Business Insurance Options

Also known as business liability insurance, general liability insurance protects you and your business from “general” claims involving bodily injuries and property damage. Almost every business has a need for general liability insurance.

A Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy protects your business from financial loss should you be liable for property damage or personal and advertising injury caused by your services, business operations or your employees. It covers non-professional negligent acts. Understanding this coverage is an important first step in managing CGL risks.

Here are just a few examples of situations in which your business could be responsible for paying various costs, such as medical and legal expenses, as well as compensatory and punitive damages:

  • While visiting your business, a customer trips on loose flooring and is injured.
  • An employee in your painting or construction business accidentally leaves water running, causing substantial damage to a customer’s home.
  • A class action lawsuit is filed against your business, alleging advertisements constituted misleading information.

What commercial general liability insurance covers

A CGL insurance policy will usually cover the costs of your legal defense and will pay on your behalf all damages if you are found liable—up to the limits of your policy. CGL coverage is one of the most important insurance products, due to the negative impact that a lawsuit can have on a business and because such liability suits happen so frequently. Standard CGL includes:

Coverage A: Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability

Bodily injury and property damage coverage provides protection against losses from the legal liability of insureds for bodily injury or property damage to others arising out of non-professional negligent acts or for liability arising out of their premises or business operations. Mental injuries and emotional distress can be considered bodily injuries, even in the absence of physical bodily harm.

Workers compensation and employment practices liability insurance are excluded but can be purchased as separate policies. In addition, pollution liability is excluded and can be purchased as an endorsement. However, this coverage is very limited, and high-risk businesses should consider purchasing a separate pollution liability policy. Liquor liability, professional liability and other risks may also be excluded. An insurance professional can help you to determine endorsements that are right for your type of business.

Coverage B: Personal and Advertising Injury

Personal and advertising injury liability protects an insured against liability arising out of certain offenses, such as:

  • Libel
  • Slander
  • False arrest
  • Infringing on another’s copyright
  • Malicious prosecution
  • Use of another’s advertising idea
  • Wrongful eviction, entry or invasion of privacy

Coverage C: Medical Payments

Limited coverage for medical payments includes payments for injuries sustained by a non-employee caused by an accident that takes place on the insured’s premises or when exposed to the insured’s business operations. Medical payments coverage can be triggered without legal action. This provides for prompt settlement of smaller medical claims without litigation. It is included in the CGL policy and pays for all necessary and reasonable medical, surgical, ambulance, hospital, professional nursing and funeral expenses for a person injured or killed in an accident taking place at the insured’s premises or arising from business operations. There is no defense or legal liability coverage—as there is with bodily injury and property damage (Coverage A) and personal and advertising liability (Coverage B) —since coverage is provided on a no-fault basis.

Purchasing commercial general liability insurance

You can purchase commercial general liability insurance as a stand-alone policy, as part of a Business Owners Policy (BOP) or as part of a Commercial Package Policy (CPP). Consult with your insurance professional about what type of coverage you need and how much. If your general liability policy, BOP or CPP do not provide sufficient coverage, you may want to consider purchasing a commercial excess (umbrella) policy, which will provide additional protection.

Business Auto Insurance is a policy that covers all vehicles used by the business or organization. This includes vehicles owned, leased, hired, and borrowed. It provides coverage for liability exposure as well as damage to the vehicle.

Business Auto Insurance helps your business cover the financial costs resulting from an auto accident if you or an employee is found at fault. It also helps pay for damaged property and medical expenses – even in the event of a fatal accident.

Business auto insurance will help protect you for example, if:

  • An employee hits a pedestrian while driving a company truck and the pedestrian requires medical treatment that results in substantial bills.
  • You accidentally swerve off the road while driving to work and take out a residential mailbox and have to pay for the damage.
  • An employee driving to work accidentally hits another car and totals it.
    Get a commercial auto quote today to learn how easily you can protect your business while on the road.

Business Auto Policies include:

  • Liability Coverage
  • Uninsured Motorists Coverage
  • Underinsured Motorists Coverage
  • Physical Damage Coverage

Certain carriers also offer additional protection for your business.

