Forward-Thinking Business Insurance for 21st Century Exposures
What is Liability Insurance?
Liability insurance, also known as commercial insurance, protects you in the event you are sued for claims that come within the coverage of your liability insurance policy. If you are a small business owner, there are many reasons why you should learn more about what commercial insurance means to you. The insurance you choose depends upon the details of your business. Some people choose professional liability insurance, some choose general liability insurance and many select both.
General liability insurance
Also known as Commercial General Liability (CGL), protects your business from another person or business's claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs and damage to property. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
Professional liability insurance
Sometimes called errors and omissions insurance (E&O insurance), is coverage for another person's claims against businesses that provide professional and personal services. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
Business Owner's Policy (BOP)
BOP is often used to provide balanced coverage for small businesses who also want to protect their own business equipment. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
General liability insurance
Also known as Commercial General Liability (CGL), protects your business from another person or business's claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs and damage to property. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
- Bodily injury: A personal trainer is working with a client in their home. The client trips over the trainer’s gym bag and falls, breaking their wrist. The trainer’s general liability insurance policy could cover the client’s medical costs, including any lost wages, that result from the injury.
- Property damage and data loss: An IT consultant is working in a client’s office when they spill coffee on the server. The machine is damaged beyond repair and valuable data is lost. The consultant’s general liability insurance policy could cover the cost to replace the server and recover the data.
- Personal injury: A business consultant is overheard talking about a client in a false and unflattering way. The client finds out about the conversation and sues for slander. The consultant’s general liability policy could cover defense costs as well as any settlement or judgment.
Professional liability insurance
Sometimes called errors and omissions insurance (E&O insurance), is coverage for another person's claims against businesses that provide professional and personal services. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
- Dissatisfied client: A business consultant advises a client to change several internal processes to increase productivity. The recommendations are not implemented as specified, and productivity drops by 15% rather than improving, and the client sues the consultant. A professional liability policy could protect the consultant, even if no mistake was made.
- Negligence: A human resources consultant is hired to update a company’s employment practices. Six months later, the client calls to say a part-time employee is suing the company because a key provision for the number of hours part-timers can work was omitted from the employee manual. The client makes a claim against the consultant, contending they were responsible for the mistake. The consultant’s professional liability policy could protect them, including defense costs.
Business Owner's Policy (BOP)
BOP is often used to provide balanced coverage for small businesses who also want to protect their own business equipment. Some examples of what could be covered are below:
- Office insurance for fire and business interruption.
- Electronic data loss insurance.
- Hired or non-owned vehicle liability insurance.
- Commercial crime insurance to cover the dishonesty of your employees.
Errors and Omissions Insurance
If you have a professional services business, having errors and omissions insurance coverage can be an integral part of protecting your business. Accusations of negligence or the failure to perform your professional services are things that any professional services business can be sued for, even if it hasn't made a mistake. Some examples of what could be covered are listed below:
If you have a professional services business, having errors and omissions insurance coverage can be an integral part of protecting your business. Accusations of negligence or the failure to perform your professional services are things that any professional services business can be sued for, even if it hasn't made a mistake. Some examples of what could be covered are listed below:
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Dissatisfied Client:
A contractor is hired to review a client’s website and network security in order to implement new procedures where they find weaknesses. A month after the project is completed the client’s website gets hacked and they lose revenue from the site being down. The client accuses the contractor of faulty work. An errors & omissions insurance policy could protect the contractor even if they haven’t made a mistake. |
Negligence:
A consultant is contracted by a client to come in and organize a project that has run past its due date and is over budget. The consultant commits to bringing the project to completion. As the consultant digs into the project, they realize that the former project manager did not present the client with an accurate view of deliverables and they are now facing a scope of work that is twice as long as original projection. When presenting the finding to the client, the contractor is accused of not doing proper due diligence up front before signing the contract. An errors & omissions insurance policy could protect you against claims of negligence even if you haven’t made a mistake. |
Workers compensation insurance
Workers Compensation is a system of state laws that ensure that injured workers receive prompt and fair compensation for work-related injuries and diseases. In most states, laws require you to pay for an injured worker’s medical care, lost wages, and death benefits. Failure to have workers compensation insurance can leave you liable to pay for benefits out of pocket, and subject to fines or penalties by the state.
Examples of possible work-related accidents or diseases include:
Who is required to have Workers Compensation Insurance? In general, if you’re an employer and your business has employees, you are required by law to have Workers Compensation Insurance.
Examples of possible work-related accidents or diseases include:
- Trips and Falls
- Repetitive Stress
- Strains
- Unsafe work conditions
Who is required to have Workers Compensation Insurance? In general, if you’re an employer and your business has employees, you are required by law to have Workers Compensation Insurance.
Why choose Neal & Hartman Solutions?
We specialize in business insurance for professional services businesses like yours.
- Tailored Insurance: We tailor coverage to the nature of your business or field.
- Approvals and Rating: Our products have been approved by the Department of Insurance, and are underwritten by PAX Insurance Solutions.
- Flexible payment options: We offer you the option of making monthly payments (with no additional fees) to help manage your cash flow.
- Claims responsiveness: When a covered claim is reported, we will immediately contact you and, where necessary, appoint an attorney to defend you, even if the claim is without merit.
- Passion for service: We have received a 4.8/5 customer satisfaction rating and have been voted a top 100 Business Influencer.