Many businesses, especially small businesses, ignore the need of business liability insurance. Though, they take all measures to protect their businesses against risks by taking insurance for physical assets like buildings, stocks and goods, they do not consider protecting their businesses against various possible liabilities they may face. Protecting against all the possible kinds of liabilities is of great importance to a business, given the severity of damage they cause to the business’s reputation, finances and survival.
This article will help you know the various types of insurance policies available and their importance for a business.
Types of business liability insurance
Business liability insurance helps small business owners to secure their businesses by protecting against liabilities like public liability, employer’s liability, professional liability and product liability. Depending upon the type of business you are in, you should purchase the suitable insurance. Following are some of the prime types of insurance suitable to small businesses.
• General liability: This insurance is helpful to small businesses in protecting the owners from claims of liability raised due to property damage or a physical injury caused to the general public, employees or customers resulting from the operational negligence in course of the business. This insurance protects you by compensating for the medical expenses of bodily injuries caused to a person. It also protects you against claims of damage to the third party’s property.
• Professional liability: If you are a software consultant, plumber, chartered accountant or any such professional offering your service for price, the probability of facing professional liability is high. Professional liability protects professionals from risks of liability resulting from loss of data, claims involving malpractice, say, copying of data, breach of confidence, accidental loss of data or inadvertent mistake by your employee. The cost of litigation is too high in these cases and this insurance takes care of those expenses.
• Product liability: When an individual gets injured by using a defective product that you have sold or manufactured, law suit can be filed by this individual against your business. Product liability protects your business from such liabilities by taking care of all the legal hassles and the compensation claims.