Waiver of Subrogation – In the event of an accident caused by a third party, The Hartford will cover the loss and pay the insured within the terms of the endorsement and waives its right to subrogate. In other words The Hartford waives its right to pursue a claim against the third party that caused the accident.

Glass Repair Waiver of Deductible – When a covered vehicle requires glass repair, The Hartford waives the physical damage deductible.

One Deductible for Two – Only one deductible will apply when a single event causes damage to an auto covered by our auto policy and property damage covered by another policy from The Hartford.

A Business Owners Policy (BOP) is a package policy that typically combines general liability and property insurance, along with other optional coverage, for small- to medium-sized businesses in lower risk business classes.

Insurance companies selling business insurance offer policies that combine protection from all major property and liability risks in one package. (They also sell coverages separately.) One package purchased by small and mid-sized businesses is the businessowners policy (BOP). Package policies are created for businesses that generally face the same kind and degree of risk. Larger companies might purchase a commercial package policy or customize their policies to meet the special risks they face.

BOPs include:
  1. Property insurance for buildings and contents owned by the company — there are two different forms, standard and special, which provides more comprehensive coverage.
  2. Business interruption insurance, which covers the loss of income resulting from a fire or other catastrophe that disrupts the operation of the business. It can also include the extra expense of operating out of a temporary location.
  3. Liability protection, which covers your company’s legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others. This harm is a result of things that you and your employees do or fail to do in your business operations that may cause bodily injury or property damage due to defective products, faulty installations and errors in services provided.
  4. Business income insurance. Should some unforeseen circumstance arise that will that cause the operations of your business to be suspended, the business income insurance offered in a BOP can help to replace your lost income in order to assist you with meeting any financial obligations you may have that cannot be put off, such as paying your employees or your rent. It can also include the extra expenses of operating out of a temporary location.

There are many additional coverage options available depending on the needs of your business.  Optional coverages include:

  • Blanket Additional Insured
  • Building & Business Personal Property
  • Business Income and Extra Expense
  • Data Breach
  • Electronic Data and Equipment
  • Employment Practices Liability
  • Identity Theft
  • Limited Property of Others Liability
  • Personal Property of Other
  • Valuable Papers and Records

BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation or health and disability insurance. You’ll need separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles and your employees.

Commercial property insurance is typically offered as part of the Commercial Package policy (CPP). The coverage is specifically designed to provide protection for any buildings or business personal property, used for commercial purposes.

Whether you operate your small business out of your home, or you rent, lease or own a commercial space — you need commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance doesn’t only protect the building you use, but a long list of things inside including equipment, inventory, furniture, computers and other electronics. It can also provide protection for things outside of the building including outdoor signs, fencing and landscaping such as gardens, trees and shrubs.

Benefits of commercial property insurance:

Recovery process following a loss: Suffering a loss to your small business can be a traumatic experience, and the longer it takes to get back on your feet, the worse the experience can become. If damage is done to your property as a result of an insured peril, the right policy can help get you back up and running quickly, which can help mitigate the long-term effects of the loss. By limiting your business’ downtime, you also maintain your business’ continuity and protect your reputation with your customers.

Repair costs: If your business suffers a covered loss, your commercial property insurance policy can help with the repair costs to get you back in business quickly. For example, if you own a commercial space, and someone vandalizes the door to your business preventing customers from entering the building, the right small business insurance policy will help get the repairs done quickly and help keep the costs to your business down.

Replacement costs: If the covered loss to your property is too extensive for repairs, commercial property insurance can often help with the replacement costs. For example, if you own a bakery and a fire breaks out in your kitchen destroying your electrical oven, your commercial property insurance policy can help keep the replacement costs low and protect your bottom line.

Business interruption coverage: If you suffer a covered loss, you likely won’t be able to sustain operations right away. The right commercial property insurance policy may be able to mitigate your loss of income to help you keep up with bills, payroll and other expenses until you’re back on your feet.

