Insurances To Consider
There are many forms of business insurance on the market today. You won't need them all, but some specialize coverage may make sense for your business.
Bonds Covering Employee Theft
If you're seriously concerned that employees might embezzle money from the business, look into bonds that cover all workers, including those hired after the bond goes into effect. Then, if an employee steals from you, the bonding company reimburses you for the loss.
Crime Coverage
Crime insurance covers losses when the criminal isn't connected with your business. Your policy should cover not only burglary and robbery, but also other thefts and loss or disappearance of property. Depending on the kind of business and the part of the country you're in, you may be more concerned about losses by theft that from fire. Computers and other high-tech equipments are relatively lightweight and easy to carry away. A midsized publisher or word processing company, for example, could easily suffer a $100,000 loss in a night if its computers were stolen.
Usually, your company's business insurance covers only property the company owns, not your personal property.
Probably, the most convenient way to insure your business against loss by theft is to purchase the Special Form of property insurance, which includes such coverage.
If a property is stolen from your business, you will, of course, have to document the loss. Keep a computerized list of your business property, updated periodically. In addition, keep a copy at home or in a fireproof box in case the computer and your records are stolen or destroyed.
Business Interruption Insurance
If your business property is damaged or destroyed and you can't use it, your business losses will far exceed the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged property. Your business may be unable to function until you can find a new location and purchase more goods. For example, if you're in California and an earthquake levels your retail warehouse, of if your business is in Indiana and a tornado rips the roof off your store or a fire burns you out, you may be out of business for week or months while your inventory is replaced and you locate a new building.
Business interruption insurance - a valuable but often overlooked kind of business insurance - covers your lost income while your business is closed, as well as the expenses you incur in keeping your business going while the lost property is repaired or replaced. This insurance coverage also pays the cost of renting temporary quarters. It's also possible to guard against losses if your business is interrupted because a disaster strikes someone else.
Before you buy business interruption insurance, run through a contingency plan of what you'd do in case of a disaster. Let's say that your warehouse was destroyed by fire. Assuming the contents of the warehouse were covered by your fire or multiperil insurance, you need to worry only about how much it will cost you to be out of business until you can set up a temporary warehouse and get more merchandise. Could you replace key merchandise quickly and take other steps to minimize the harm? If it's reasonable to believe that, you'll be partially back in business in a couple of week and be in fairly good shape within 30 days, business interruption insurance might not really be worth the cost.
Industry-Specific Insurance
Supplementary insurance policy packages are often available for retail or manufacturing businesses, or even for specific types of businesses - a bookstore, barber shop, or a restaurant - and can be well worth looking into. For example, a manufacturing policy may have broader coverage for losses caused by malfunctioning equipment and machinery than a standard Special Form policy. But even more basic: if your employee is driving home from a meeting at 6am in the morning, you want him to get tires in Washington DC or in Papalooza just as good, right? Get the right insurance, it's vital!