Insuring Your Small Business

Policy Rider: A home-based business operated by a single person, such as a tax accountant, can simply purchase a rider (also called an endorsement) on his or her homeowners policy that generally extends the business’ property coverage from $2,500 to $5,000. This is a good choice for businesses that don’t own a lot of equipment or necessitate many business-related visitors. 

In-Home Business Policy: Some home-based businesses require expensive electronic equipment that exceeds the value of many policy riders. The owners of these businesses can purchase an in-home business policy, which typically extends property coverage to $10,000 and includes liability coverage (offered in preset increments up to $1 million), which is not an option with a policy rider. 

Business Owner’s Policy (BOP): This policy is best for small businesses that are not located in a home. It combines the most necessary coverages into one policy to offer comprehensive protection for small businesses. Most policies include property and liability coverage, but are also customizable with a variety of other common coverages such as loss of income, medical payments, equipment breakdown and data breach coverage. Commercial auto insurance and worker’s compensation will likely need to be purchased separately, if needed by your business.