A Business Owners Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one convenient policy. We’ll work with you to design coverage that protects your business from a variety of risks, unique to you. The first type is property insurance. Property insurance covers risks associated with your business’ premises, equipment and vehicles. Additionally, it often includes any associated loss of business.

The second type is liability insurance. Liability insurance covers damage to people you deal with and their property. But, it’s important to note that liability insurance usually doesn’t cover risks related to professional services–meaning damages that result from you giving clients inaccurate advice, for example. Getting a business policy (BOP) means covering all these risks in one go, which reduces stress and brings peace of mind. The policy will usually be custom made to cover your specific needs, so pricing can vary significantly. But, it’s normally cheaper than buying separate policies for each element.

When you look around your business, it’s obvious that you need to protect against damage to your buildings, equipment and staff. Less obvious–but no less important–is the risk of damage to other people and businesses, which could leave you paying out large sums if you are held liable.

General liability insurance mainly covers bodily injury to people outside of your business and physical damage to their property. A few exceptions to this principle include data loss and reputation damage (for example, if one of your business’ staff members

defames a client). It’s important to note that general liability coverage doesn’t apply to cases where you are sued for giving inadequate professional advice. Your business needs general liability insurance if you ever meet clients (at your business or theirs), or have any physical access to their equipment. Additionally, general liability insurance may be a requirement before some businesses will sign a contract with you.

General liability insurance is a common necessity for most businesses. We can help you to determine a policy that works for your unique business.

A vehicle collision is never good news, but when it’s one of your business’ cars or trucks, the consequences are more complicated. Business auto insurance, also called commercial auto insurance, takes all the elements of normal auto coverage and adds on extra protection.

For example, when obtaining commercial car insurance you can usually get much higher liability coverage to reflect the fact that a business typically has more assets at risk than an individual would. Additionally, with commercial auto insurance, you can get collision insurance. This type of coverage pays out for damage to your commercial car or truck no matter who caused the collision–a protection that’s often a must if you lease or finance commercial vehicles.

It’s also worth considering employers non-owned car liability coverage. Employers non-owned car liability coverage is an add-on or a separate policy covering those instances when your staff use their own personal cars or trucks as part of their work for your business. This type of protection can help reduce the risk of messy legal complications if they are injured or their is vehicle damaged during this time. Commercial car insurance is essential for those that run a business, but obtaining the proper coverages can get confusing. We can help!

Commercial property insurance protects your assets in the event that they are stolen, damaged or destroyed in a fire or natural disaster. We’ll partner with you to design insurance coverage that will protect your company’s property. Fire, flooding, theft or accidental damage are unfortunate incidents that could not only damage or destroy your property, but could also devastate your business. Whether it’s buildings, commercial vehicles or equipment, losing these assets would be a potentially critical setback for your business.

A commercial property insurance policy can protect against the cost of replacing lost or damaged property. Additionally, commercial property insurance can cover any associated losses–such as lost income–that are caused because part or all of your business is temporarily knocked out of action. It’s worth exploring the options available to you with a business property insurance policy, as they may cover risks you hadn’t thought of. For example, some policies protect against the additional costs you face if rebuilding a damaged business facility means no longer being exempt from local building codes. Other points to check include whether a policy covers the cost of removing debris before reconstruction begins, as well as whether the business property is covered against weather event damage while being rebuilt. Commercial property insurance is a great way to ensure that your business’ location and assets, as well as your income, are protected.

Workers’ compensation insurance covers employees injured on the job or in auto accidents while on business. It also covers work-related illnesses. We’ll work with you to find a solution that creates a safer and more productive workplace. Workers’ compensation insurance, or simply workers’ comp, is not just a legal requirement–it’s an investment in your staff’s security. The precise rules vary from state to state, but the general rule is that your business must take out workers’ compensation insurance for employees that pays out if they are injured at work.

In principle, the workers’ comp payouts will cover medical bills, care costs and a portion of any lost wages. Plus, in the worst-case scenario, workers’ compensation insurance will cover funeral costs and death benefits. There are often harsh legal penalties for businesses that don’t carry workers’ comp. But, aside from that, workers’ comp insurance can also help your business, as it makes sure staff get adequate medical treatment that help them return to work fit and healthy. Many workers’ compensation insurance policies go beyond the legal minimums and will also pay your legal costs if an employee sues over a workplace injury. While you can get standalone workers’ compensation policies, you can also often buy workers’ comp coverage as an add-on to other policies, such as a business owners policy (BOP), commercial general liability insurance or professional liability insurance. Our insurance experts are ready to help you determine the best method for obtaining proper workers’ compensation insurance for your business.

