BUSINESS OWNER INSURANCE
Protecting the property and legal liability of your business
Starting from
$ 25/MO
What Is Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) Insurance?
A Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. BOP Insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft, or other covered disasters. Business owners' insurance also helps cover claims that could arise from your business’s operation. These include claims of bodily injury or property damage. They also include claims related to personal and advertising injury.
What is Property & Liability Insurance?
This type of coverage also called a business owner’s policy (BOP), is a simplified approach to commercial insurance for small businesses. By combining general liability insurance and commercial property insurance, along with other coverages, you could benefit in several ways:
What Does Property & Liability Insurance Include?
General Liability Insurance Typically Covers:
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Property Damage. When an employee damages customer property, your coverage may help pay for repairs or replacement.
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Bodily Injury. If someone other than an employee is injured on your property, this coverage can help with medical expenses plus legal expenses and damages.
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Product Liability. If products developed or sold by your business harm people or property, this coverage could help pay legal expenses associated with product liability lawsuits and medical expenses if an injury occurs.
Property Insurance Typically Covers:
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Your Building or Leased Space. This coverage protects the building you own or even a building where you must provide insurance coverage as part of the lease.
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The Contents of Your Building. Property insurance can cover inventory, equipment, or tools, and other people’s property in your building that has been damaged by an employee, yourself, theft, natural disaster, or weather.
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Income From Your Business. In the event of a disruption or property damage, you may be covered for the expenses needed to resume business, including covering net income, payroll costs, and even temporary business relocation.
And much more...
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Yes. Your property and liability policy can be customized by adding an endorsement. An endorsement can either enhance or modify the coverage, depending on your requirements. Don’t know what you need? Our licensed experts are available to help you figure out which of these endorsements is right for you:
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Industry Endorsements
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Depending on the industry you’re in, specific needs arise as part of conducting business. For example, a restaurant industry endorsement might cover food spoilage. A retail store endorsement might cover expenses from having to withdraw merchandise. A hotel or motel endorsement might increase coverage for outdoor fences and signs
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Risk-Specific Endorsements
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Some businesses have inherent risks beyond what’s usually covered in a property and liability insurance policy. There are dozens of risk-specific endorsements that can add an extra layer of protection when needed, like cyber coverage, garage keepers legal liability, miscellaneous professional liability (E&O), and more.
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Increased Coverage Limits
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If you want even greater security and protection, standard coverage limits can often be increased.
Who Needs a Business Owner’s Policy?
You should consider a business owner’s insurance policy if:
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Your business has a physical location. It doesn’t matter where you conduct your business; it matters if your business and assets have coverage. Your BOP policy can help cover businesses run out of your home; a rented or owned office, store, or garage.
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There’s a possibility of you getting sued. For example, let’s say a customer who was injured at your workplace slips and falls. Without the proper business owner’s insurance, you may be looking at hefty out-of-pocket fees to cover the customer’s medical expenses.
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You have assets that could get stolen or damaged. Some assets can be tough to replace, from digital and customer data to equipment, furniture, cash, or inventory. With BOP Insurance, you don’t have to worry about where the money is coming from if you have assets that got stolen or damaged.
Why Your Business Needs a BOP?
BOP insurance will help keep you protected if your company has:
Employees:
Workers can accidentally injure customers or cause property damage. With this policy, you'll have protection for them and your business.
Any chance of a lawsuit:
If a customer slips and falls at your store, this can help pay their medical expenses and your legal costs.
A physical location:
Your BOP policy can help cover businesses run out of your home, a rented or owned office, store, or garage.
Assets that could get stolen or damaged:
Digital property, equipment, furniture, cash, and inventory are all difficult to replace without the right insurance.
Private customer data:
If someone steals or loses personally identifiable information, this can help pay expenses like notifying impacted clients and public relations.
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What is included in business owner insurance?
Business owner’s insurance usually includes:
Commercial Property Insurance. Choco's property insurance can help protect the property of your business:
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Owns
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Leases
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Rents
This can include:
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Buildings
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Equipment
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Inventory
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Furniture
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Fixtures
Commercial property insurance helps cover losses of accounts receivable, valuable papers, and records.
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General Liability Insurance. When it comes to liability protection, the broader the coverage the better. To get the coverage you need, consider Choco's BOP policy. Our policy provides business liability insurance that helps you in the event that you’re sued for causing harm to a person and/or damage to property. It also helps cover the cost of your defense. It does this because businesses can be sued even when it’s not clear they were in the wrong.
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Business Income Insurance. If unexpected events cause a suspension in your business operations due to a covered loss, Choco's BOP policy can help. Our BOP can help replace the loss of income to help you meet your continuing financial obligations. These include important monthly benefits to employees such as payroll and any other financial payments that are due to them. This also includes essential payments like rent.
