How To Choose Insurance for Your Small Business

Getting the right insurance is essential for any business. The septic, sewer and portable restroom industry carries health risks, so it’s crucial to ensure you’re covered before starting. You also need to consider what coverage your business is obligated to have.

Let’s dive into why getting the right insurance is important and what you must consider when selecting insurance for your business.

WHY DO BUSINESSES NEED INSURANCE?

Primarily, insurance helps protect your business. Insurance offers a financial and legal safety net, helping to protect against accidents, complaints or legal action. Without insurance, the risk to your business is high. Trying to save costs by not investing in the right insurance can quickly become a costly mistake.

You also have to consider the unique nature of our industry. Working with sewerage carries public health risks. Unfortunately, accidents happen and should you be unlucky enough to have a crisis, you, your business and your employees will be covered with the right insurance.

How To Choose Insurance For Your Business

There are several things to think about when choosing insurance. These include the following: continued on page 10

4 What insurance are you legally obligated to have?

4 What is your budget?

4 How many employees do you have? This will affect your costs as most policies will be per employee.

4 Does your business own property, vehicles and equipment? If the answer is yes to these questions, you should consider specialist insurance covering wear, tear and damage to these assets.

4 Do you provide products or services? There are different types of insurance covering complaints about your products or services.

4 Do you need specialist insurance over and above what is legally mandated?

4 Does the state you are in obligate you to have specific policies? State requirements can differ from those of the federal government. Do your research and make sure you know what you need to be compliant in your state. The answers to these questions will affect what types of insurance you invest in. Therefore, it’s worth spending some time working through these questions so that you can carefully consider the best way to protect your business.

4 Commercial property insurance – This covers damage done to any property that your business owns.

4 Business interruption insurance – Should something stop your business from operating, this policy will protect you and ensure that your business survives.

WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF BUSINESS INSURANCE?

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The costs of your insurance will vary widely depending on a number of factors. Costs can be affected by the number of employees, what is covered, the depth of coverage and what part of your business is protected.

WHAT TYPES OF INSURANCE DO SMALL BUSINESSES NEED?

The federal government requires every business with employees to have the following types of insurance in place:

SPOTLIGHT INDEX Shop around insurance providers and ask questions. This article provides a starting point on some things to consider. You may also save some costs by looking at policies that give blanket coverage across several areas, such as a business owner’s policy (BOP).

4 Workers compensation insurance – This type of policy covers you and your employees should anyone become ill or injured as a result of working for you. This is particularly important for the sewerage, septic tank and portable restroom industry, as dealing with liquid waste carries a public health risk.

4 Unemployment insurance – This covers your employees who become unemployed.

4 Disability insurance – This covers an employee disabled by an accident while working for your business.

Other types of insurance available to businesses include:

4 General liability insurance protects you against complaints and legal action from customers.

4 Health insurance – Although not obligatory for a business to provide, we would argue that in our industry, ensuring your employees are protected is essential. A good health insurance policy for your staff helps build trust and loyalty and, ultimately, a stronger company.

A recent article by Forbes sets out some insurance costs. It estimates that the average small business will pay just over $4000 in insurance annually. Not all of the costs listed will apply to the sewerage business, and health care insurance is omitted, but it does indicate a starting cost.

Do your research to get a clearer idea of how much insurance will cost your business. Shop around insurance providers and ask questions. This article provides a starting point on some things to consider. You may also save some costs by looking at policies that give blanket coverage across several areas, such as a business owner’s policy (BOP). BOPs cover general liability, commercial property and business interruption insurance and are usually cheaper than buying these three policies separately.

Final Thoughts On Business Insurance

When insuring your business, there is a lot to consider, but working through what you need and speaking with insurance professionals will help set you up for a secure future. Properly insuring your business means that should the worst happen, you, your employees and your customers are protected, and your business survives to grow and prosper. For more information on how to protect and grow your septic, sewer or portable restroom business, subscribe to the American Liquid Waste Magazine today — the digital version is free!

Sources https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15782-small-business-insurance.html https://www.business.com/insurance/types/ https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/ get-business-insurance https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/finance/business-insurance-guide https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business-insurance/typesof-small-business-insurance/ https://www.iii.org/publications/insuring-your-businesssmall-business-owners-guide-to-insurance/small-business-insurance-basics https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop-coverage/business-in-more-than-one-state/ https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business-insurance/ small-business-insurance-cost/

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