Cyber liability insurance protects your business against the expenses associated with a data breach. We’ll help you evaluate the data liability risks your business faces and find you a policy that meets your specific needs.

A number of action steps must be taken once your business has experienced a cyber hack. These steps include:

• Notifying customers and clients of the breach (a legal requirement in most states)

• Restoring your business’ website to working order

• Dealing with extortion attempts

• Paying damages to clients, customers and suppliers who lose out because of your breach

All of these necessary action steps can lead to a hefty, unexpected cost for your business. Not to mention, dealing with the aftermath of a cyber hack could close your business temporarily, which could result in a loss of income.

A cyber liability insurance policy can help you to cover the expenses associated with a cyber hack. Additionally, some commercial cyber liability policies cover loss of business while your systems are compromised or unavailable. You can even get coverage against inadvertently breaching somebody else’s copyright.

In addition to protecting your business against cyber risks financially, obtaining cyber liability insurance can also help reduce potential risks, because insurers will talk through your current cyber-defenses and identify potential weaknesses that you need to plug.

As an employer, you face a rising tide of employment practices litigation alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and other employment-related issues. We’ll work with you to help you assess and manage your risk proactively.

It’s easy to feel as if employing people is a legal minefield. This is mainly because there is so much potential for lawsuits over wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination and workplace conditions. Employment practice liability insurance (or EPLI) covers the risk of having to payout such claims. EPLI policies often cover the business itself, as well as individuals like company directors. Employment practice liability insurance policies are usually written to cover cases that come out of unintentional actions (or failures to act) rather than deliberate acts of discrimination or other wrongful practice.

One question to ask an insurer is whether the costs of defending a claim in court count towards the payout limit for any damages. Also, look out for mention of a “claims made” basis–that’s insurance jargon that means you are only covered if the policy is active both when the alleged incident took place and when the employee makes the claim. Our EPLI experts can walk you through the various policies available to help determine if this type of insurance is a good fit for your business.

Directors and officers liability insurance covers directors and officers for claims made against them while serving on a board of directors and/or as an officer. We’ll work with you to protect your organization’s greatest asset: your senior leadership. Directors and senior officers in a business are paid to make big decisions, but if those decisions are wrong, things can get very costly. Directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance covers the costs of settling claims for damages that result from poor decisions. Usually, policies cover costs relating to wrongful decisions, but not those decisions that are classed as criminal acts or that are designed to personally benefit the director.

Examples of events covered by directors and officers liability insurance can include mistakes or missing information in company accounts or other financial documents, or failing to properly enforce human resources policies. Depending on the state the business is based in–specifically, its rules on director indemnification–the policy could cover damages and costs paid by the individual or by the business. It’s always important to check the details of your D & O liability insurance policy carefully, as the coverage period may detail when the claim against the person is made, not when the failure or mistake happened. If you’re looking to protect your business from potentially wrongful decisions made by directors and officers, then a liability insurance policy could be a great fit.

Did you know you can protect your properties even before they are finished being built? Builders risk insurance protects from risks like fire, theft and more. Builders risk insurance is effectively a form of property insurance that covers the period while the property is still under construction. It’s possible for the property owners to take out such a policy, though more commonly it’ll be a policy they insist the contractors take out.

The key areas of coverage are damage caused by events such as fire and hail storms. You’ll also normally be covered for theft and vandalism (though not by your employees) and damage caused by vehicles or aircraft hitting the building. To make sure coverage levels are adequate, policies are often set at a fixed percentage of the total construction budget. You’ll need to check how long the policy runs as it typically won’t allow repeated extensions of the construction timeline.

It’s important to be aware of what builders risk insurance doesn’t cover. Unless specifically stated, it won’t cover specific increased risks such as flooding on a beachfront construction or earthquakes near a fault line. It also doesn’t cover injuries suffered by workers, meaning you’ll still need any legally-required workers compensation insurance coverage, as well.

If builders risk insurance sounds right for you, contact us today for a quote.