The beginning of the year is a great time to change up procedures and review your business’s coverages to make sure they are still appropriate. Many small businesses start out with a basic business owner’s insurance package— which can include commercial property and general liability protection — but this may not cover the changes when you downsize or expand.
To protect your business from risks, you should talk to your insurance agent. Here are some questions to ask yourself to take stock of your changes. Once that’s done, you can discuss these questions with an agent to ensure your business is properly protected.
General business:
- Has the name, mailing address or physical location of your business changed?
- Have you closed or moved any locations?
- Have you restructured your company’s ownership (e.g., gone from sole proprietorship to LLC or corporation) or added any DBAs (doing business as)?
- Has your business changed owners, partners or officers?
- Has the nature of your business operations changed?
- Have you changed or expanded the types of products you sell and/or services you offer?
- Do you service the products you manufacture?
- Do you have aging equipment?
- Have you purchased new equipment?
- Have you added new locations, expanded into new states or outside of the United States?
Any “Yes” means you may need to add coverage or increase your coverage limits on:
- General liability coverage
- Property coverage
- Professional liability coverage
- Product recall and product recall liability coverage
- Excess liability or umbrella coverage
Employees:
- Have you hired new employees?
- Do you have remote workers?
- Has your payroll changed?
Any “Yes” means you may need to update your:
- Employment practices liability coverage
- Workers’ compensation
Internet:
- Are you specifically covered for hacks, viruses and data breaches?
- Do you have a website? Do you sell anything online?
You may need to add coverage or increase your coverage limits on:
- General liability
- Data breach or cyber liability coverage
Vehicles:
- Have you added or eliminated vehicles used in your business operations?
- Have your drivers changed?
- Has the usage of vehicles covered by your policy changed (e.g., distance they are traveling or what they’re used for)?
- Do you or your employees use personal vehicles for business?
- Has it been longer than 12 months since you reviewed your liability coverage?
- Has it been longer than 12 months since you reviewed the deductible(s) required by your policy?
Any “Yes” means you may need to add coverage or increase your coverage limits on:
- Commercial auto policy
- Excess liability or umbrella coverage
These questions are meant to be a starting point; some may not apply to your work. Any other questions you have should be brought up to your insurance agent.
This blog is brought to you by our sponsor, Hanover Insurance, where you can read the original post.