What is Commercial Insurance?

Safeguards your company's finances against risks including customer lawsuits, employee or customer injuries, property theft and damage, and other unforeseen occurrences.

What is Commercial insurance?

Commercial Lines insurance, commonly known as business insurance, safeguards your company's finances against risks including customer lawsuits, employee or customer injuries, property theft and damage, and other unforeseen occurrences. Unlike personal insurance, commercial insurance can cover a wide range of people and entities. Additionally, commercial insurance often provides far higher amounts of coverage than personal insurance, as there is typically more physical property at risk.

For a deeper explanation of how business insurance works and why small businesses need it, you can also review the U.S. Small Business Administration’s official guide to business insurance

Here are the different types of Commercial Insurance Coverage:

Business owner's policy (BOP)

A Business Owner's Policy (BOP) is a type of insurance policy that combines business property and business liability insurance. It is designed to provide insurance coverage for your business against various risks, such as fire, theft, or other disasters. This type of insurance policy also protects your business from claims that may arise from your business operations. These claims may include bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury.

Some coverages that are included in a BOP are:

• Business Property Insurance - Business property insurance, also called commercial property insurance, helps protect your owned or rented building, tools, and the equipment you use to operate your business.

• General Liability Insurance - This coverage protects your business and assets in the event of a lawsuit, covering instances such as negligence, bodily injury, property damage, libel, and slander.

• Business Income Insurance - Business Interruption Coverage, also known as Business Income Insurance, replaces lost income due to covered property damage, including fire, wind, and theft.

Additional Coverages You Can Add to Your Business Owner’s Policy Insurance:

• Workers’ Compensation Insurance

• Professional Liability Insurance

• Commercial Auto Insurance

• Data Breach Insurance

• More

General liability insurance

General liability insurance is an important protection for small businesses against claims of bodily injury or property damage caused to others. Without it, you would be responsible for paying these claims out of pocket. General liability insurance, also known as business liability insurance, commercial general liability insurance, or comprehensive general liability (CGL), provides coverage for these types of situations.

What does General Liability insurance cover?

• Bodily Injury - If a customer injures themselves in your place of business, this policy can help cover their medical bills.

• Property Damage - Employees sometimes damage customers' property while delivering products or services. Your GL policy can help pay for the damages.

• Reputational Harm - General liability insurance policies can help cover malicious prosecution, slander, libel, wrongful eviction, and violations of a person's privacy.

• Advertising Injuries - Claims of copyright infringement are covered with a general liability policy.

• Damage to Premises Rented to You - If your rented property is damaged by fire, lightning, or an explosion, your general liability policy can help pay for repairs.

Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O)

Professional Liability/ Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance is designed to safeguard professionals against the costs of allegations made by clients for inadequate work, negligent actions, or failure to provide the expected level of service. In today's litigious environment, professionals can easily become subject to allegations by dissatisfied clients who may feel they have been harmed by their actions or inactions. Here at Insure Connecticut, LLC, we offer customized Liability Insurance/ E&O insurance that can protect you and your company from the unique risks associated with your profession.

What is Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O)?

Errors and omissions insurance is a type of insurance that helps protect business owners from claims of negligence, errors in services provided, omissions, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice.

If someone sues your business for making a mistake in the professional services you’ve provided, this insurance can help cover your

• Attorney fees,

• Court costs,

• Administrative costs,

• Settlements and judgments.

Attorney fees can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $150,000, while settlements and judgments can range from a couple of thousand dollars to millions of dollars. However, it's important to note that errors and omissions insurance only helps cover claims if they are filed within your policy period or the extended reporting period, and the incident occurred on or after your retroactive date.

The retroactive date is the date from which incidents that happen on or after it become eligible for coverage. The extended reporting period helps cover claims filed within a certain period after your policy expires. The retroactive date is an important factor to consider because some events that result in a loss for a client might not become apparent until a few years later when the court summons arrives in the mail. By having an older retroactive date, you will have more protection from events that happened in the past that have not surfaced yet.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance helps cover the costs of an auto accident that occurs while you or an employee is using a company-owned vehicle for work purposes. Even in the event of a deadly accident, this coverage can assist in paying for property damage and medical expenses.

Who Is Required to Have Commercial Auto Insurance?

• Vehicles, such as cars and trucks, are owned, leased, or rented.

• Has employees who drive their cars for work.

• Has employees who drive corporate vehicles that are leased, rented, or owned by the company.

What does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover?

• Bodily injury liability coverage  - compensates for bodily injury or death caused by an accident in which you are at fault and, in most situations, provides legal defense.

