Finance

Got It Covered: The 9 Types of Business Insurance Out There

Business insuranceFrom Obamacare to workers compensation insurance, the waters of business insurance policies can be difficult to navigate. Ninety-four percent of small businesses believe they are adequately protected by their current insurance policies, according to Inc.com, but only a little more than half of them have the appropriate insurance necessary to recover from a disaster. There are certain insurance policies that a business is required by the government to have, and other insurance policies that intelligent business owners should maintain for their own protection.

General Liability Insurance

A general liability insurance policy is intended to protect you against a comprehensive set of scenarios, such as libel, slander, medical expenses and legal fees. General liability insurance is the most basic form of insurance that you should acquire early and always maintain.

Workers Compensation Insurance

All U.S. states require businesses to carry this type of insurance, which covers full-time employees in the event they are injured while on the job. This can include their medical expenses, lost wages and additional costs associated with the injury.

Property Insurance

Property insurance will protect the physical assets of a company along with the physical space the company resides in. Commercial property insurance can also cover acts of theft and vandalism. There are two major types of property insurance: peril-specific and all-risk. It’s a good idea to have all-risk insurance if you have significant assets, but you can get away with peril-specific insurance otherwise.

Errors and Omissions Insurance

Errors and omissions insurance, also known as professional liability insurance, is essential for many businesses. It protects the business against the possibility that a mistake is made that causes damages to a client. Everyone makes mistakes, even you, which is what makes this form of insurance so incredibly important.

Data Breach Insurance

Many companies forego data breach insurance, even though data breaches can present significant financial issues for a company. Data breaches can occur at almost any time and can occur through third-party applications such as point-of-sale systems. Data breach insurance can cover you and your company for losses sustained throughout this time. CIO reports that 31 percent of companies now have cyberinsurance policies and a further 57 percent plan on purchasing a cyberinsurance policy in the future.

Employee Health Insurance

There will be new health insurance requirements for business starting in 2014. Small businesses will be able to purchase insurance through a SHOP Marketplace, according to the government website HealthCare.gov, and there will be tax credits for small businesses to minimize the financial costs.

Business Income Insurance

Business income insurance is intended to help a business in the event that a situation arises that affects the business’ income. If a fire occurs, for example, business income insurance can help a company with revenue while the business undergoes repairs.

Product Liability Insurance

If your business creates and sells products, product liability insurance will protect you against anything that goes wrong that could cause financial or physical damage to your clients or their property.

Umbrella Insurance

An umbrella insurance policy is essentially a policy that covers all other policies. It extends the coverage of all of your other insurance policies, in the event that a claim exceeds it. Umbrella insurance policies will also often cover things that your other policies do not, such as claims of intellectual property theft against your company.

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Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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