Home Business Insurance

A legal action could significantly impact a small home-based business. Safeguard against potential liabilities by securing the appropriate policies tailored to your specific risks.

Business insurance can help protect against these types of risks, as well as provide coverage for the costs of defending a lawsuit and any awards that could be issued against the photographer.

What Type of Insurance would a home based business need?

• Professional Liability (Errors & Omissions)
• General Liability (GL)
• Business Owner Policy (BOP) combines GL, business property, and loss of income
• Cyber Insurance
• Worker’s Compensation

Why would a home based business need Professional Liability Insurance?

Professional Liability Insurance protects businesses from claims of negligence or copyright infringement. This type of insurance provides financial protection in the event that a client sues for damages caused by a professional mistake or negligence. It also provides coverage for claims of copyright infringement, which can be expensive and time–consuming to defend against.

What Can a Business Owner’s Policy Do For a Home Based Business?

A BOP combines three basic coverage types into one policy, making it easy to choose the coverage level that your business needs and stay protected without a lot of research into specific policy types.  The most common coverage types included in most BOP policies are:

• Liability coverage. Protect yourself from liability in your own building or when you’re showing properties to others with this type of coverage, which comes standard in most BOP policies. This coverage protects you from lawsuits arising from injuries caused to clients and employees during the course of operations. For example, if a client in your office for a meeting falls in your place of business and breaks a leg, this policy protects you from any liability claims arising from the event.
• Business property damage coverage. If your business or any of your furnishings and equipment are damaged due to a covered peril – such as a tornado or fire – then this policy helps you replace the lost items.
• Loss of business income. When your business is forced to shutter its doors due to a covered event, this policy type pays for the lost revenue your business would have received if it were operational. For example, if the wind tears your roof off, forcing you to close for repairs, then the amount of income you lose as a result is payable under this type of insurance.

A Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) is a type of insurance policy designed to provide business owners with broad coverage for their business. 

What about Cyber Insurance? 

Cyber insurance can help protect home businesses by providing coverage for the cost of recovering lost data, the cost of reputational damage due to a breach, and the cost of legal fees related to a data breach.

It can also provide coverage for the cost of notifying customers of a data breach, the cost of providing credit monitoring services for affected customers, and the cost of any fines or penalties imposed by regulatory authorities.

Additionally, cyber insurance can provide coverage for the cost of replacing stolen equipment and the cost of restoring or replacing corrupted data.

What Does General Liability Cover?

General Liability can protect you from advertising liability, customer bodily injury and property damage caused to a customer’s belongings.  It covers most potential business losses such as fire, vandalism or even water damage as long as they are not specifically excluded from your commercial insurance policy contract.

The most important question to consider is what does a general liability policy cover. The answer is relatively simple. It covers most situations where you, as a broker, might be liable to a consumer for damages. This covers a few different situations.

• Bodily Injury  If a client slips and falls or injures themselves while visiting your office, you could be liable for their medical expenses. This can involve a significant cost to you if you do not carry liability insurance.
  
• Property Damage Being a real estate broker means you are taking strangers into someone’s home. If your buyer accidentally or purposefully breaks or steals something in that home, you could be responsible for the damages. This is another situation that can result in financial loss.
• What About Lawsuits? Depending on the lawsuit, general liability or professional liability covers your and possibly your client’s costs. These lawsuits can result in thousands of dollars worth of damages, not to mention the damage to your reputation.

General liability protects you in your office and when you are visiting clients at their property. It can aid you by paying the costs associated with injury, theft, or property damage, which is why it is a vital part of any professional photographers insurance policy.