Surplus Lines Insurance

If your business owns the building it occupies, the policy covers that property. If your business rents or leases its premises, the policy provides coverage for tenants’ improvements and betterments. Improvements and betterments are fixtures, alterations, installations or additions that you have put into the space that cannot legally be removed from the landlord’s premises.

Your policy will probably include two coverages that can be critical to enabling your business to recover after a disaster: Business Income and Extra Expense Insurance (also known as Business Interruption Insurance). Business Interruption Insurance helps pay ongoing expenses while your business is unable to function after a loss and also helps make up for lost profits. Extra Expense Coverage helps you recover as quickly as possible by paying extra expenses caused by the loss—such as rent for temporary quarters.

The BOP includes as part of the basic policy two types of coverage related to electronic data. Computer Operations Interruption Coverage pays for business income lost and extra expenses incurred as a result of many computer problems. Electronic Data Loss Coverage pays the cost to replace or restore electronic data destroyed or damaged as the result of causes of loss named in the policy. These include a computer virus or harmful code. For more coverage, there are several endorsements you can choose to add. You should discuss your needs with your agent.

Coverage can easily be added to these policies for such items as special equipment, fine arts, valuable papers and records, and accounts receivable.

The more high-value merchandise on the business premises, the higher the possibility that it will be a target for theft. Robbery and Burglary Insurance may be needed as well as Employee Dishonesty Insurance to protect against theft by insiders. You can add these coverages to your package policy.

The BOP covers real estate and other property your business owns. If your business rents or leases its premises, the BOP provides coverage for tenants’ improvements and betterments. These are fixtures, alterations, installations or additions that you have put into the space that cannot legally be removed from the landlord’s premises.

The BOP includes as part of the basic policy two types of coverage related to electronic data. Computer Operations Interruption Coverage pays for business income lost and extra expenses incurred as a result of many computer problems. Electronic Data Loss Coverage pays the cost to replace or restore electronic data destroyed or damaged as the result of causes of loss named in the policy. These include a computer virus or harmful code. For more coverage there are several endorsements you can choose to add to your BOP. You should discuss what electronic data your business uses with your insurance agent to assure you have the right coverages.

Coverage can easily be added to a BOP for such items as special equipment, fine arts, valuable papers and records or accounts receivable.

One coverage that can be vital to your company’s survival in case of disaster is Business Income and Extra Expense Insurance (also known as Business Interruption Insurance). Business Interruption Insurance helps pay ongoing expenses while your business is unable to function after a loss and also helps make up for lost profits. Extra Expense Coverage helps you recover as quickly as possible by paying extras expenses caused by the loss—such as rent for temporary quarters. This coverage may be included in your package policy or it may be an optional addition.

A business office typically receives and processes payments from clients or customers, which can lead to a risk of theft by an employee. You may wish to consider adding Employee Dishonesty Insurance to your coverage.

Liability risks are part of any business endeavor. A BOP provides a broad range of liability coverages—everything from slip and fall accidents to claims of libel or slander. At the same time, there are liability risks not covered by a BOP.

Should a client or customer sue claiming to have been harmed by something you did or failed to do, Errors and Omissions Insurance is critical for defense and payment of any damages.

Your personal auto policy probably provides coverage for some business use of your vehicle. A personal auto policy is unlikely to provide coverage, however, if the vehicle in question is used primarily in business. It will not provide coverage for any vehicle owned by a business. For those vehicles you must have a business auto policy.

Should you be driving your personal auto for a business purpose and get into an accident for which you are liable, an injured person could sue you personally. Will your personal auto policy have enough coverage to pay all the damages? If not, a lawsuit may be filed against your business. If you use personal vehicles for business, you want to be sure you have high enough limits to protect your business. You should discuss this with your insurance agent.

States have varying rules about when an employer must provide workers compensation insurance. If you have any employees, you should check with your state department of workers compensation to see if you are required to provide workers comp insurance.

The package policy covers real estate your business owns. If your plant rents or leases its premises, the policy provides coverage, in the event of a covered cause of loss, for tenants’ improvements and betterments. These are fixtures, alterations, installations or additions that you have put into the space that cannot legally be removed from the landlord’s premises. The policy also covers your other business property—equipment, machinery, raw materials, inventory, etc. The insurer will require you to report periodically on values in raw materials, goods at various stages of production and finished inventory so that if there is a loss, the claim can be settled with correct values. The basic policy usually includes two types of coverage related to electronic data. Computer Operations Interruption Coverage pays for business income lost and extra expenses incurred as a result of many computer problems. Electronic Data Loss Coverage pays the cost to replace or restore electronic data destroyed or damaged as the result of causes of loss named in the policy. These include a computer virus or harmful code. For more coverage, there are several endorsements you can choose to add to your BOP. You should discuss what electronic data your business uses with your insurance agent to assure you have the right coverages. The basic policy usually includes two coverages that can be vital to your business survival if there is a disaster: Business Income and Extra Expense Insurance (also known as Business Interruption Insurance). Business Interruption Insurance helps pay ongoing expenses while your business is unable to function after a loss and also helps make up for lost profits. Extra Expense Coverage helps you recover as quickly as possible by paying extras expenses caused by the loss—such as rent for temporary quarters. If these aren’t part of your basic policy you can probably add them for an additional premium. There are numerous types of property coverage some businesses need that are not included in the basic policy. Among others, these include coverage for theft and burglary, employee dishonesty, mechanical breakdown or property of others in your care, custody or control. Be sure to discuss with your agent what additional property coverages you may want to add.

