Possible Scenarios Where Insurance Could Save Your Business

When it comes to business, there is always something to be thinking about. Starting up and planning is often the bit where you feel the most inspired and motivated. Putting your business plan together, seeking funding, and making it happen from scratch. As your business progresses, the client or customer base will start to grow, and you become focused on the bigger picture and moving forward.

While all of that sounds amazing, there are things that can go wrong, and it is essential that you cover yourself for every eventuality. Nobody wants to see their hard work turn into nothing or their reputation ruined when simple steps to cover yourself such as insurance could help you navigate difficult times. With that in mind, here are some of the possible scenarios where insurance could save your business. 

Negligence if you have a medical business

If you have a business that is in the medical field, then having your own private practice is often the route to take. Providing a service for your clients and ensuring that they are healthy and happy may bring you job satisfaction, but there is a rise in cases of medical negligence and treatment issues and this is when medical professional indemnity insurance could save your reputation. This sort of insurance will ensure that you are protected and also help you navigate what could be a very difficult time. Covering yourself for this eventuality is essential when you have a medical related business that provides a service to the public. 

Burglary of a business premises 

When you provide a product or even a service, you likely may have progressed to have your own business premises or retail store. But this could leave you vulnerable to theft of your stock or even business essentials liek computers, or stock that you use to provide a service to your customers and clients. Theft can be devastating, so it is important to try and have some insurance in place to cover your stock levels and business tools. This means that you won’t be out of action for too long. 

Working with the public 

Another thing you may not have considered is working with the public. This is specifically for businesses such as builders, joiners, construction companies, who may likely provide their services while the general public are close by, or indeed in someone's home. Public liability insurance is essential to cover you should anything happen. For example, a member of the general public falling because of the work you are doing.

Employees causing problems 

Finally, as your business progresses you may start to employ employees and expand your team. But while that is a step in the right direction for your business, it does open you up to a whole new world of potential problems. You can;t control someone's actions, and if an employee starts to cause trouble for you and your business, you will need some cover in place to protect your business while you handle the employee in the best possible way. 

Hopefully, highlighting some of these scenarios will help you to look at your business and check you are covered for every eventuality. 

Common Insurance Plans for New Businesses

When first starting out in the business world, an entrepreneur has a lot to think about with regard to protecting his investment. Long before the first product is sold or an employee is hired, the business faces serious exposures and risks. One lawsuit or accident could destroy a business before it has had a chance to be successful. Whether you choose to consult with a commercial insurance broker or you join forces with one of the captive insurance companies in your industry, having the right business insurance can be the difference between failure or success.

Professional Liability Insurance

This form of insurance is also known as errors and omission insurance (E&O), and it works to protect a business from negligence claims that arise either a failure to perform or a mistake. Since the potential for errors and mistakes vary from industry to industry, a custom professional liability policy will be written for your situation.

Property Insurance

Even if you operate your business out of your house, you need to consider purchasing property insurance. Traditional homeowner’s policies will not cover the equipment or inventory that you have on your property, and the same can be said about renter’s insurance with a leased building. Property insurance will address damages and replacement of furniture, signage, inventory, and equipment in the event of fire, theft, or storm. Floods and earthquakes are often excluded from coverage, so check with a broker on riders or extensions.

Workers’ Compensation

The government has required that businesses of certain sizes provide workers’ compensation insurance. This is a policy that issues support for the medical, disability, and death benefits that may be needed in the event that an employee is injured or dies while on the job. Low-risk positions still need coverage, since slips-and-falls or claims of carpal tunnel syndrome are some of the most common but pricey claims faced by companies.

Vehicle Insurance

Any vehicle that will be driven for work purposes should be insured against liability. A minimum extension of coverage against third-party injury is good if that is all you can afford, but if you can extend coverage to comprehensive, it will cover the vehicle as well. For employees that use their own vehicles,  make sure their personal insurance plans are current since those services could cover damages or injuries that occurred if they get into an accident.

There are many types of insurance plans available for commercial ventures, but not all of them will be applicable to your business. A good insurance agent will be able to assess what you need and develop a specific plan against liability.