Types of Business Insurance

InsuranceTrak is the #1 destination on the internet for businesses across the country needing to save money on their business insurance.  But before you just go and start getting quotes on business insurance, you need to know what types of business insurance you should be looking for first.

Below are the main types of business insurance that could apply to you.  Please review these specific business insurances for your own knowledge and education. As always, feel free to contact us and request a quote or to discuss your particular type of business in detail and what types of business insurance apply to you.  

We'll review what exposures you have as a business, what coverages you need, and shop with best in class, top insurance carriers.  Remember, knowing the different types of business insurance is just one piece of the business insurance puzzle:

• General Liability Insurance. This insurance covers your business against claims for bodily injury and property damage.  When adding property coverage to a General Liability policy, this is often referred to as a Business Owner Policy or BOP insurance.  There are many facets to BOP insurance.  General Liability protects your small business from injury or damage caused by you or your employees to 3rd parties while on your premises.  Often a BOP will include products and completed operations liability insurance which helps to protect from injury or damage done by your products or completed operations once they are out of your control.  There are many other coverages that can be afforded by having a business owner policy like commercial auto insurance, commercial property insurance and even loss of income insurance.
• Commercial Auto Insurance. If you own a vehicle that you use for your business, it's a good idea to insure that vehicle under your business instead of yourself as an individual.  Depending on the type of vehicle you have, you might be outright required to carry commercial auto insurance.  
• Workers Compensation Insurance.  Workers Compensation, or Work Comp for short, helps to cover employees when they get hurt or ill on the job.  Workers Comp is generally required in most states if your business has any employees, but not all states.  The only state that does not require Workers Comp by law is the state of Texas.
• NYS Disability Insurance-  If your business has employees in the state of New York, then you're not only required to carry workers compensation insurance, but you'll also need statutory NYS disability insurance along with Paid Family Leave coverage for your employees.  This insurance is available through private insurance carriers in New York.  It's important to know that in most other states, Statutory Disability & Paid Family Leave coverage can be obtained directly from the state instead of a private insurance carrier.
• Professional Liability Insurance.  Professional Liability insurance is also referred to as Errors and Omissions (E&O Insurance) or Medical Malpractice Insurance.   This insurance provides coverage in the event that a business is held legally liable for damages which are cause by your improper advice or negligence.  Malpractice insurance is very important in the medical field. 
• Cyber Liability Insurance-  This is an important insurance to carry for any business because of the rapid rise of cyber attacks.  Cyber Liability AKA Data Breach insurance will cover your business from malicious attackers of your website, data, sensitive information, and much more.  It's important to note that if you have a software or technology business, regular cyber liability is often not enough, nor is regular Professional Liability Insurance.  These 2 insurances overlap each other to create coverage gaps for technology businesses, so a more appropriate type of insurance that will cover both your cyber and professional liability concerns can be found in the form of a Tech E&O policy.
• Surety Bonds & Fidelity Bonds-  There are various types of bonds including Surety Bonds and Fidelity Bonds.  It's important to draw the distinction between Bonds and Insurance as bonds are not considered to be actual insurance.  For example, a surety bond involves a three-party agreement between a Principal (who purchases the bond and undertakes an obligation to perform an act as promised), a Surety (who guarantees the obligation will be performed), and an Obligee (the party who requires, and often receives the benefit of the surety bond).  The Obligee who requires a bond is typically a municipality like a local, state or federal government. 

Any type of business should review all the different business insurances listed above as the risks can be different from business to business.  One type of business that needs further examination for how these different business insurances can be used to protect themselves are technology businesses.

InsuranceTrak is here to service all your business insurance needs!