Business Insurance - And What You Need To Know
 by: Vickie J Scanlon

Getting your business up and running is exciting, challenging and hard work. You're finally making money - and you are the driving force that is making your business grow. But have you taken care of the "What ifs". Like - "What if I get sick, how do I pay my bills" or "What if I have a fire, how do I keep my business running". Simply put, the one thing you do not want is to have the business that you have labored so tirelessly on, hit a financial snag.

If you are a sole proprietor or a partnership - both your business and personal liabilities are at risk. Do you think you're safe if you incorporate or have an LLC? Many are misled into believing this is so, however, you too can become personally liable if you sign a personal guarantee on a loan, personally injure someone or act irresponsibility. As you will see, owning business liability insurance can and does protects your business and personal life from financia ruin. My discussion here will be limited to Business Interruption,Overhead, Umbrella Liability and Liability Insurance - explaining what these four types of insurance are, and what they can offer you and your business.

Business Interruption Insurance

Business Interruption Insurance helps to insure against any economic losses that you may encounter if something should happen to close down your business. For example, you have a fire in your corner of the house - your business office. Your home is covered for property damage - thus, the rebuilding is covered, however, what about the lose income you're losing while you rebuild? That's where Business Interruption Insurance can come in to play.

Overhead Insurance

There is one type of business insurance that you may want to consider when your business is making a good profit, and that would be Overhead Insurance. Overhead Insurance covers rent, salaries, utilities, insurance premiums and/or interest payments that are related to the business - this type of insurance would cover you in case of a major illness or accident.

Umbrella Liability Insurance

Umbrella Liability Insurance is used for catastrophic losses. This will protect you in the event someone wants to sue you. An umbrella policy will upgrade your basic auto, homeowners or business insurance to cover these unforeseen events.

Liability Insurance

If you have people coming to your home-based business, than liability insurance may be something you should look into it. Liability insurance will cover you against claims made by others against you for injuries or damages that occurred on your property.

Yes, your homeowner's policy includes some liability insurance, but it may not cover you for liability claims caused by your business.

To conclude, life offers many unexpected turns in the road - and basically, that's what all insurance does - it protects you against those unexpected bumps in the road - and keeps you moving toward your goals with only limited stales. Personally, I believe I can deal with a small bump in the road better than a complete halt in business. How about you?

To your success.

This article was posted on August 29, 2005