Types of Commercial Insurance

The most common types of commercial insurance are property, liability and workers' compensation. In general, property insurance covers damages to your business property; liability insurance covers damages to third parties; and workers' compensation insurance covers on-the-job injuries to your employees. Depending on your business, you may want additional specialized coverages. Listed below are some of the different types of business insurance.

PROPERTY INSURANCE

Property insurance pays for losses and damages to real or personal property. For example, a property insurance policy would cover fire damage to your office space. You can purchase additional coverages for business property, including:

Boiler and Machinery Insurance
Boiler and machinery insurance, sometimes referred to as "equipment breakdown" or "mechanical breakdown coverage," provides coverage for the accidental breakdown of boilers, machinery, and equipment. This type of coverage usually will reimburse you for property damage and business interruption losses. For example, this coverage would cover fire damage to computers.

Debris Removal Insurance
Debris removal insurance covers the cost of removing debris after a fire, flood, windstorm, etc. For example, a fire burns your building to the ground. Before you can start rebuilding, the remains of the old building have to be removed. Your property insurance will cover the costs of rebuilding, but not of removing the debris.

Builder's Risk Insurance
Builder's risk insurance covers buildings while they are being constructed. For example, a Builder's risk policy would cover losses if a windstorm takes down your partially constructed condominium complex.

Glass Insurance
Glass insurance covers broken store windows and plate glass windows.

Inland Marine Insurance
Inland marine insurance covers property in transit and other people's property on your premises. For example, this insurance would cover fire-damage to customers' clothing from a fire at your dry cleaning business.

Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance covers lost income and expenses resulting from property damage or loss. For example, if a fire forces you to close your doors for two months, this insurance would reimburse you for salaries, taxes, rents, and net profits that would have been earned during the two-month period.

Ordinance or Law Insurance
Ordinance or law insurance covers the costs associated with having to demolish and rebuild to code when your building has been partially destroyed (usually 50 percent). For example, your three-story building is 100 years old. A flood destroys the basement and first two stories. Because more than 50 percent of your building has to be rebuilt, a local ordinance requires that the building be completely demolished and rebuilt according to current building codes. Property insurance covers only the replacement value, not the upgrade.

Tenant's Insurance
Commercial leases often require tenants to carry a certain amount of insurance. A renter's commercial policy covers damages to improvements you make to your rental space and damages to the building caused by the negligence of your employees.

Crime Insurance
Crime insurance covers theft, burglary, and robbery of money, securities, stock, and fixtures from employees and outsiders.