Understanding Commercial Insurance

3/21/2019 (Permalink)

Commercial Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers businesses for losses due to certain covered events, such as fire, theft, vandalism, or natural disaster. This coverage helps business owners protect their valuable assets, such as an owned or leased building, tools, equipment, machinery, or inventory. Commercial property insurance rates typically average $500 to $1,000 per year.

Commercial Property Insurance Rates

The cost of business property insurance varies depending on the value of the property to be insured, the location of the business, and the coverage limits and deductible you choose. There are several other factors affecting the cost of commercial property insurance, but most small businesses will pay $500 to $1,000 per year in premium.

Some insurance providers will allow you to include commercial property insurance in a business owners policy (BOP), which is a bundled package of multiple insurance types. The cost of the package as a whole is often less than the underlying policies if purchased separately.

The most important factors that affect the cost of business property insurance include:

• Geography: Everything from the land value of your business location to local crime rates can impact the annual cost of your premium.
• Safety and Security: This expands on the geography and location aspect. Is your commercial property located in a high crime area? Are there hazardous materials stored in your building or nearby?
• Size of Business Premises: A large commercial building will generally cost more to cover than a single unit office space.
• Age of Building: Old buildings can be more susceptible to certain types of damage, so they may cost more to insure. For example, a fire caused by old electrical wiring could translate into costly repairs if the building needs to be rebuilt to code.
• Type of Equipment: Heavy industrial equipment will cost more to insure than an at-home business’ sewing machine.
• Age of Equipment: You may pay higher premiums if your equipment is hard to repair because of scarce parts or if it’s more likely to break down because of heavy use.

Insurance companies will charge more for greater risk exposures that require higher coverage limits. It’s important to remain aware of the risk exposures of your business and the assets that you need covered.

Use an Agent or Broker Who Understands Your Business

Commercial property insurance is a type of small business insurance and is not specific to any particular industry. Keep in mind that not every insurance company will have intimate knowledge of your business or the risk exposures that need protection. When shopping for a commercial property insurance policy, try to find an agent or broker who understands your business or industry type.

How Commercial Property Insurance Works

A commercial property insurance policy is non-industry specific, which means that the coverage is mostly standard across all business types. However, commercial property insurance is not a one-size-fits-all product. Policies will differ in a few key areas, such as the coverage limits, how assets are valued, and what’s covered and not covered in the policy.

What Commercial Property Insurance Covers

Your insurance policy will cover certain perils, which are causes of damage such as fire or theft. Coverages included in your policy are called inclusions, whereas perils not covered in your policy are called exclusions. It’s important to know what is covered in your policy and what is not covered.

Here are some of the primary items covered in a commercial property insurance policy due to loss from a covered peril:

• The building, owned or leased
• Business equipment loss
• Damage or loss due to wind, hail, fire or theft
• Accidental damage of property
• Business Interruption (lost business income)
• Electronic data
• Interruption of computer operations
• Valuable papers and records
• Forgery or alteration
• Accounts receivable

Of the covered items in a commercial property insurance policy, the most important items to cover are the building and the business’ assets contained within it. Business interruption, which covers a loss of income when your business is forced to suspend operations due to a covered event, is also necessary coverage in the property insurance policy.

For more information about Commercial Insurance visit Fit Small Business: Get Your Business Into Shape!