coverage needs to come from industry-leading business partners. The top American companies for a good renter insurance policy are listed below. Remember to look for standards like liability insurance from any insurance company you’re considering. Take a look at the testimonials on their websites. These are good indicators of the company’s credibility.
The Hartford
This is a well know casualty insurance company. Their business renters insurance works better than the competition because their owner’s policy is trusted. Get customized property insurance for different types of businesses. They also supply excellent worker’s comp policies.
Chubb
The insurance cover you can get here is outstanding. Add commercial property, liability, and business interruption. Then you can get international coverage.
State Farm
There’s a handy tab to find a local agent. They support different types of businesses like restaurants and retailers. Their insurance for general liability comes in $1 million increments. Property insurance is available too.
There’s no login required for this company. And you can get a certificate of your insurance right on their website. They look after a variety of small businesses like drugstores and bakery locations as well as online sales businesses, contractors and trades too.
Hiscox
Pay for a short-term liability insurance policy and protect property and data with cybersecurity insurance. This insurance company offers general liability insurance too.
This is a company that has a 100-year history of making sure businesses have good coverage. There are 3,000 employees in 14 different countries and customers right across the globe.
Nationwide
They supply different types of insurance. Like liability insurance for different types of business, they offer commercial auto insurance with collision. And actual cost value when you need to replace property equipment breakdown is a covered loss. You’ve got insurance cover for errors and omissions too, and of course general liability insurance. They also provide resources and tools for smaller businesses and you can pay your bills online through their website. Nationwide has more than 90 years of business experience.
Understanding business renters insurance and how it works can help you concentrate on making profits. Other business insurance products can also fold into a renter’s policy.
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