• Property damage liability coverage - protects you if your car accidentally damages another person's property and, in most situations, provides you with legal protection.

• Combined single limit (CSL) - Liability plans often include different limits for bodily injury and property damage claims. A combined single limits policy provides the same cash amount of coverage per covered occurrence, whether bodily injury or property damage, and whether the occurrence involves one or more people.

• Medical payments, no-fault or personal injury coverage – compensate for the medical expenses incurred by the driver and passengers in your vehicle as a result of a covered accident, regardless of fault.

• Uninsured motorist coverage –compensates you for your injuries and, in some cases, property damage caused by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver. Underinsured motorist coverage is sometimes provided. This is for circumstances where the at-fault driver does not have enough insurance.

• Comprehensive physical damage coverage - compensates you for vehicle damage caused by theft, vandalism, water, fire, and other insured perils.

• Collision coverage- pays for damage to your car when it collides with or collides with another object.

Workers’ compensation insurance

Protects both your business and your employees against cost-related work-related illnesses and injuries.

What Does Workers' Compensation Insurance Cover?

When an individual is forced to leave work due to an illness or injury at work, workers' compensation insurance can help pay for Wage replacement. illnesses brought on by exposure to substances like chemicals or allergies while your personnel is at work. funeral expenses if one of your employees passes away due to a sickness or accident at work.

Which type of business insurance coverage do I need?

Depending on the sort of business you have, the amount of commercial property you own, and other considerations, Insure Connecticut, LLC can assist you in determining the coverage and amount of insurance your company requires. You must ensure that your insurance fits any standards imposed by state law, your customers, or your sector.

You can also explore the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ resources to better understand the types of small business insurance available

What You Need to Know About Commercial Insurance Policies?

If you're unsure which commercial insurance coverage is best for your business, you should consult with an insurance representative. Here are a few key points about your policy:

• Before an insurance claim is paid, the insured is responsible for paying the insurance company's deductible. In the event of an accident, having a high deductible insurance policy may save you money in the short term but cost you more in the long run.

• A company's cost of insurance is determined by the premiums it pays. It is possible that several variables, such as the size of your company, its location, its annual revenue, and the number of years you've been in business, will affect your premium.

• There are restrictions on how much an insurance company will reimburse you for any particular claim or during the policy's term. Regardless of whether or not you've met your deductible, the policy will only reimburse you up to a specific dollar amount. There is a wide range of limits depending on the policy and coverage, which can go up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

• A policy's exclusions are the items it won't pay for. This information will help you determine if the insurance policy is the best fit for your company's needs.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What is commercial insurance, and why do businesses need it?

Commercial insurance protects businesses from financial losses caused by lawsuits, accidents, property damage, injuries, or unexpected events. It ensures that your business can continue operating even after a costly incident.

2. What types of insurance are included in a Business Owner's Policy (BOP)?

A BOP typically includes Commercial Property Insurance, General Liability Insurance, and Business Income Insurance. Businesses can also add coverages such as Workers’ Comp, Professional Liability, and Commercial Auto.

3. Is general liability insurance required for small businesses?

While not legally required in most states, general liability insurance is highly recommended because it protects your business from costly bodily injury, property damage, reputational harm, and advertising injury claims.

4. What does Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance cover?

E&O insurance covers claims related to professional mistakes, negligence, inaccurate advice, misrepresentation, and failure to deliver services. It helps pay for attorney fees, court costs, administrative expenses, and settlements.

5. Who needs commercial auto insurance?

Any business that owns, leases, or rents vehicles—or has employees who drive for work—needs commercial auto insurance. It covers liability, physical damage, medical payments, uninsured motorists, and more.

6. What does workers’ compensation insurance cover?

Workers’ comp covers medical expenses, wage replacement, rehabilitation, and funeral costs when an employee suffers an injury or illness arising out of their employment.

7. How do I know which commercial insurance policies my business needs?

Needs vary based on your industry, property, risk level, number of employees, and state requirements. An insurance broker like Insure Connecticut LLC can evaluate your risks and recommend the right coverage.

8. What factors affect the cost of business insurance?

Premiums are influenced by your business size, industry, location, claims history, employee count, annual revenue, and the amount of coverage you select.

9. What are policy deductibles, limits, and exclusions?

• Deductible: The amount you pay before insurance kicks in

• Limits: The maximum amount your policy will pay

• Exclusions: Events or items your policy does not understanding these helps ensure your policy fully protects your business.