What Type of Commercial Building Insurance do you Need?
Insurance is something that everyone needs, but the type of insurances you will need vary greatly depending on what your interest in the property is, and what it is that you are trying to protect. As a building owner that leases property to tenants you are concerned about liability and your property which is the building. If you both own the building and have your business in it your needs will be much more extensive. Choosing the insurance that you need requires a bit of research or some help from an agent or broker that understand insurance better than you do.
First it is important to understand the difference between commercial building and a private building, commercial is determined by the fact that you will in some way make money with this building, whether it is because there are shops, medical centers or other money making businesses there or because there are apartment buildings they are considered commercial from the stand point that they bring you revenue. Whether you actually do business in them or simply lease them you will still need a form of commercial building insurance.
For the commercial investor insurance will first provide protection against fire and other types of damage. The exact extent and nature of this insurance policy will depend on where the building is located but it may also include things such as flood or hurricane insurance, which are normally separate from your actual property damage policy. You must take the time to research your policy carefully to see what is covered or not covered, these exclusions to cause you to lose a significant investment should anything happen.
As a commercial investor your insurance will only cover the building structure itself, however if you are a business owner then you will want to extend your coverage to cover the furnishings, inventory, any equipment you might have, medical bills and time lost due to being shut down after a fire or other event. Some insurance will even pay your employees lost wages, which is a good investment if you don’t want to lose your labor force.
Commercial business insurance can be exhaustive in scope; you can even get insurance that will cover goods in transit and an number of other problems that might arise in the course of doing business. All of this is covered under property insurance, however there is another type of commercial building insurance that you will need called liability, and this insurance is just as important as your property insurance.
You should never just assume that your tenants or on the flipside your building owner will have liability insurance, this is something you should have regardless of which category you belong in. Liability not only will pay for any accidents that occur on your property or because of something you manufacture that is due to negligence on your part or the part of an employee, but it will also pay for your legal bills should you be sued.
There are a number of different types of liabilities as well as insurance to cover them all, this is another place where you need to be quite thorough, since each type of commercial property and business is going to have a unique need when it comes to liability. Manufacturing will need to cover anything that is produced in your plant as well as your employees and your property where as a retail store will not need the same liability. If you use large machinery on your property you will need to have a liability insurance that covers them and if you use any type of chemical or process that represents a danger to the surrounding area your liability coverage will need to extend to that.
Choosing commercial building insurance is a complex process that should be done only with informed decisions. You should take your time to examine all of your risks with a qualified insurance agent or other professional to decide what types of insurance your building and business will need. Once you have done so you will want to take the time to get quotes and shop around to see what different companies have to offer in terms of insurance.
At Building Insurance Expert we do not just throw insurance quotes your way, we strive to get you the most informed insurance quotes we can based on the type of property, where you live, the age and use of the building and other important factors.
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