Unexpected losses: No matter how much you prepare your small business for the risks it faces, sometimes unexpected disasters happen. Natural disasters are often out of our control and can cause significant property damage. Instances of fire, winter storm damage, hail and some forms of water damage may be covered in your commercial property policy to help you keep costs down in these unforeseen situations.

Workers’ compensation insurance protects a business owner from claims by employees who experience a work-related injury or illness either sustained on business premises or due to business operations. In all states, most companies are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees.

 

Professional Liability insurance covers any errors or mistakes made by you or people who work for your business, while trying to provide a service. Such branches of coverage under this insurance policy would include legal defense costs, judgments, and settlements (or company losses).

Professional liability insurance, more commonly known as errors and omissions (E&O insurance), is a special type of coverage that protects your company against claims that a professional service you provided caused your client to suffer financial harm due to mistakes on your part (errors) or because you failed to perform some service (omissions).

E&O insurance can cover the cost of defending your company in a civil lawsuit and certain damages awarded, even if the legal action turns out to be groundless. Professional liability insurance is required by law in some areas for certain kinds of professional practices, especially medical and legal, where it is more commonly called malpractice insurance. This type of protection is not part of your general liability insurance or homeowners insurance.

Coverage does not include criminal prosecution, and there is a wide range of potential liabilities under civil laws that may not be covered unless written explicitly into the professional liability insurance policy. Common claims that professional liability insurance covers are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. Some policies could also cover privacy violations.

Many types of businesses need professional liability insurance. If your company business works directly with customers while providing services, you should consider professional liability insurance.

What is covered?

  • Alleged or actual negligence
  • Defense costs
  • Personal injury (e.g., libel or slander)
  • Worldwide coverage
  • Temporary staff and independent contractors
  • Claims arising from services provided in the past
  • Claims and damages

What is NOT covered?

  • Bodily injury or property damage
  • Fraudulent acts
  • Employment matters
  • False advertising
  • Patents and trade secrets
  • Personally identifiable information
  • Other services

Also known as business liability insurance, general liability insurance protects you and your business from “general” claims involving bodily injuries and property damage. Almost every business has a need for general liability insurance.

A Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy protects your business from financial loss should you be liable for property damage or personal and advertising injury caused by your services, business operations or your employees. It covers non-professional negligent acts. Understanding this coverage is an important first step in managing CGL risks.

Here are just a few examples of situations in which your business could be responsible for paying various costs, such as medical and legal expenses, as well as compensatory and punitive damages:

  • While visiting your business, a customer trips on loose flooring and is injured.
  • An employee in your painting or construction business accidentally leaves water running, causing substantial damage to a customer’s home.
  • A class action lawsuit is filed against your business, alleging advertisements constituted misleading information.

What commercial general liability insurance covers

A CGL insurance policy will usually cover the costs of your legal defense and will pay on your behalf all damages if you are found liable—up to the limits of your policy. CGL coverage is one of the most important insurance products, due to the negative impact that a lawsuit can have on a business and because such liability suits happen so frequently. Standard CGL includes:

Coverage A: Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability

Bodily injury and property damage coverage provides protection against losses from the legal liability of insureds for bodily injury or property damage to others arising out of non-professional negligent acts or for liability arising out of their premises or business operations. Mental injuries and emotional distress can be considered bodily injuries, even in the absence of physical bodily harm.

Workers compensation and employment practices liability insurance are excluded but can be purchased as separate policies. In addition, pollution liability is excluded and can be purchased as an endorsement. However, this coverage is very limited, and high-risk businesses should consider purchasing a separate pollution liability policy. Liquor liability, professional liability and other risks may also be excluded. An insurance professional can help you to determine endorsements that are right for your type of business.

