Business insurance

Commercial Auto Insurance

As a business owner, it’s essential to have the right insurance coverage for the vehicles you use in your business. Just like personal vehicles, business vehicles need coverage for liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states), and uninsured motorists. Many business owners use the same vehicle for both business and personal purposes. If your vehicle is owned by the business, ensure the business name is listed as the “principal insured” on the policy. This helps avoid confusion if you need to file a claim or if a claim is filed against you.

Key Coverages

1. Liability Coverage: Protects you if you’re at fault in an accident and cause injury or property damage to others. It covers legal fees, medical expenses, and repair costs.
2. Collision Coverage: Pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision with another vehicle or object, regardless of who is at fault.
3. Comprehensive Coverage: Covers damage to your vehicle from non-collision incidents such as theft, vandalism, fire, or natural disasters.
4. Medical Payments (Personal Injury Protection): Covers medical expenses for you and your passengers in the event of an accident, regardless of who is at fault.
5. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Protects you if you’re involved in an accident with a driver who doesn’t have sufficient insurance to cover the damages.

Business-Specific Considerations

• Principal Insured: If the vehicle is owned by the business, the business name should be listed as the “principal insured” on the policy. This ensures that the business is protected in the event of a claim.
• Usage Details: Your insurance agent will need detailed information about how the vehicles are used in your business, who will be driving them, and whether employees might use their own cars for business purposes.
• Policy Differences: While the major coverages are similar, a business auto policy differs from a personal auto policy in several technical aspects. It’s important to ask your insurance agent to explain all the differences and options available to you.

General Liability Insurance

If you have a personal umbrella liability policy, it typically excludes business-related liability. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure you have sufficient auto liability coverage for your business needs.

In recent years, the likelihood of business owners facing lawsuits has significantly increased. General Liability insurance can protect your business from financial ruin by providing coverage if your business is sued or held legally responsible for injury or damage.

Key Coverages

1. Bodily Injury: Covers costs related to care, loss of services, and restitution for any death resulting from injury.
2. Property Damage: Covers physical damage to others’ property or the loss of use of that property.
3. Products-Completed Operations: Provides liability protection (including damages and legal expenses up to your policy’s limit) if an injury results from something your company made or a service your company provided.
4. Products Liability: A specialized coverage that protects your company against lawsuits from product-related injuries or accidents.
5. Contractual Liability: Extends to any liability you may assume by entering into various contracts.

Additional Coverages

• Reasonable Use of Force: Covers liability for using reasonable force to protect persons or property.
• Borrowed Equipment: Covers liability for damage to equipment borrowed for business use.
• Liquor Liability: Provides coverage if your business is held liable for damages caused by serving alcohol.
• Non-Owned Vehicles: Covers liability for vehicles not owned by your business, such as aircraft and watercraft.
• Fire, Lightning, or Explosion Damage: Covers damages caused by fire, lightning, or explosions.
• Water Damage Liability Protection: Covers liability for water damage.
• Legal Defense Costs: Covers legal expenses incurred in defending against lawsuits.
• Medical Payments: Covers medical expenses for injuries sustained on your business premises.
• Personal Injury: Covers legal liability for personal injuries, such as defamation or invasion of privacy.
• Advertising Injury: Covers legal liability for advertising injuries, such as copyright infringement.
• Specialized Liability Protection: Provides tailored coverage for specific business types.

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers compensation laws ensure that employees injured on the job receive fixed monetary awards, eliminating the need for litigation and simplifying the process for employees. This also helps control financial risks for employers, as many states limit the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer.

Workers Compensation Insurance helps companies pay these benefits. Most states require employers to carry some form of Workers Compensation Insurance as a protection for employees. It’s important to note that Workers Compensation Insurance is not health insurance; it is specifically designed for job-related injuries.

Key Points

• Mandatory Coverage: In most states, if you have employees, you are required to carry Workers Compensation coverage. Even in non-mandatory states, it is advisable, especially if you have many employees or if they are engaged in hazardous activities.
• Employer Responsibility: Employers have a legal responsibility to ensure workplace safety. However, accidents can still happen despite all reasonable safety measures.
• Coverage Scope: Workers compensation insurance covers workers injured on the job, whether on the workplace premises or elsewhere, including auto accidents while on business. It also covers work-related illnesses.
• Benefits Provided: Workers compensation provides payments to injured workers for time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitation services, regardless of who was at fault in the accident. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents.
• State Regulations: Each state has different laws governing the amount and duration of benefits, the provision of medical and rehabilitation services, and the administration of the system. Regulations may cover whether the worker or employer can choose the treating doctor and how disputes about benefits are resolved.
• Separate Policy Requirement: Workers compensation insurance must be bought as a separate policy. In-home business and business owners policies (BOPs) do not include coverage for workers’ injuries.