29 Sep Everything You Need to Know About North Carolina Business Insurance

Next stop on our back to the basics of insurance journey, business insurance! If you run a small business, it means you’ve probably put a lot of time and money into starting and keeping that business afloat. Therefore, North Carolina business insurance might be your best friend and you don’t even know it. The proper policy is a necessary cost to physically and financially protect all of that time, money and effort that goes into jump-starting and running your own small business. So don’t let the right coverage slip through your hands just because you don’t have the right understanding of what your business needs!

Basically to sum it up, there are three types of insurance for your business: property, liability, and coverage for your workers. Continue reading for the nuts and bolts of each type of policy.

Property Insurance

Basic property insurance covers your small business from events such as fires, vandalism, lightning, and losses from other unforeseen mishaps. The policies often fall into two different categories, a “named-peril” and an “all-risk policy”.

• “Named-Peril” – Covers certain losses caused by events that the policy identifies
• “All-Risk Policy” – Covers any type of loss except for those specified in the policy

Once you decide what kind of protection you need, next you need to determine the amount of coverage. Items that you should consider covering include buildings, automobiles, equipment and machinery, inventory and supplies, and other intangible items such as trademarks. Once you have the list of what needs to be covered, determine their replacement value to ensure that you have the proper amount of coverage.

Liability Insurance

Given the extensive amount of lawsuits in today’s society, liability coverage is essential. Liability insurance provides coverage in case your business is sued for something it did—or didn’t do—that resulted in property damage or injury to someone.  It covers the cost of damages awarded to the other party, along with the expenses of your business’ defense in the lawsuit.

A couple of ways to determine the appropriate amount of coverage is to look at a similar recent lawsuit in a comparable industry or to base the amount of coverage on your business’ total assets.

Many insurance companies offer a package deal to combine property and liability insurance called a Business owners’ policy. However, this sometimes doesn’t offer adequate coverage; it all depends on the size of your business and the industry your business involves.

Insurance For Your Workers

While a health plan to cover your workers’ medical and dental needs is optional, workers’ compensation is a required policy for every business. Every state has their own laws for workers’ comp requirements; click here for more information on your state’s specific laws.

After reading the basics about business insurance, are you still yearning for more information? Call us today at 877-318-5951 to talk to Chris (he’s our business insurance genius!) or visit our website for more information and a free NC business insurance quote!