Business & Commercial Insurance

Commercial Auto
As a business owner, you need the same kinds of insurance coverages for the car you use in your business as you do for a car used for personal travel -- liability, collision and comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states) and coverage for uninsured motorists. In fact, many business people use the same vehicle for both business and pleasure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the "principal insured" rather than your name. This will avoid possible confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

While the types of coverage provided by personal and commercial auto insurance policies are essentially the same, there are important distinctions. Typically, commercial auto insurance policies have higher liability limits, for example $1 million. They also may have provisions that cover rented and other non-owned vehicles, including employees’ cars driven for company business. Several factors related to ownership and use of vehicles determine whether a personal or commercial policy is appropriate. These include:

• Who owns or leases the vehicle – you individually or the business as an entity
• Who drives the vehicle – you or your employees
• How the vehicle is principally used – for example, transporting people, delivering packages or carrying hazardous materials

Discuss these matters with a licensed insurance agent knowledgeable about commercial auto insurance. You might also want to consider the purchase of collision and comprehensive (other than collision) coverage to protect yourself against damage to your vehicle.

• If your business owns or leases a vehicle, make sure its name is listed on the policy as the principal insured.
• If you are relying on either a personal auto insurance or personal umbrella liability policy to provide you with protection for your company’s use of vehicles, look closely at the provisions, as business-related liability may be excluded.
• If your employees operate a company car, make sure they have good driving records and are trained properly.
• Consider increasing insurance on your business vehicle to cover permanently attached items, such as a generator or storage unit. The following factors can affect the cost of your insurance premiums:
• Premiums are linked to the type of vehicle driven. So if you’re buying or leasing a new car or truck, check the insurance rates before you make your final choice.
• Safety devices can help reduce your premiums. If you’re buying or leasing a new vehicle, consider getting one with anti-lock brakes, side air bags, automatic seat belts and daytime running lights.
• Anti-theft devices, such as an alarm system and global positioning system – so that your vehicle can be located if stolen – can help reduce your premiums.
• Where you park your vehicle can impact premiums. If you have access to an indoor garage or locked parking lot – places that decrease the likelihood of theft – you may qualify for lower premiums.
• The geographic region in which your business operates affects your premiums. For example, areas prone to extreme weather – hail, wind storms, hurricanes, etc. – higher traffic patterns or higher risk of theft may have higher insurance rates.
• The number of claims you have previously filed can impact your insurance costs.
• The coverage limits you choose affect the premium – the higher the coverage amount, the higher your premium. If you’re using your vehicle to conduct business, you may want to consider a higher liability limit so that coverage protects both your business and personal assets if you are sued due to an accident.
• The cost of your insurance is directly linked to your policy’s deductible amount. The deductible is the amount of money that you agree to pay as part of a claim, before your insurer pays the remaining amount toward that claim. For example, if your vehicle incurred $1,000 of damage in an accident and your deductible was $250, you would pay the first $250 and your insurer would pay the remaining $750. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium.

• Extended liability for additional insureds.
• Debris removal, personal property.
• Tools and equipment.
• Valuable records protection and accounts receivable.

In addition to advising you on the right coverage, we provide additional services, such as:

• Loss Prevention Programs—with our insurance company partners, we can evaluate your business's current conditions and recommend ways to lower property, auto, workers compensation or liability losses. Lower losses will not only lower your insurance costs, but also increase your productivity by avoiding downtime.
• Quick Claim Response—when you do have a claim and need fast and fair service, we work with you to make that happen. That's why we only represent companies with excellent records for settling claims fairly and promptly. 
• Competitive Rates—many of the insurance companies we represent specialize in insuring specific types of businesses or industries, offering special coverage and pricing.

• Bodily Injury, including the cost of care, the loss of services, and the restitution for any death that results from injury
• Property Damage coverage for the physical damage to property of others or the loss of use of that property
• Products-Completed Operations provides liability protection (damages and legal expenses up to your policy's limit) if an injury ever resulted from something your company made or service your company provided
• Products Liability is a more specialized product liability insurance that protects your company against lawsuits from product-related injury or accidents
• Contractual Liability extends to any liability you may assume by entering into a variety of contracts
• Other coverage includes: Reasonable Use of Force; Borrowed Equipment; Liquor Liability; Non-Owned Vehicles (such as aircraft and watercraft); Fire, Lightning or Explosion Damage; Water Damage Liability Protection; Legal Defense Costs; Medical Payments; Personal Injury; Advertising Injury; and specialized liability protection for specific business types

Commercial Umbrella Insurance
If umbrella policies are good for individuals, then they are imperative for business. When a catastrophic liability loss occurs, an umbrella insurance policy can mean the difference between a business surviving, or not.

 The rising costs of lawsuits and judgments are important for today's business owner to consider. Catastrophic liability losses can happen to any business at any time, and a commercial umbrella policy protects you when those losses exceed your basic liability coverage. The time and effort you have taken to build your business is too important for it to disappear after one unforeseen event.

What you need to know about commercial umbrella insurance
Commercial Umbrella helps you protect your assets by providing liability limits above and beyond your other policies. In some cases, it even broadens your protection. Due to the unpredictable nature of jury awards Anderson Insurance recommends that your business insurance program include this coverage.

 What is Excess Liability Coverage?
This coverage provides extra liability limits over an Umbrella policy. This coverage typically follows the terms of the first underlying insurance policy.

 Who needs Excess Liability Coverage?
Higher limits may be necessary for businesses with high loss potential, high profile, sizable sales, numerous assets, large auto fleets, worldwide presence, significant public exposure.