There are additional coverages that you can add to your Business Owner’s Policy to help tailor coverage to your specific needs. Here are two popular optional coverages that you can add to your Business Owner’s Policy:
Data Breach Coverage. Any business that handles or stores private customer, patient, or employee information is at risk for a data breach. When this sensitive information gets lost or stolen, it’s important to act quickly. Acting quickly allows you to restore confidence in your business. If a breach occurs, The Hartford’s Data Breach Coverage can help pay for the expenses from:
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Notifying affected individuals
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Engaging credit monitoring services if warranted
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Public relations
We also offer coverage to help with defense and settlement costs. In addition to this, our data breach coverage can help cover these in the event your business is sued because of a breach. We also provide coverage when you store private data internationally.
Additional coverage options can help:
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Replace lost income and pay for extra expenses incurred. This helps keep your business running when it has to close temporarily or slow operations due to a covered data breach.
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Protect a business from a data breach that occurred before the BOP policy effective date.
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Pay for extortion expenses and ransom payments associated with the threat of a data breach.
Data Breach Coverage from The Hartford includes access to professionals who can help guide you. They’ll teach you how to prevent breaches and how to manage one if it occurs.
Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) Coverage. You put your professional judgment and expertise on the line just about every day. Even when businesses have done nothing wrong, they can get sued. For instance, businesses can get sued by customers claiming negligent acts or errors in professional services. Professional liability coverage can help cover you against claims like these. However, some types of businesses may not be eligible for this coverage.
How much does business insurance cost?
Small businesses that buy a new BOP policy through Choco online are paying an average of $82 per month. While this gives you a general idea of what BOP insurance costs, it’s not necessarily what you’ll pay.
For instance, the price mentioned above is calculated using several different business types with varying levels of risk. Your final price will depend heavily on certain attributes of your business including coverage needs, type of profession, number of employees, and claims history.
You might find that the cost of your BOP insurance is higher if you have a history of claims, high coverage requirements, or high exposure to risk, for example.
Getting a custom quote is a great way to find a rate that best matches your unique situation.
Notice how the cost depends on the type of policy you need. This is because each policy protects against different types of risk, and these differences are factored into the price.
So, can you expect to pay the average rate? Not necessarily. The cost of your policy is calculated using several basic factors including your profession, number of employees, and coverage needs. You can expect to pay more than the average rate if you require more coverage, lease a unique property or have a history of claims. Learning how these factors influence your cost can help you secure the best combination of price and protection for your unique situation.
What type of business needs a business owner's policy (BOP)?
Small to medium-sized businesses with commercial property should consider a BOP. It combines general liability and commercial property insurance. This combination gives you both liability protection - for things like accidents and lawsuits - and commercial property insurance, which covers your building and business personal property.
What factors affect my business insurance costs?
Many factors play a role in calculating your business insurance cost. The most influential usually are your profession, number of employees, and coverage needs. These factors can vary significantly from business to business.
Category
Not all business types carry the same amount of risk. A business type known to have higher risk can expect to pay more than a business with lower risk. Tree trimmers and contractors are examples of higher-risk businesses. Their work is physical and often includes using power tools on other peoples’ properties. These factors increase exposure.
In contrast, a home-based financial advisor doesn’t share these risks so that they won’t be factored into their rate. Will they pay less? Probably, but not for certain. Professional services are exposed to a different type of risk, and they often need to carry professional liability insurance to stay safe.
Number of employees
Businesses with several employees can expect to pay more for insurance because their potential for claims is higher than a business with fewer, or no, employees. Each additional employee increases exposure to accidents and other mishaps that may result in a claim.
If a business has employees, it needs to carry workers' compensation coverage. This is required by law in almost every state, and it adds to the cost of insuring your business.
Coverage needs
The amount of coverage you select has an impact on your premium. For example, a small business policy with a $1 million/$2 million aggregate will generally cost more than a policy with a $1 million/$1 million aggregate.
Cheapest business insurance in new york
Finding the cheapest business insurance policy is a priority for the cost-conscious business owner, but always weigh the price against the coverage. You don’t want to pay for coverages you don’t need, but you also don’t want to be underinsured if something happens. Seek balance.
To help maximize your savings, analyze your business first to understand your specific needs. Be sure to include any contractual requirements and rule out any inapplicable coverages. Be informed.
You can save money by adjusting your deductibles. A deductible is an amount you pay out of pocket toward a covered loss at the time of a claim. Generally, the higher your deductible, the lower the cost of your annual premium. Just be sure you’re comfortable paying the deductible you select.
Of course, you have questions. Help take the guesswork out of finding your best small business insurance cost and coverage combination by speaking with a licensed professional. They can walk you through the process and customize a quote specifically for your business.
How to get business insurance
4 easy steps to efficiently insure your business
Learning how to get business insurance that matches your exact needs is easier if you approach it in small steps. Follow these four time-saving steps to get business insurance tailored to your specific needs.
Learning how to get the right amount of business insurance isn’t as complicated as it might seem. Check your eligibility for a business insurance policy.