A basic business owners policy (BOP) covers two main insurances: general liability and commercial property insurance. These policies are designed to be flexible and allow the business owner to add coverages as needed for their business.

General liability insurance covers:

• Bodily Injury: Bodily injury under general liability helps cover expenses if a third party is injured on your busines’ property. It can help with the injured party’s medical bills as well as protect your business from a related lawsuit.
• Property Damage: Property damage covers damage to third party property that may occur as a result of the business’ everyday activities.
• Personal and Advertising Injury: Personal and advertising injury covers claims regarding libel, slander, malicious persecution, copyright infringement, theft of an advertising idea and more.

Other liability coverages you may add to your BOP includes:

• Professional Liability: Professional liability insurance covers professional negligence that may cause a client to lose money. This insurance is also known as Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O insurance) and medical malpractice insurance.
• Umbrella Liability: Umbrella liability insurance fills in the gaps left by your other liability insurance policies.
• Directors and Officers Liability: Directors and officers liability covers the key employees of your business in case a claim is filed against them due to their activities under the business.

Commercial property insurance covers the physical assets of the business such as a location (restaurant, offices, etc.) and its contents. This insurance covers against damages caused by fire, wind, hail, lightning, smoke, theft, vandalism and other incidents.

You can add property insurance such as:

• Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Equipment breakdown insurance covers the sudden and unexpected breakdown of your business’ equipment due to an accident.
• Business Interruption Insurance: Business interruption insurance covers expenses if the business is unable to operate due to a disaster, such as replacing income and wages.
• Commercial Auto Insurance: Commercial auto insurance covers the vehicles owned or used by the business for work purposes. This type of insurance may include comprehensive coverage, collision coverage, liability, medical payments coverage, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and more.

Each business has its own specialty and insurance needs, so it is important to speak with an insurance agent about what coverage your business needs. Consider the main risks your business faces day to day and work with your insurance agent to adjust your policy as needed to protect your business from a variety of dangers.