As a business owner, it is your responsibility to get the right insurance. In many states, having proper insurance for things like liabilities, for your office, or health can be a state requirement. Each state is different as is each area. You can find a list of the required versus the recommended business insurances from your state insurance board.
Make sure that you have the right insurance at all times and that if you are changing providers or changing your plan, there is no lapse between getting rid of the old policy and starting the new one or your business might get into trouble.
Assess Business Needs
The first thing you want to do is assess your business needs. This is something you will want to do annually too. Set a time to regularly go over your business needs. Your needs will change with time. Consider that with growth your company might end up adding company cars after two years of operations, or need to increase/decrease the number of employees on a health care plan.
You might want to change the endorsements or expansions that you have currently. Whether you need less coverage, more coverage, or just new coverage, talk to a broker or agent annually to discuss your changing business needs.
Use Bundles
BOPs are bundles of packages. They are a combination of different insurance policies under one big plan. This can be great for many companies, particularly larger ones because it offers a chance to get all of the insurance needs under one roof.
When something goes wrong, no matter what it is, you can call that same agent over and over. Eventually, they will get to know you and your business well and this can help you to get better customer service.
Fiscally speaking, buying separate policies can result in paying higher premiums. Separate policies will each dome with a higher premium, but if you purchase more than one from the same company, then you can get better discounts from the same company. Package deals can give you liability insurance, car insurance, and more.
Use Independent Agents
If you can afford it, it is in your best interest to speak with someone who is an independent agent instead of the one working for the companies you are considering. Independent agents work as freelancers of the sort, not solely employed by one company.
This means they have more insider knowledge of different companies, something that might help you compare companies more effectively. Traditional captive insurance agents, by contrast, will seek primarily to get you to sign on to their company.
Note that if you opt for the independent agent you will need to likely pay a separate fee for their service and renew any existing policies through them in the future. But if you work this into your business costs, it won’t come as too big a shock. This is especially true if working with a said agent saves your company more in premiums than it costs in fees.
