Every business must have commercial property insurance. Whether in the goods or service industry, your company owns some property. This can be furniture and fittings, a few computers, or many high-value inventory. These assets can be destroyed in a fire, earthquake, flooding, or hurricane. They can also be stolen during a break-in. Since you do not want the business to experience huge losses during these incidents, you must purchase a suitable commercial property insurance policy. Smart Business Insurance can help you find the perfect insurance policy for your coverage needs. When purchasing an insurance policy, there are several key factors that you’ll have to consider, including:
Inclusions
If you want to know what an insurance policy covers, you only need to look at the inclusion clauses. All the business assets that are covered by a policy are listed here. The types of incidents that may lead to losses are also listed here. Since you want all the furniture, fittings, inventory, decoration, computers, and stationery covered, you must negotiate a policy that covers everything you want.
Exclusions
Every insurance policy has exclusion clauses, which state the circumstances under which liabilities are not protected and the types of liabilities that are excluded from coverage. In other words, you should read the exclusion clauses to learn about all the liabilities that are not covered by a policy. Failure to read the exclusion clauses can lead to major disappointments in the future when liability arises.
Coverage Limits
You must check the extent of coverage for each liability that’s covered. If the assets in your business premise are valued at $2 million, the ideal policy should offer at least $2 million in liability coverage. This means that if everything in your business premise is destroyed in a fire, the insurance company will pay the full value of the losses. If your insurance policy offers less coverage, you may be forced to bridge the coverage gap with your funds or absorb the losses.
Premiums
Insurance coverage is not offered free of charge; a premium must be paid for the policy. Premiums usually depend on the type and level of coverage. The best policies usually cost more because the insurer will spend a lot of money to cover your losses when liability arises. Since there is a lot of competition in the insurance industry, it is possible to find insurance companies that offer similar coverage at a lower cost. Therefore, consumers are advised to always shop around before making a decision. An insurance broker can help with this.
Claims Processing Speed
It does not help anything to have an insurance policy that offers amazing coverage if the insurance company will reject your claim or offer an insignificant payout. Before purchasing a policy, you may first want to check the speed with which the insurance company processes claims. It should take just a couple of days for the insurance company to carry out its investigation and make a payout. This is one of the most important factors to consider when looking for business insurance.
Reputation
The reputation an insurance company has developed over the years must be checked. This is because the best insurance companies have a good reputation. Insurance companies that have consistently been rejecting claims, and are known to offer low payouts, have many negative reviews and poor ratings, so you should avoid them. Therefore, you should spend a little bit of time reading reviews and checking ratings before you buy a given insurance policy. This will help you make an informed decision. Ideally, you should not be in a hurry when doing your research.
