Small Businesses Insurance NYC Guide
This small businesses insurance NYC guide will help to protect your small business with a customized business insurance policy. New York business owners should consider several types of insurance to protect against risks associated with daily operations, employees, and business property. Choosing to run a business in New York without insurance could lead to severe financial hardships, such as lawsuits and recovery costs. The New York Small Business Insurance Guide is provided by the Department of Financial Services. Introduction Running a small business presents many challenges. As a small-business owner, you must try to minimize the financial risks your business faces. Some risks you may consider to be acceptable, while others are unacceptable because the loss would seriously harm your business or even force it to close. Many of these unacceptable risks can be transferred to an insurance company. The information in this guide is designed to help small business owners make informed decisions regarding their insurance needs. Why do Small Businesses Need Property and Casualty Insurance? Small businesses need property and casualty insurance: to protect their assets to replace property damaged by loss or theft to provide for lost income to cover liability for negligent acts to provide coverage for auto, workers’ compensation, crime, etc. If you are not adequately insured, you risk losing your business! Businesses large and small must protect themselves from financial loss. An important part of such protection centers on insurance covering property loss exposures, which include the costs to repair or replace the property in the event of a covered loss. The property and casualty insurance business plays a major role in keeping the American economy moving. It provides economic protection for individuals, business owners, and professionals from losses resulting from damage to or loss of property and from legal liability. There are a few types of insurance every business needs. If you’re already a business owner, you have probably bought policies that covered those areas when you first opened Types of Insurance BUSINESS OWNERS POLICIES Many insurance companies have bundled property and liability coverage into what is commonly called a business owner’s policy (BOP), or a package policy. It allows you to obtain broad coverage with affordable premiums. Since no two businesses are the same, property insurance can be tailored to fit your needs. For example, a furniture store has different needs than a restaurant; a two-person accounting office has liability exposures that are different from a retail business with lots of customer interaction or a builder with a contractual obligation to erect a building. MONOLINE POLICIES Monoline policies provide a single line of insurance, e.g., fire, liability, or auto, etc. BOPs and package policies are created by combining two or more monoline coverages. There are occasions where insurance for your type of risk may not be available as a package policy. Thus, it would be necessary to purchase your property and liability coverage as separate policies. It’s prudent for any business to purchase several basic types of insurance. Some are required by law, others simply make good business sense. The types of insurance listed below are among the most commonly used. PROPERTY INSURANCE Property insurance protects the contents of your business against fire, theft, and other perils. There are many different types of property insurance and levels of coverage available. It’s important to determine the property you need to insure for the continuation of your business and the level of insurance you need to replace or rebuild. You must also understand the terms of the insurance, including any limitations or exclusions. Consider increasing your deductible to reduce your premium and spend the savings by increasing your coverage. Learn the difference between replacement cost, actual cash value, agreed amount, and functional replacement cost. CASUALTY INSURANCE Casualty insurance includes the coverage commonly referred to as Liability insurance. Liability coverage should protect your assets in the event you or your employees are negligent and cause bodily injury or property damage to another. Businesses may incur various forms of liability in conducting their normal activities. This is what covers the cost of lawsuits stemming from accidents that cause bodily injury (i.e., a customer slips on your steps) or property damage (you sell a defective lubricant that burns out a customer’s car engine), and other miscellaneous claims such as libel, slander, and false advertising. Liability insurance will not only pay the cost of the damages but also the attorney fees and other costs associated with your defense in a lawsuit, whether or not the lawsuit has merit. However, liability insurance might not protect you against claims arising from non-performance of a contract, wrongful termination of employees, sexual harassment, or race and gender lawsuits. This is another good reason to carefully read your policy. BUSINESS INTERRUPTION While property insurance may pay enough to replace damaged or destroyed equipment or buildings, how will you pay costs such as taxes, utilities and other continuing expenses during the period between when the damage occurs and when the property is replaced? Business interruption (or business income) insurance can provide sufficient funds to pay your fixed expenses and lost business income during a period when your business is not operational. Business income means the net income (net profit or loss before income taxes) that would have been earned or incurred, as well as continuing normal operating expenses incurred, including payroll. Extra expense coverage will reimburse you for covered expenses while temporarily relocated at another premise during your reconstruction due to a covered loss. COMMERCIAL AUTO It may seem obvious that a vehicle owned by your business should be insured for both liability and physical damage. What is less obvious is that you may also need special insurance, called non-owned automobile coverage, if you or your employees use your vehicles on company business. This policy covers the business’s liability for any damage that may result from such usage. Do you realize that if you send an employee out to pick up pizza for the crew and he/she gets in an auto accident, your

