Katrina Terry
Every business needs to have an insurance plan to protect it against a variety of legal and financial dangers, but not every insurance policy is the same. There is a wide range of different options available, each of which provides coverage against a different range or type of dangers to your business. Understanding the differences between the four most common types of business insurance policies can help make it easier for you to choose the one that best suits your needs.
Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance is designed to cover your business in the event that certain errors that you make in your business end up costing your clients a great deal of money. This is particularly relevant for professional financial services, including insurance companies themselves, financial advisors, accountants and lawyers, since even well-intentioned decisions can sometimes lead to extreme hardship for their clients.
Property Insurance
Property insurance, on the other hand, is arguably the most common type of business insurance that is designed to reimburse your company in the event that any of your physical property, which can range from owned buildings like offices and real estate to physical inventory sold in retail or digital marketplaces, becomes damaged. Various types of property insurance plans are available, simply by virtue of the wide range of different objects that they can cover, which means that you can customize your plan to protect against the most likely forms of damage, including water damage, weather damage, and vandalism and theft.
Workers' Compensation Insurance
Workers' compensation insurance is mandated for businesses to have in most states and covers your business against injuries that your employees may suffer while on the job. This is necessary even for businesses that aren't physically strenuous and for workplaces that make use of volunteers and seasonal workers, as any sort of injury that they sustain at the workplace that prevents them from coming in to work and effectively contributing would allow them to apply for workers' compensation – which can be especially costly if your company is found to be at fault.
Home-Based Business Insurance
Like its name would suggest, home-based business insurance is designed for businesses that are run out of residences. This is because standard homeowner's insurance does not cover damage to any business-related items or inventory, which means that standard natural disasters and damage like flooding, hail damage, or heavy storms will require you to pay out of pocket for any business damage that you incur if you don't have business insurance to cover the cost.
For more information about these and other insurance types, such as commercial liability insurance, contact a local insurance company.
When you start thinking about getting insurance, it can be overwhelming to hear the advice from family and friends. While some people might encourage you to stockpile money and insure yourself, others might warn about the expense of paying for car repairs or a stay in the hospital. However, even the most conservative financial experts talk about the importance of having sound insurance. Because it can be difficult to find the right policies, I decided to create a website completely dedicated to providing free information about insurance. Every situation is different, but if you are like most people, you will need a decent homeowners, medical, auto, and life insurance policy to protect you from unforeseen circumstances.