Small business owners are often confronted with the question of whether or not they need insurance. The answer is simple: You do. While it may be obvious that you need to have liability, property damage, worker’s compensation, and other types of coverage in place if your business breaks out into a fire or gets robbed, there are many less visible reasons why your company should always carry the proper protection.
Here are some top reasons why you simply must have commercial insurance protecting your small business at all times:
Protection Against Fraud
We know life has become increasingly busy these days, but don’t let yourself fall victim to identity theft. According to Experian’s Identity Fraud Report, nearly 500,000 Americans discovered their identities stolen last year – up by more than 260% from 2013. If you don’t want to become a statistic and lose money, you need to have commercial insurance in place that will protect you against fraud and identity theft.
Loss Of Public Image
No company wants to be the subject of bad press, but it happens more than we’d like to think. When your business – or one of your employees – does something embarrassing that goes viral on the Internet, having an insurance policy is just smart business sense.
Even if someone doesn’t mean for ill-intentioned information about your company to go public but they inadvertently do so anyways, it can affect your bottom line for years before things quiet down again.
Legal Fees And Judgments Should You Be Sued
Unfortunately, lawsuits are often unavoidable when doing business; you may do everything right, but if someone slips and falls on your property or contracts something from one of your products, you’re going to end up in court. When that happens, you’ll want to have a commercial insurance policy protecting your company, because it can protect you against litigation costs and judgments for accidents that occur on the job.
If You Get Audited
To ensure that there is no shady business occurring within your company or with any of your clients, most businesses are subjected to an annual audit when tax season rolls around. This process is both tedious and time-consuming – not something any small business owner wants hanging over their head during the busiest months of the year! Commercial insurance policies are here to help rid you of many stresses so you can focus on your business instead of worrying about the burdens that come along with it.
Personal Injury
Did you know that if someone gets injured while they’re at your place of business or visiting one of your clients, you could be held liable? It doesn’t matter what the injury is, either – whether it’s a slip and fall or something else. Having commercial insurance in place ensures that your company will be covered when something goes wrong.
Legal Defense Fees And Judgments For Your Employees
If any of your employees are sued for libel or slander, you don’t want to have to pay for their defense fees out of pocket. If one of them is found guilty and you end up paying a judgment fee as well, having commercial insurance in place can protect you against both of these risks.
Disciplinary Actions
If your business is cited for violating any laws or standards, having a commercial insurance policy will ensure that you’re covered. Commercial policies also take care of disciplinary actions taken by licensing bodies for issues like excessive negligence at the workplace or making false claims to third parties.
Liability Coverage
Do you realize the importance of liability coverage for your business? Whether you’re protecting your business against lawsuits or the actions of your employees, commercial liability insurance helps protect you against all sorts of risks. It doesn’t matter if it’s something that happened on the job, at an event where you had a stand, or even during a delivery – having this coverage makes sure you don’t have to worry about any fallout.
Closing Thoughts
Whether you own a small company, work for one, or are thinking of starting your own business – don’t go another day without commercial insurance! Your business is likely everything to you and it could all be lost in an instant if anything goes wrong. Make sure that doesn’t happen by getting the best protection possible; we can help you find the right policy!
Don’t wait until you or your employees are named in a lawsuit, or you end up paying punitive damages due to some sort of negligence – be proactive and get the protection your business needs as soon as possible.