Coverage B: Personal and Advertising Injury

Personal and advertising injury liability protects an insured against liability arising out of certain offenses, such as:

  • Libel
  • Slander
  • False arrest
  • Infringing on another’s copyright
  • Malicious prosecution
  • Use of another’s advertising idea
  • Wrongful eviction, entry or invasion of privacy

Coverage C: Medical Payments

Limited coverage for medical payments includes payments for injuries sustained by a non-employee caused by an accident that takes place on the insured’s premises or when exposed to the insured’s business operations. Medical payments coverage can be triggered without legal action. This provides for prompt settlement of smaller medical claims without litigation. It is included in the CGL policy and pays for all necessary and reasonable medical, surgical, ambulance, hospital, professional nursing and funeral expenses for a person injured or killed in an accident taking place at the insured’s premises or arising from business operations. There is no defense or legal liability coverage—as there is with bodily injury and property damage (Coverage A) and personal and advertising liability (Coverage B) —since coverage is provided on a no-fault basis.

Purchasing commercial general liability insurance

You can purchase commercial general liability insurance as a stand-alone policy, as part of a Business Owners Policy (BOP) or as part of a Commercial Package Policy (CPP). Consult with your insurance professional about what type of coverage you need and how much. If your general liability policy, BOP or CPP do not provide sufficient coverage, you may want to consider purchasing a commercial excess (umbrella) policy, which will provide additional protection.

Business Auto Insurance is a policy that covers all vehicles used by the business or organization. This includes vehicles owned, leased, hired, and borrowed. It provides coverage for liability exposure as well as damage to the vehicle.

Business Auto Insurance helps your business cover the financial costs resulting from an auto accident if you or an employee is found at fault. It also helps pay for damaged property and medical expenses – even in the event of a fatal accident.

Business auto insurance will help protect you for example, if:

  • An employee hits a pedestrian while driving a company truck and the pedestrian requires medical treatment that results in substantial bills.
  • You accidentally swerve off the road while driving to work and take out a residential mailbox and have to pay for the damage.
  • An employee driving to work accidentally hits another car and totals it.
    Get a commercial auto quote today to learn how easily you can protect your business while on the road.

Business Auto Policies include:

  • Liability Coverage
  • Uninsured Motorists Coverage
  • Underinsured Motorists Coverage
  • Physical Damage Coverage

Certain carriers also offer additional protection for your business.

Waiver of Subrogation – In the event of an accident caused by a third party, The Hartford will cover the loss and pay the insured within the terms of the endorsement and waives its right to subrogate. In other words The Hartford waives its right to pursue a claim against the third party that caused the accident.

Glass Repair Waiver of Deductible – When a covered vehicle requires glass repair, The Hartford waives the physical damage deductible.

One Deductible for Two – Only one deductible will apply when a single event causes damage to an auto covered by our auto policy and property damage covered by another policy from The Hartford.

A Business Owners Policy (BOP) is a package policy that typically combines general liability and property insurance, along with other optional coverage, for small- to medium-sized businesses in lower risk business classes.

Insurance companies selling business insurance offer policies that combine protection from all major property and liability risks in one package. (They also sell coverages separately.) One package purchased by small and mid-sized businesses is the businessowners policy (BOP). Package policies are created for businesses that generally face the same kind and degree of risk. Larger companies might purchase a commercial package policy or customize their policies to meet the special risks they face.

BOPs include:
  1. Property insurance for buildings and contents owned by the company — there are two different forms, standard and special, which provides more comprehensive coverage.
  2. Business interruption insurance, which covers the loss of income resulting from a fire or other catastrophe that disrupts the operation of the business. It can also include the extra expense of operating out of a temporary location.
  3. Liability protection, which covers your company’s legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others. This harm is a result of things that you and your employees do or fail to do in your business operations that may cause bodily injury or property damage due to defective products, faulty installations and errors in services provided.
  4. Business income insurance. Should some unforeseen circumstance arise that will that cause the operations of your business to be suspended, the business income insurance offered in a BOP can help to replace your lost income in order to assist you with meeting any financial obligations you may have that cannot be put off, such as paying your employees or your rent. It can also include the extra expenses of operating out of a temporary location.

There are many additional coverage options available depending on the needs of your business.  Optional coverages include:

  • Blanket Additional Insured
  • Building & Business Personal Property
  • Business Income and Extra Expense
  • Data Breach
  • Electronic Data and Equipment
  • Employment Practices Liability
  • Identity Theft
  • Limited Property of Others Liability
  • Personal Property of Other
  • Valuable Papers and Records

BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation or health and disability insurance. You’ll need separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles and your employees.

