Commercial Auto Insurance With Hood Insurance Agency

As a business owner, there is no shortage of things that you need to manage on a daily basis. Whether it’s supervising employees, connecting with new clients or anything in between, there is only so much time in the day. That being said, it’s nice to have the peace of mind that you and your business are covered in the event that an insurance claim is brought against you. A business owners policy (BOP) is a good option for small and midsized businesses, and it can offer you plenty of advantages, including: 

Broad coverage. BOPs cast a wide net of protection by bundling a number of different types of coverage into one plan. In general, BOPs provide commercial property, general liability and business interruption coverage in one policy. 

Cost savings. Every dollar counts for small and midsized businesses, and BOPs can provide cost savings by combining the aforementioned policies so that you don’t have to go out and purchase each one separately. 

Coverage for medical expenses. CGL policies will provide protection for your company if a nonemployee is injured on your premises or in an incident related to your operations. Coverage for medical payments can be triggered without legal action and allows for smaller medical claims to be settled quickly and without litigation. 

Customization. While BOPs cover multiple types of risk for your business, you don’t need to worry about buying something that you don’t need. These policies can be tailored to fit your business’s needs with additional coverage for risks such as cyber liability, equipment breakdown, personal and advertising injury, and more. 

Learn More About Business Owners Policy (BOP) Insurance 

There’s no shortage of responsibilities or risks that come with being a business owner, so make sure that the product of all your hard work and long hours is protected. Contact us today to learn more about keeping your business safe with a BOP.

A business owners policy (BOP) combines commercial general liability coverage with commercial property insurance for qualifying small and medium-sized companies. A BOP offers businesses the opportunity to get more affordable coverage to meet basic insurance needs. Carriers determine whether a business is eligible to purchase a BOP. A prepackaged BOP may not meet all of a company’s insurance needs, but this policy can be more cost-effective than purchasing each included policy separately. Endorsements and riders can provide additional coverage. 

What Is Included With a BOP? 

A BOP provides coverage for common risks, such as fire, liability claims, theft and business interruption losses. There are three core insurance coverages typically included with a BOP: 

1. Liability Insurance 

This policy helps pay for third-party claims due to injury or property damage. If someone is injured while visiting a business, this policy helps pay their medical bills. The policy may help pay for the company’s legal defense if someone alleges property damage or injury. It also helps cover the cost of repairing or replacing someone else’s property if a company owner or employee causes damage in the course of day-to-day business. 

2. Property Insurance 

Any business that owns equipment, maintains inventory or manufactures products should have property insurance. This policy helps pay for repairing or replacing company property if it’s damaged or destroyed in a covered event, such as a fire, storm, or an act of vandalism or theft. If the business leases property, the landlord may require a minimum amount of commercial property insurance. 

3. Business Interruption Insurance 

This policy, sometimes called business income insurance, helps replace lost revenue if a business must close to rebuild or repair after a covered event. If there’s a period of time when a company can’t generate revenue, this coverage can help pay for recurring expenses such as payroll, property rent and taxes. 

Customizing a BOP 

Each business faces unique risks, and additional insurance policies can help customize a BOP to meet the company’s needs. A standard BOP doesn’t provide coverage for many risks associated with day-to-day business activities. Coverage limits with a BOP may be lower than a business owner prefers. Insurance professionals can help a company owner tailor a BOP to meet their company’s specific needs. Depending on the company’s size and industry, an insurance professional may recommend some of the following additional insurance policies: 

Workers’ compensation insurance 

Commercial auto insurance 

Cyber liability insurance 

Equipment breakdown insurance 

Employment practices liability insurance

It’s also possible to increase a company’s liability coverage by purchasing an excess liability or umbrella insurance policy. This policy provides additional coverage to help pay for third-party claims exceeding the limits of the company’s liability insurance policies. Depending on the policy, umbrella insurance may help cover deductibles as well. 

What Type of Business Should Get a BOP? 

