What does a business owners policy (BOP) cover? It is one of the most frequently asked questions about business insurance. It provides you with valuable protection when it comes to operating your company.
Many insurers offer this type of policy. It works to combine some of the most important protections most companies need. These might include property coverage and liability into one package. This can help to keep your overall costs down. However, it does not have put you at risk with limited coverage.
What Property Does Your Business Own?
One component of BOP is property insurance. It helps cover the value of your business assets. This includes items such as the building you own and the equipment within it. It also often covers your computer systems, furnishings, and inventory. These valuable items are quite important to your business efforts. Should you be unable to use them, you could not operate your company.
The amount of coverage for property under BOP depends on the business's needs. Owning a building will significantly increase the value of your policy. You also will pay more if your company has valuable equipment or inventory on hand. Be sure to discuss your inventory and property with your business insurance agent. You will want your policy to match your needs.
How a BOP Helps
In many situations, a BOP can help your business to recover after an accident or incident. Your policy will list all types of covered events. The property coverage component often provides financial protection from unpreventable or unavoidable damage. This often includes fires, theft, and vandalism. It usually does not cover floods. It also often does not cover earthquake damage. You can choose to ad special riders added to your policy to cover these types of losses, though.
How Do You Get Help?
When an event occurs, and you suffer a financial loss, contact your insurance agent. Your agent will document the incident. He or she will verify you have coverage based on the details of your policy. From there, you will receive coverage up to the limits listed on your policy.
BOP also provides other insurance protection. It will generally provide you with liability insurance. Most plans will also include business interruption insurance. Most of the time, it does not offer workers' compensation coverage or commercial auto insurance. Your agent can help you to obtain additional policies for those needs and any others you may have. Always ask your agent if a BOP is right for your business. At times, certain businesses, like those that deal in expensive or specialty products, need more coverage than a BOP can provide.
For more information on business insurance, contact one of our agents.