There are many business owners who do not have business insurance or have inadequate policies that are putting their business at risk should any disaster such as a fire occur.

When buying insurance you are likely to need the services of a good agent. Choosing an agent to work with may in itself be challenging so you should become informed as to the different types of policies that other business owners currently have so that when your agent is discussing the different policies with you, you are somewhat prepared. Also, when choosing an agent you can opt for either a captive agent, insurance broker, or a risk consultant.

When choosing a policy keep in mind that if your business has earnings up to $3million gross, it is likely that you get a Business Owners Policy. This kind of policy has a base set of coverage but also allows you to add additional coverage as you see fit. These policies are different for different companies so be sure to do your comparisons accurately.

For business earning above $3 million gross chances are policies will have to be bought separately.

If you employ more than a few people you should have the following policies, workers compensation which will cover disability pay, medical expenses, and death benefits, and property insurance which will cover any damage to the physical premises and equipment.

General liability insurance is usually included in most business policies and covers any damages or injuries caused by your company. Depending on your company’s earnings you may consider adding more of this coverage.

You may want to consider an Occurrence policy, which gives you coverage for accidents when they occur.

It would be good to get a business interruption policy to take care of loss of sales, pay rent, and payroll costs should an accident occur. It will also pay for any necessary rental of office space and equipment while you work to get the business running again.

Before you make any decisions be sure to get estimates on the cost of acquiring each policy. Also be aware that if your business changes location your insurance cost may increase.

Speaking of Insurance - Vaction planning: We do need to look into getting a Caravan insurance quote, I am assigning this to Sandra.