Many business types qualify for a BOP. In general, BOPs are designed for companies located outside of a private residence with fewer than 100 employees that produce less than $5 million in annual revenue. However, eligibility criteria or BOPs vary by insurance company. When evaluating options for BOP coverage, business owners must consider risks specific to their industry. A BOP can help qualifying businesses save money, but this type of packaged insurance product doesn’t make sense for every small and medium-sized business. 

What Are the Advantages of a BOP? 

Nearly any small business that owns equipment, buildings or other property can benefit from a BOP if they meet the insurer’s eligibility requirements. BOPs provide small businesses with flexible commercial insurance policies that can be modified or added to by amending the existing policy to meet the company’s needs. In many cases, it’s less expensive to purchase a BOP than it would be to buy individual property and liability insurance policies providing the same coverage. 

To Learn More About BOPs 

Your insurance professional can help you decide whether a BOP is right for your business. To get the best possible coverage to meet your company’s needs, it may be necessary to add riders or endorsements to a BOP as well. For additional coverage guidance and solutions, contact us today. 

Insurance carriers realize that offering additional lines of coverage to an existing customer is less expensive than trying to attract new customers. They also know that the more lines a given customer has, the longer they’re likely to stay with them. 

While bundling policies is beneficial to insurance carriers, it is also highly beneficial to their customers. Similar to how bundling your personal home and auto policies may give you a discount, bundling your business policies can provide benefits way beyond cost savings. 

Simplified Bookkeeping 

Most businesses require a number of insurance policies in order to properly insure their operations, including: 

Workers’ compensation 

General liability 

Commercial property 

Professional liability 

Commercial auto 

Business interruption 

Cyber liability 

Directors and officers 

Keeping up with that many policies isn’t an easy task for business owners. Therefore, bundling multiple policies with the same carrier simplifies things for bookkeeping purposes. Besides having fewer bills to keep track of every month, it also makes it easier come renewal time if the bundled policies renew at the same time each year. 

Your HR department will also appreciate having one number to call when you’re hiring a new employee, have claims questions, are adding a location or making any other business decisions that impact your insurance. 

Fewer Agents to Educate 

Properly insuring your business requires explaining to your insurance agent exactly what your business does and the exposures that come with it. But without bundling your policies, you have more agents to educate, which takes time. The fewer agents you have to work with, the better equipped they’ll be to help identify and address your exposures. 

Assurance That Your Policies Work Together 

There may be circumstances when two of your business insurance policies have to work together. For example, you may assume that something not covered by your commercial auto policy would be covered by your commercial umbrella policy. However, many umbrella policies will only extend above an auto policy if the insurance company offering it has a specified financial strength rating. If your carrier’s rating falls below a certain grade, your umbrella policy may not cover an auto loss. That’s just one type of problem that could arise if you keep your policies under separate roofs, with separate agents. 

Less Security Risk 

When obtaining insurance, business owners are required to divulge sensitive personal information about their employees, as well as financial information about the business itself. When dividing your policies among multiple agents, you’re basically providing all that information to more people than you would have to if you’d bundled your policies with one agent. And in doing so, you’re increasing the risk of highly sensitive information ending up in the wrong hands.

Better Pricing 

Bundling your business’s insurance policies allows your insurance professional to give you access to multiline discounts that help boost your bottom line. Contact Hood Insurance Agency to see if any of your insurers offer multiline discounts. We can give you estimates for bundling your policies with each carrier. 

With so many different types of insurance to choose from, it can be overwhelming to determine what type is best for your small business. Hood Insurance Agency is here to help explain the types of insurance policies available and how they can help protect you, your employees and your business’s bottom line. 

Commercial Property Insurance 

In the case of a catastrophic event such as a fire, explosion, burst pipe, storm or theft, commercial property insurance compensates you for losses or damage to your building, leased or owned equipment, and other property on the premises. In fact, commercial property insurance can cover items such as furniture, inventory, computers and anything that would be considered necessary for performing normal business operations. 

Commercial property insurance is typically purchased as a stand-alone policy or as part of a comprehensive business owner’s policy that includes property and general liability coverage. Commercial property insurance is offered on either a replacement cost or actual cash value basis. 

