Essential Business Insurance Policies For A Startup

Insurance Blog

If you're opening a startup, you will need to purchase business insurance to protect your company from going belly up in the event of something such as a lawsuit or natural disaster that closes your doors. But because there are so many business insurance policies available, you may not know which ones are the most important and applicable to a small startup. So to help you out, here's a quick primer on the business insurance that you need the most.

Liability Insurance -- This is probably the one business insurance policy you can't do without, because it covers your startup in the event that you are sued for negligence, injury or property damage that occurred at your physical location or resulted directly from your business operations. Liability insurance pays for your defense against a lawsuit and also covers settlements that result from you losing a lawsuit. The policy also covers medical payments and damage to someone's property during the course of your business. For example, if one of your employees is driving to make a delivery to a customer or client, and has an accident that causes damage to a store, this policy would pay for that damage.

Workers Compensation -- Australian law requires you to obtain workers compensation insurance if you employ a worker other than yourself. Workers compensation covers your employees in the event that they suffer an injury or illness while doing work on your company's behalf. Medical payments, loss of income and any other costs related to your employee's injury or illness is covered under this policy and is essential to protect you and your workers. Workers compensation also provides coverage for long-term disability payments related to an injury at your workplace.

Property Insurance -- A business property insurance policy covers the physical items at your startup, including safes, desks, chairs, tables, documents, windows and the entire building itself. Business property insurance typically provides protection against risks such as fire, burst pipes and natural disasters that lead to damage to your property. This could also include damage done to the exterior landscaping, any inventory you might have at your business and signs and billboards that advertise your presence. Unless you add a special rider, however, damage from flooding is usually not covered on a standard business property insurance policy. In addition, damage resulting from an earthquake typically requires a separate earthquake policy, because those losses tend to be more significant than ordinary weather-related occurrences.

Share

29 May 2015

Supplementary Insurance Policies: Deciding What You Need

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I am a professional, a mother and a home owner. I also have insurance policies that affect all of those roles. I have coverage on my business, life insurance to protect my kids in the event anything happens to me and coverage on my home. I have found that the basics just don't provide the peace of mind and security that I need so I always buy supplemental policies. If you want to ensure that the people and things you love are protected from a financial standpoint, you may also need supplemental policies. This blog will explain what you need and how to know what you need. It will also have money saving tips. Enjoy!