A Guide to Business Owner's Policy for Your Small Business

Many small business owners think there are no insurance policies available for them. Unknown to most of them, the business owner's policy (BOP) was made to fit the needs of most small business owners. In this blog post, we will discuss all you need to know about BOP.

Checklist Before You Get a Business Owner's Policy

Before you think of obtaining a BOP, ensure you have the following information in place for a simple registration with any service provider.

1. Your entity's name (sole proprietorship, corporation, or LLC?
2. Your estimated annual gross revenue
3. Square footage you occupy
4. Fire/ theft prevention and protection measures that are in place
5. Amount of property insurance needed to replace if all your property/assets/equipment were to be lost

BOP is obtainable with most insurance service providers. This small business insurance package entails several important coverages for small business owners. As with other policies, you can always add additional coverage or optimize your policy to cover the most important risks.

What's Obtainable in a Business Owner's Policy?

A basic insurance policy for business owners usually covers general liabilities and properties. One of the advantages of choosing a business owner's insurance policy is that it has a wide market. Many insurance providers are willing to give you a policy, so you can shop for the best rates.

General liability covers slips and fall, property damage, product liability, personal injury, and advertising injury.

• Slip and fall covers injuries sustained by a visitor or third party in your place of business.
• Property damage covers damage done to a third party during the process of facilitating your business operations.
• Product liability covers losses caused by your product or service to a client.
• Personal injury covers slander and accusations brought against your business.
• Advertising injury covers claims made by another business owner of adverse effects of your advertisements on their business.

The second aspect of basic coverage for a business owner's insurance policy is property insurance.

Property insurance in a BOP covers the building, business personal property (BPP), loss of business income, and tenant improvement.

• Building insurance entails coverage for a building you own and use for your business.
• BPP covers all that is inside the building you use to run your business.
• Loss of business income reimburses you for the income lost as a result of temporary shut down due to the occurrence of a covered event.
• Tenant improvement covers the cost incurred to renovate a building that you have put on rent.

Additional Coverage for Your Business Owner's Policy

As always, you can add additional coverage to your policy to secure yourself against likely risks.

Additional coverage you can add to your policy includes tools and equipment, errors and omissions, cyber liability, and dependent property business income.

• Tools and equipment coverage protects working tools that you use at your client's place of business.
• Errors and omissions coverage is specific to professional services such as beauty salons. It covers their forgetfulness and small errors made during the business.
• Cyber liability covers the security of your information online as well as protection from hackers.
• Dependent property business income insures your business against the loss they would suffer when a business they depend on shuts down temporarily.

This is how a business owner's policy can cover your small business and meet its unique insurance needs.

Do you have additional questions about your business insurance policy? Contact the experts at the Scavone Insurance Agency Center LLC in White Plains, New York today. Our team is looking forward to answering all your questions.