Commercial property insurance is typically offered as part of the Commercial Package policy (CPP). The coverage is specifically designed to provide protection for any buildings or business personal property, used for commercial purposes.

Whether you operate your small business out of your home, or you rent, lease or own a commercial space — you need commercial property insurance. Commercial property insurance doesn’t only protect the building you use, but a long list of things inside including equipment, inventory, furniture, computers and other electronics. It can also provide protection for things outside of the building including outdoor signs, fencing and landscaping such as gardens, trees and shrubs.

Benefits of commercial property insurance:

Recovery process following a loss: Suffering a loss to your small business can be a traumatic experience, and the longer it takes to get back on your feet, the worse the experience can become. If damage is done to your property as a result of an insured peril, the right policy can help get you back up and running quickly, which can help mitigate the long-term effects of the loss. By limiting your business’ downtime, you also maintain your business’ continuity and protect your reputation with your customers.

Repair costs: If your business suffers a covered loss, your commercial property insurance policy can help with the repair costs to get you back in business quickly. For example, if you own a commercial space, and someone vandalizes the door to your business preventing customers from entering the building, the right small business insurance policy will help get the repairs done quickly and help keep the costs to your business down.

Replacement costs: If the covered loss to your property is too extensive for repairs, commercial property insurance can often help with the replacement costs. For example, if you own a bakery and a fire breaks out in your kitchen destroying your electrical oven, your commercial property insurance policy can help keep the replacement costs low and protect your bottom line.

Business interruption coverage: If you suffer a covered loss, you likely won’t be able to sustain operations right away. The right commercial property insurance policy may be able to mitigate your loss of income to help you keep up with bills, payroll and other expenses until you’re back on your feet.

Unexpected losses: No matter how much you prepare your small business for the risks it faces, sometimes unexpected disasters happen. Natural disasters are often out of our control and can cause significant property damage. Instances of fire, winter storm damage, hail and some forms of water damage may be covered in your commercial property policy to help you keep costs down in these unforeseen situations.

Workers’ compensation insurance protects a business owner from claims by employees who experience a work-related injury or illness either sustained on business premises or due to business operations. In all states, most companies are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees.

 

Professional Liability insurance covers any errors or mistakes made by you or people who work for your business, while trying to provide a service. Such branches of coverage under this insurance policy would include legal defense costs, judgments, and settlements (or company losses).

Professional liability insurance, more commonly known as errors and omissions (E&O insurance), is a special type of coverage that protects your company against claims that a professional service you provided caused your client to suffer financial harm due to mistakes on your part (errors) or because you failed to perform some service (omissions).

E&O insurance can cover the cost of defending your company in a civil lawsuit and certain damages awarded, even if the legal action turns out to be groundless. Professional liability insurance is required by law in some areas for certain kinds of professional practices, especially medical and legal, where it is more commonly called malpractice insurance. This type of protection is not part of your general liability insurance or homeowners insurance.

Coverage does not include criminal prosecution, and there is a wide range of potential liabilities under civil laws that may not be covered unless written explicitly into the professional liability insurance policy. Common claims that professional liability insurance covers are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. Some policies could also cover privacy violations.

Many types of businesses need professional liability insurance. If your company business works directly with customers while providing services, you should consider professional liability insurance.

What is covered?

  • Alleged or actual negligence
  • Defense costs
  • Personal injury (e.g., libel or slander)
  • Worldwide coverage
  • Temporary staff and independent contractors
  • Claims arising from services provided in the past
  • Claims and damages

What is NOT covered?

  • Bodily injury or property damage
  • Fraudulent acts
  • Employment matters
  • False advertising
  • Patents and trade secrets
  • Personally identifiable information
  • Other services
  • Cyber Liability

  • Event Coverage

  • Equipment Breakdown

  • Directors And Officers

  • Equipment & Installation Coverage

  • Excess Liability

  • Builders Risk

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