Business Insurance

While taking the entrepreneurial leap is a bold move full of rewards, it is important to protect yourself as a small business owner so your company can keep contributing to its workers and happy customers.

Get a business insurance quote now and get the protection you need to give you peace of mind so you can focus on growing your company.

On this page we’ll help you uncover the business insurance products you should consider including:

If you need help forming an LLC, a Registered Agent or help with operating agreements and filing services then consider trying:

Small Business Owners Insurance

Often known as BOP Insurance – a Business Owners Policy is a great package that combines commercial General Liability Insurance and Property Insurance so you are covered both for your liability if your business harms someone and your costs if your business is affected by something like a fire or burglary.

Most BOP Insurance providers also include Business Interruption Insurance as well.

The property insurance aspect should cover the physical parts of your business against events like adverse weather, vandalism and fire.

Besides the property damage that is actually sustained, BOP insurance can also cover consequential costs like debris removal, decontamination and loss of income.

Keep in mind however that no insurance policy covers everything. Most  BOP insurance will exclude extreme events like earthquakes.

Policies can be tailored to your needs depending on your provider. For instance, you could probably save money by specifying perils to insure against but you then won’t be able to claim for any other perils.

An all risks policy should be much broader in scope but will be more expensive and will still have some exclusions.

After property insurance, a BOP policy also includes general liability insurance. This covers the kind of slip and fall type accidents and bodily injury you always worry about causing lawsuits.

Business liability insurance can seem a little complicated when you have related business liability  products like General Liability Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance and similar sounding coverages like Worker’s Compensation Insurance.

Commercial General Liability insurance covers you for legal and settlement costs if someone or something is harmed by your small business.

Your general liability policy does not cover costs for bodily injury to your employees as that requires separate workers compensation coverage.

Similarly your general liability coverage is not the same as professional liability coverage.

General liability covers physical risks, such as bodily injury and property damage. 

Professional liability covers more abstract risks, such as errors and omissions in the services your business provides.

You should also keep in mind that neither of these liability coverage products protect you against data breaches as that requires specialist cyber insurance.

A Business Owners Policy typically costs an average of about $80 per month, but keep in mind that is an average and business risks can vary very widely and so your own costs could be very different.

BOP policies are great as standard policies for small businesses while bigger businesses are likely to have more complex needs requiring different cover.

Workers Compensation Insurance 

While most business insurance is not a legal requirement in any state, Workers Compensation Insurance is – and indeed every state for that matter apart from Texas.

This provides cover for medical bills, time of work as well as other financial costs caused by bodily injury or death if one of your employees is harmed while working for you.

Some states even require Workers Compensation Insurance even if you only have one employee, or sometimes two or three. You can also get it if you’re self employed. Contracts with other companies often also require it.

Regardless of these factors, workers compensation coverage could be a very valuable investment as part of your insurance needs should you ever need to claim for it as workers compensation costs can be staggering.

While the cost of Workers Comp varies on a variety of factors, your state does have an impact.

See our Workers Comp Calculator here.

If you don’t have a monopolistic state fund, get a Workers Compensation quote now.

Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance

When you’re performing at your best running your small business, it is only natural to make mistakes.

But what if someone accuses you of breaching your duties as director and acting against the company’s best interests?

Directors and officers are most vulnerable to include regulatory actions, misrepresentation allegations, securities litigation and breaches of fiduciary duties.

These can be anything from a disappointed customer to investors or even official investigations.

Get a Directors & Officers Insurance quote now.

Professional Liability Insurance

If your business offers professional services then have you ever wondered what would happen if you made a serious mistake?

Or what if you didn’t even make a mistake but a customer in Wilmington was convinced you had and decided to sue you for it?

Whether you’re a lawyer in Smyrna, a consultant in Middletown, or a real estate agent in Newark, Professional Liability – also known as Errors and Omissions Insurance or E&O Insurance – could be a wise choice to cover your costs if a customer makes an allegation.

Professional Liability Insurance is typically divided between Malpractice insurance for professions like lawyers and doctors, and Technology Errors and Omissions for people working specifically in the technology industry.

Get a Professional Liability Insurance quote now.

Cyber Insurance 

If your business holds personal information about customers then cyber insurance could be important cover should you suffer a data breach.

These days the vast majority of small businesses carry at least some personal information and are required to protect it by law. That could be names, payment details, social security numbers and more – whether held online or offline. If you have any customers in the EU then you must also conform to strict GDPR requirements.

According to a Ponemon report from 2017, cyberattacks cost small and medium-sized businesses an average of $2.235 million. A majority of the businesses that were polled said that attacks are becoming more advanced every year.

Cyber insurance is still a new feature in the insurance world and many business owners and insurers do not fully understand the risks involved in this new field. Therefore it is no surprise that many small businesses are believed to be underinsured in this regard.

Get a Cyber Insurance quote now.

How much is business insurance?

The cost of business insurance varies depending on your business. However, it’s fair to say that it should not be much different to most other states.

While different providers will vary, an average estimate would be:

But keep in mind these are averages covering a wide span of number of employees and types of business risks. A construction business has a very different risk profile to a one-man marketing consultancy.

Is business insurance required by law?

With the exception of Worker’s Compensation Insurance, most business insurance products like General Liability Insurance and Business Owners Insurance are not legally required.

However, small business owners should still consider them as while they may not be required by law the costs of not having them could be significant.

What makes the best business insurance?

Available coverage – make sure you find a business insurance provider that offers all the specific insurance coverages you need.

Make sure to read your business insurance policy wording in full to find out what is covered and for how much as well as any deductibles in the event of a claim – as well as any big exclusions.

It’s often best to get as much as you can covered with the same provider so you don’t have to deal with multiple policies spread over different insurers. Plus there can be pricing benefits to getting a full package.

Ease of application – getting business insurance is frustrating and time-consuming. It’s an industry that has often struggled to adapt. Know that there are providers out there offering a fresh take with a technologically-driven approach to get your business covered fast. What is their customer service like and are they happy to help?

Claims performance – Many insurers make it much easier to buy business insurance than to claim on it. See if your provider makes it easy to do so before you buy. Do they have an integrated online claims process or do you have to fill in and mail a form?

Business Insurance By State