Liability risks are part of any business endeavor. A package policy provides a broad range of liability coverages–everything from slip and fall accidents to claims of libel or slander. Probably the most important for the manufacturer is Products-Completed Operations Coverage. This provides for legal defense and payment of damages in the event there is a lawsuit charging that a product you manufactured injured the claimant. Most package policies exclude any coverage for pollution or environmental damage. Coverage can be added through endorsements.

Your personal auto policy probably provides coverage for some business use of your vehicle. A personal auto policy is unlikely to provide coverage, however, if the vehicle in question is used primarily in business. It will not provide coverage for any vehicle owned by a business.  For those vehicles you must have a business auto policy.

Should you be driving your personal truck or van for a business purpose and get into an accident for which you are liable, an injured person could sue you personally. Will your personal auto policy have enough coverage to pay all the damages? If not, a lawsuit may be filed against your business. If you use personal vehicles for business, you want to be sure you have high enough limits to protect your business. You should discuss this with your insurance agent.

States have varying rules about when an employer must provide workers compensation insurance. If you have three or more employees, you should check with your state department of workers compensation to see if you are required to provide workers comp insurance.

The BOP covers real estate your business owns. If your store rents or leases its premises, the BOP provides coverage, in the event of a covered cause of loss, for tenants’ improvements and betterments. These are fixtures, alterations, installations, or additions that you have put into the space that cannot legally be removed from the landlord’s premises.

The BOP insures your other business property (in addition to real estate) and your inventory. The policy recognizes that many retailers experience seasonal variations in value. For the majority, Christmas is the big selling season, but for others, the biggest season may be summer. The BOP accommodates seasonally fluctuating inventory value with an automatic 25 percent increase in your policy limit for business personal property, which includes inventory. The seasonal escalator applies only if you have insured business personal property to at least 100 percent of your average monthly values during either the 12 months preceding the loss or the period of time you have been in business as of the date of the loss, whichever is less.

The higher your inventory’s value, the more attractive a target it is for thieves. Risk management can help reduce this risk, but can never entirely eliminate it. To protect from potential losses, you will probably wish to add Burglary and Robbery Coverage to your BOP. Employee dishonesty is another risk for which you can add protection. The BOP already covers your risk of accepting bogus money orders and counterfeit money, although you may want to add higher limits.

Depending on the nature of your retail business, other coverages that may be appropriate to add include:

• Spoilage: If you sell items—such as cut flowers or food—that must be kept under controlled temperature conditions to avoid spoiling or perishing, you can add spoilage coverage for the value of property spoiled as a result of a breakdown of the temperature control system due to conditions beyond your control.
• Food Contamination: If you sell food, there is a risk that it could cause food poisoning or transmit a communicable disease from an employee of your business. You can cover this risk with a Food Contamination Endorsement.
• Mechanical Breakdown: This option provides coverage for mechanical or electrical breakdown to your boilers, pressure vessels, refrigeration systems, piping and mechanical and electrical machines, and apparatus that generate, transmit or use mechanical or electrical power.
• Outdoor Signs: The basic BOP doesn’t cover an outdoor sign not attached to the building, but you can add this coverage as a separate endorsement.

Another thing to consider is insuring your merchandise while it is in transit. Although it will usually be insured by the transportation company that is delivering it, the limit may not be high enough nor the coverage sufficiently extensive. You can add more coverage with a “transportation floater.” This form of insurance covers your property while it is being transported from one point to another or in the care, custody or control of others.

The liability coverage in the BOP protects your business from many liability loss exposures.

For most stores, a frequent risk is that a customer could be injured in a slip and fall accident. While the BOP covers your liability in such accidents, up to the policy limit, it’s also important to manage the risk to keep insurance claims down.  As a seller of products, there is also the risk that someone could sustain bodily injury or other harm from something you sold. This risk, too, is covered by the BOP.

If your business involves selling on the Internet, you can find out more about insurance issues on the e-commerce page of this Web site.

Your personal auto policy probably provides coverage for some business use of your vehicle. A personal auto policy is unlikely to provide coverage, however, if the vehicle in question is used primarily in business. It will not provide coverage for any vehicle owned by a business. For those vehicles you must have a business auto policy.

Should you be driving your personal auto for a business purpose and get into an accident for which you are liable, an injured person could sue you personally. Will your personal auto policy have enough coverage to pay all the damages? If not, a lawsuit may be filed against your business. If you use personal vehicles for business, you want to be sure you have high enough limits to protect your business. You should discuss this with your insurance agent.

States have varying rules about when an employer must provide workers compensation insurance. If you have three or more employees, you should check with your state department of workers compensation to see if you are required to provide workers comp insurance.