Business Owners Policy
What is a Business Owners Policy?
Businesses in New Jersey are exposed to lots of different risks. A business might have property damaged during a fire, be sued for libel or slander, or have to shut down following a disaster. A business owners policy makes it easy for businesses to protect themselves against risks like these.
A business owners policy, also known as BOP insurance, is a form of commercial insurance that combines several different insurance policies into one, convenient package. Most packages are designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses that operate in a diverse array of industries.
What Types of Policies Does a Business Owners Policy Typically Include?
There are three types of insurance policies that BOP insurance typically includes:
- General Liability Insurance, which gives businesses broad protection for a variety of covered incidents in which they may be held responsible for damages
- Commercial Property Insurance, which may cover a business’ building and the contents in it from fire, theft, and other perils
- Business Interruption Insurance, which might provide compensation for lost income following a covered disaster
Bodily Injury
What Costs Does Bodily Injury Coverage Cover?
An auto insurance policy’s bodily injury protections may guard against several possible expenses associated with a covered claim. Depending on the coverage’s terms and conditions, it might cover:
- Legal costs associated with defending a driver in court
- Medical costs of treating any injuries that others sustained
- Any loss of income that others experience due to their injuries
- Any pain and suffering that injured individuals experience
- Funeral costs if an accident is fatal
How Are Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Coverage Different?
- Both bodily injury and property damage liability coverage cover drivers for damages they cause in a car accident. The types of damages that the two coverages protect against are different, though. Bodily injury generally insures drivers against injuries other people suffer. Property damage liability coverage is designed to insure against damages to other people’s property, such as their cars, buildings, signs, or another type of property.
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE
What is Business Interruption Insurance?
Business interruption insurance is a unique type of insurance. If a covered incident causes a business’ profits to diminish, a policy will help make up for the decrease. It will provide payment for the difference in income, according to the policy’s terms, conditions and limits.
Since business interruption policies provide payments for lost income, this type of insurance is sometimes called business income coverage.
What Kinds of Incidents Does Business Income Coverage Cover?
Generally speaking, business income coverage covers the same kinds of incidents as a building policy. Specific coverages vary, but many policies protect against incidents like fire, theft, windstorms, and similar perils.
One thing business interruption policies don’t usually cover is poor business decisions. If a business owner makes a strategic mistake that leads to decreased sales, a policy won’t help make up the different. This type of insurance is meant to protect against what businesses can’t control, and not what they can.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INSURANCE
What is Commercial Property Insurance?
Businesses that own property in New Jersey have invested a significant amount of financial assets into their buildings and land, and those assets need to be protected. Few businesses could afford to replace their commercial property if something happened to it. Commercial property insurance helps make sure businesses don’t have to if their property is damaged in a covered incident.
Commercial property insurance (also known as business property insurance) is somewhat similar to homeowners insurance, except commercial property policies are designed to insure commercial buildings and land rather than personal residences.
Just as homeowners policies usually provide both dwelling coverage and personal property coverage, commercial property policies typically provide coverage for a business’ building(s) and contents kept within the insured building. The list of covered contents may include equipment, fixtures, furniture, decorations, supplies, and inventory, depending on a policy’s terms and conditions.
Unlike homeowners policies, however, commercial property policies often don’t include liability coverage. While this coverage is commonly part of homeowners policies, businesses frequently must purchase general liability insurance through a separate policy. In some cases, a liability policy may be lumped together with a commercial property policy (and other policies) in a business owners policy, but the property and liability coverages usually remain separate policies with different terms and conditions.
COMMERCIAL TRUCKING INSURANCE
What is Commercial Trucking Insurance?
Whether they’re delivering packages across town or cargo across the country, commercial trucking companies are exposed to a number of risks. Truck accidents occur every day, and they can cost a company tens of thousands of dollars (or more). Commercial trucking insurance helps trucking companies in New Jersey protect themselves from many of the potential perils that they face.
Commercial trucking insurance is similar to commercial auto insurance, but it provides coverages for trucks rather than cars. It may be used to insure everything from box trucks to 18-wheelers.
What Coverages Does Commercial Truck Insurance Offer?
Commercial truck insurance policy must at least meet the minimum insurance requirements in New Jersey, but many companies choose to purchase more insurance coverage than the state requires.
In general, commercial trucking policies contain four main coverages:
- Liability Coverage, for damages and injuries that a company’s driver is responsible for
- Physical Damage Coverage, for damage to a company’s truck
- Underinsured and Uninsured Motorists Coverage, for accidents with people who don’t have adequate insurance
- Truck Cargo Coverage, for the cargo transported in a truck
- Unidentified Trailer Coverage, for trailers that a company doesn’t own or lease long-term (also known as Trailer Interchange Coverage)
Truck cargo coverage may cover both theft and damage of cargo while it’s in a truck. This is a coverage that’s usually unique to commercial trucking insurance policies.Protect Your Business
.
GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
What is General Liability Insurance?
New Jersey businesses are exposed to a variety of potential risks by simply selling products or services. General liability insurance helps protect businesses from many of the risks they’re exposed to.
Many businesses are exposed to the same or similar risks, even though they may be in different industries. General liability insurance provides broad, or general, coverage against common risks that lots of businesses face.
What is Commercial Umbrella Insurance?
Even with generous primary insurance coverages in place, businesses in New Jersey sometimes still remain exposed to possible risks. Commercial umbrella insurance, or business umbrella insurance, gives businesses a way to enhance the protections provided by their primary policies.
Business umbrella insurance is a supplemental, or secondary, insurance that enhances the coverages and limits of primary, or underlying, policies. A general liability policy, commercial property policy, commercial auto policy or other kind of commercial insurance policy may function as a primary policy. Often, a single business umbrella policy will supplement several underlying policies simultaneously.
Being a secondary form of insurance, a business umbrella policy typically won’t provide coverage until the limits of any primary coverage have been exhausted. Most business umbrella policies have requirements about what underlying coverages must be maintained. Not following a policy’s requirements for underlying coverages could compromise, or even void, the policy’s umbrella coverage.
