SHOPPING FOR INSURANCE FOR YOUR COMPANY

The following article was written by  Nikki Freeman, a CPSR/Manager at Allstate Insurance and Domain Insurance Management, Inc. For more information, please visit www.allstateagencies.com and www.domaininsuranceinc.com

See below for some great information we found on shopping around for the right insurance! Remember, don’t ever hesitate to call us here at Licenses, Etc.! If we don’t have the information, we can find it!

When shopping for insurance for a new startup company, the thing most business owners think of first is price.  Protection, is what should come to mind prior to premium.  Costs are high when getting the business started, but the costs will be even higher when there is a claim with no coverage.

The key to getting proper coverage to protect you and your business is honesty.  The insurance agent is going to ask you a series of questions.  Answer them honestly, to the best of your ability.  Everyone is afraid that every question they answer means another dollar sign on the policy.  Not true.  We ask these questions so that we are rating the policy accurately.  If the rating is incorrect at the time of the claim, that could mean no coverage.  Agents need to know all the scope of the work to be performed.  If you leave something out, the policy will leave something out and we’re back to possibly no coverage at the time of a claim.

General Liability is just that, liability.  This policy is going to cover you if you are found liable for something done wrong in the scope of the job.  If you have an office space, it’s not going to cover your personal belongings in that space.  You’d need a Business Owner Policy for that office space.  The General Liability is not going to cover your tools in your truck, but it can!  Make sure your agent is discussing either adding an endorsement to cover those tools or having a whole separate policy for them.

Make sure your liability coverage is enough to cover the job you are working on.  If you are building a $500,000 house, your $300,000 minimum liability policy is not going to cover that loss if you accidentally spark a fire that makes that house a total loss.  Again, cheaper does not always equal better.  Many condominiums and project owners require $1 million in coverage and the premium difference is usually not that much more.

Using your vehicle for your business?  Make sure you discuss the usage with your auto insurance agent.  It may be a simple endorsement on your personal auto policy for business use.  Depending on the scope of the business, you may have to switch the vehicle to a commercial policy.   If you do not, and a claim occurs, the loss could get denied.  Again, costing you more in the long run.

Our main goal, as agents, is to make sure our clients are properly covered.  Be open with your agent and feel free to ask as many questions as it takes to make you feel comfortable.  We can’t protect you, if we don’t know what we are protecting.  A good agent will be willing compare multiple quotes from other agencies to their own and discuss the pros and cons of each one.  The relationship with your agency should last as long as your business.