Commercial Insurance Policies
At CRG, we obviously handle a lot of personal lines insurance, but did you know we do commercial insurance as well?
From a small, one-person operation to large corporations, CRG can find you the right fit for your business’s insurance needs.
Not sure what policies your business needs? Let’s go over a few of the most common commercial policies.
General Liability
One of the most common commercial policies, and maybe the most important is a general liability policy. Everyone, from a contractor to an accountant, should have one.
A general liability policy provides protection if your business were to be deemed liable for any sort of damage or injury. Oftentimes, this is included in a packaged policy with property coverage for small businesses, called a business owner’s policy (BOP).
Property
A property policy can be related to a homeowner’s policy. If a business owns the building it runs its daily operations in, the coverage provided can be very similar to a home policy.
If the business does not own the building, there can be coverage added very similar to a renter’s policy.
Regardless of the ownership of the building, the personal property of the business can be added as coverage as well. Other coverages can be endorsed to this policy which is unique to each carrier.
Commercial Auto
A commercial auto policy is very similar to a personal auto policy, however, there are some important details to point out.
First off, a personal auto policy excludes most commercial use of your vehicle. If you use your vehicle for your business, a commercial auto policy is what you need.
However, if the vehicle is titled to you personally, there is an option to add the vehicle to your personal auto policy stating it is used for business purposes.
It is also important to note that certain types of vehicles may require a commercial auto policy – box trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks, etc.
Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ Compensation is another common commercial policy. It provides medical payments, lost wages, among other things when an employee gets injured on the job.
Purchasing a workers’ compensation policy not only protects your employees, but it also protects your business from having to pay, potentially, large medical expenses.
Each state has different requirements for workers’ compensation policies. In Wisconsin, the requirement is if you employ one or more full/part-time employees to whom you pay more than $500 in any one quarter, you must have a Workers’ Compensation policy.
Inland Marine
An inland marine policy is especially useful for contractors with high valued tools, equipment, and/or materials. This policy provides coverage for either a scheduled list of tools/equipment/materials or a specified amount of coverage for a category of items.
Commercial Umbrella
Very similar to a personal umbrella policy, a commercial umbrella provides excess liability coverage for general liability and commercial auto policies under the condition that they are written with the same carrier and the coverages meet the required limits. It provides protection for large claims when the underlying coverage has been exhausted.
How We Help
Future topics will go in-depth into each of these policies, but if you’ve read this far you have a general understanding of basic commercial insurance. If you have any interest in learning more about insurance for your business, contact your CRG agent.
Commercial Insurance can be tricky. When it’s your business, it’s imperative that you protect it by having the necessary insurance.
Whether you are just starting your own business, or have several decades under your belt, trusting a CRG agent to provide you with the right insurance is one of the best decisions you can make. You focus on growing your business, we’ll protect it for you.