Replacement cost: Pays the cost to replace or repair the damaged property with materials of like kind and quality, without any deduction for depreciation. 

Actual cash value: Pays the cost to repair or replace the damaged property, minus depreciation. 

General Liability Insurance 

General liability insurance policies typically cover an organization for claims involving bodily injuries and property damage resulting from its products, services or operations. What’s more, this form of insurance can help cover medical expenses and attorney fees resulting from bodily injury or property damage claims for which your organization may be legally responsible. 

General liability insurance policies typically have four coverage elements: 

Premises liability covers you in the event that a person who is not employed at your business becomes injured on your property. If someone sued your business because they tripped and fell on your property, liability insurance can help cover those expenses. 

Products liability covers you if a product or service causes injury to someone’s body or inflicts damage on a consumer’s personal property. If you’re a tech company that broke a customer’s computer while performing a service on it, those damages could be covered. 

A personal injury is when your business inflicts a physical, financial or mental injury to a third party. For instance, let’s say you take action in detaining someone who you had reason to believe was stealing from your store. If it turns out your accusations are false and the person decides to sue you, you’d be covered under your general liability policy. 

Advertisement injuries are caused by alleged misinformation, copyright infringement or slander made by your company. If you were advertising a product that claimed it could help clear acne and it ended up making a consumer’s acne worse, that could be considered an advertisement injury. 

Overall, a general liability policy is beneficial for covering any medical bills or legal costs that accrue if the injured third party decides to sue your business. 

Employment Practices Liability

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) is a form of insurance that covers wrongful acts that occur during the employment process. The most frequent types of claims covered under an EPLI policy include claims of discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment and retaliation. 

These policies will reimburse your company against the costs of defending a lawsuit in court, and for judgments and settlements. EPLI covers legal costs, whether your company wins or loses the suit. However, these policies typically do not pay for punitive damages, or civil or criminal fines. 

Workers’ Compensation 

Workers’ compensation is important in the event that an employee suffers a work-related injury or illness. This type of insurance is required in most states and is used to cover medical bills or wage replacement for employees who experience a work-related injury. 

For example, if a worker pulled a back muscle at work and was unable to perform their duties, workers’ compensation would help in covering any physical therapy costs as well as compensating the employee for any lost wages. 

Having worker’s compensation insurance can also protect your business from civil suits made by employees against your company related to their injuries. 

Cyber Liability Insurance 

If any part of your business is on an online platform, it is crucial to obtain cyber liability insurance. This type of coverage can protect your business from a cyber attack or interruption that can cause a loss in data, revenue and the trust between you and your customers. Cyber liability insurance is not only there to protect the internal information of your company, such as employees’ social security or financial information, but it also protects your customers’ personal and banking information. 

Most cyber liability policies include both first- and third-party coverage: 

First-party coverage is for the business itself— helping the business recover from any losses after a cyber attack. Third-party coverage is to cover claims by people who have been injured because of your business being hacked. 

Restoring compromised or lost data can be very costly, so cyber liability insurance is there to help cover financial losses to your business and the costs of claims made against your company by clients or other third parties who were affected. 

Commercial Auto 

Commercial auto insurance helps cover the costs of an auto accident if you or an employee is at fault. This coverage can help pay for damaged property and medical expenses. 

Your business should consider a commercial auto policy if any of the following are true: 

Your business owns, leases or rents vehicles such as cars, trucks or vans. 

Your business has employees who drive their own vehicles to conduct business. 

Your business has employees who operate leased, rented or owned company vehicles. 

Professional Liability Insurance 

Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, can protect your business against claims that a service you provided caused a client to suffer due to a mistake on your part or because you failed to perform a service. 

Professional liability insurance can cover the cost of defending your business in a civil lawsuit for an alleged error or omission. What’s more, depending on your industry, professional liability insurance may be required by law. 

While many types of businesses need professional liability insurance, you should especially consider this type of insurance if your business works directly with customers while providing services. 

More Information 

Contact Hood Insurance Agency to help you analyze your needs and decide on the right coverage for you and your growing business.