Business insurance coverage, explained
How policies differ, where each one stops and what fills the gaps.
10 articles
Newest first
Do small businesses need cyber insurance?
Most do, and three kinds of business need it now: those that take card payments, those that keep customers’ or clients’ personal data, and those that send or receive money based on email. A few very small businesses can reasonably wait. Whichever you are, the details to check are the sublimits, especially for email payment scams.
Coverage explained8 min read
Email scams and wire fraud: what small businesses should know
In a business email scam, a criminal poses as a supplier, client or colleague to get you to send money or change payment details. Property and general liability policies usually don’t pay for money you were tricked into sending, but some cyber policies can help, often up to a lower limit.
Coverage explained10 min read
First-party vs. third-party coverage
First-party coverage pays your business when it suffers a loss, like a fire or a theft. Third-party coverage defends you and pays other people when they claim your business harmed them.
Coverage explained9 min read
Garagekeepers vs. garage liability
Garagekeepers covers damage to customers’ vehicles while your shop has them. Garage liability covers injuries and damage your shop’s operations cause to other people and their property. The names are close, but they answer different claims.
Coverage explained9 min read
General liability vs. professional liability
General liability answers for physical harm, when someone gets hurt or something gets broken. Professional liability answers for financial harm, when a mistake, missed deadline or bad advice in your work costs a client money.
Coverage explained9 min readHow business income claims are calculated
Business income claims are usually calculated as the net income you would have earned plus the expenses that kept running, for the period it takes to repair covered damage, after a waiting period. Extra costs to reopen sooner are added on top.
Coverage explained10 min read
Replacement cost vs. actual cash value
Replacement cost coverage pays what it would cost today to repair or replace your property with something of like kind and quality. Actual cash value pays that amount minus depreciation, so older things pay out less.
Coverage explained9 min readWhat business insurance doesn’t cover: common exclusions
Every business policy lists things it won’t pay for. The most common exclusions, from flood and wear and tear to employee injuries and customers’ property in your care, are usually covered by a different policy or by separate coverage you’d buy on purpose.
Coverage explained9 min read
What is inland marine insurance?
Inland marine insurance covers business property that travels or sits somewhere a regular property policy doesn’t reach, such as tools on a job site or equipment in a truck. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with boats.
Coverage explained9 min read
Workers’ comp vs. general liability: who pays when someone gets hurt
Workers’ comp covers your own employees’ work injuries, and general liability covers injuries to customers, visitors and other people outside your business. The hard cases are the workers who fall in between, like independent contractors and a subcontractor’s uninsured crew.
Coverage explained10 min read
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