When you own your business, and you want to make sure that it is protected, you should consider getting a commercial insurance. Commercial insurance helps reduce your risk as a business owner and ensures financial protection for your employees. If you have never carried business insurance before, and you want to know more about it, Harris Insurance serving clients in Jasper, AL prepared a list of basics about this type of insurance: 

Things You Should Know About Commercial Insurance

• There are several types of commercial insurance. They are commercial property coverage (covers commercial buildings and their contents), general liability (coverage to a business for personal injury, property damage, or bodily injury), professional liability (covers a business owner from damages caused by errors and mistakes), commercial auto insurance (covers vehicles used for commercial purposes), workers’ compensation (protects your employees), business interruption insurance (covers any loss of income that a company experiences after loss or disaster). 
• Certain factors may affect the cost of your commercial insurance. These factors include the type of your business, risks, the number of employees, and others. 
• Commercial insurance policies have their limit, and they do not cover everything. For example, they will not cover damages caused by flood or liability resulting from your own negligence. 

Harris Insurance Serving Jasper AL – Your Safety and the Safety of Your Business Is Our Priority

If you are a business owner running your business in Jasper, AL or any other surrounding town, Harris Insurance is ready to help you find a policy addressing your personal needs and preferences. Feel free to visit our website or give us a call if you need more information about the insurance options we offer. 

Harris Insurance knows that when you own a small business in Jasper, AL, it is important to make sure your employees and customers are safe. Following is a small business safety checklist that could save you from needing to make a claim against your commercial policy.

• Understand OSHA – The Occupational Safety & Health Administration requires that certain safety steps are taken to ensure the safety of your place of business and the employees and customers who visit. Check out OSHA.gov for specific guidelines.
• Take a look around – Look for potential hazards and safety issues.
• Proper Training – Provide proper training for safety. When the staff knows how to handle specific situations, there is a higher chance of a good outcome for all. You may even alleviate a potentially dangerous situation altogether.
• First Aid – Make first aid a priority. Always have basic first aid items available.
• Give Employees A Break – A lot of accidents happen because a worker became tired or fatigued on the job. Make sure that doesn’t happen by enforcing break time.
• Have a Plan and Practice Prevention and Escape – Make a plan for any and all types of emergencies. Have a fire exit plan as well as a computer team in place to prevent a cybersecurity attack.
• Keep Equipment Running – Make sure any equipment or machinery your business uses are in proper working order at all time and that safety gear is used properly.
• Have Coverage For When Something Goes Wrong – As the owner, it is important that you make sure you have the proper coverage before something goes wrong.

Talk with your insurance agent at Harris Insurance serving Jasper, AL today to make sure you have the right amount and right type of coverage for your business.

If you operate a business in Jasper, AL, you obviously understand all the risks and uncertainties you face every day. To be on the safer side, it is always necessary to make sure that you have a commercial insurance policy that helps you to cover possible damages. Harris Insurance has highlighted some of the basic coverage that you should expect from a commercial insurance policy. 

Business Income Coverage

Commercial insurance can be one of the best ways to recover lost income that usually occurs when natural disasters have disrupted your business operations. For example, if a natural calamity like a flood or earthquake has a significant impact on your business, it is the commercial insurance policy that will reimburse all the income you will lose for the length of the time the company will not be operating.

Business Property Coverage

For every business to operate effectively, there are very many valuable assets and properties that are involved. Buildings, land, machinery, and other tools are valuable assets that help the company continue operating. With commercial insurance, all these essential assets for business operations will be protected against possible theft, fire, vandalism, and natural calamities.

Employee Health Coverage

There is always a chance that workers will get injured or sick when working in a commercial facility. It is the business’s responsibility to cater to medical expenses for all the injuries that employees might get at the company. Commercial health insurance will help in covering additional health issues such as disability compensation and income replacement.

Do You Need Commercial Insurance?

Harris Insurance knows that many companies in Jasper, AL that operate without a commercial insurance policy. This is a dangerous issue as it can easily affect the operations of the company. However, having a good commercial policy helps in addressing some problems addressed above. Contact us today for more information about commercial insurance.

Small businesses in Alabama should have several different commercial insurance types, but only two are required for most businesses. With workers’ compensation and commercial auto insurance policies in place, most small businesses have the coverage legally required to do business in Alabama. If you need coverage for your business, call us at Harris Insurance in Jasper, AL.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Some of the smallest businesses don’t have to have this coverage, but any business with at least five employees must keep this insurance. The five employees may be part-time or full-time, and they include members of an LLC or officers of a corporation. This insurance coverage pays the medical bills of workers who become injured or get sick while at work. This coverage keeps your business able to pay those bills so that you won’t have to pay out of pocket from company funds.

Commercial Auto Coverage

Any vehicle owned by a business in Alabama has to have a commercial auto insurance policy on it. There is the minimum required coverage amounts for any property damage done by the accident and the amount it will pay for bodily injury for one person and bodily injury for two or more people. This coverage is the only type that will pay for these expenses, as personal auto insurance will not pay out for accidents that happen on the job. This is also a good reason to get a policy called hired and non-owned for any vehicle you use for business but is not owned by the business. 

Get Your Business Covered

If your company doesn’t have the proper insurance in place, or you want to add optional coverage types, contact us at Harris Insurance in Jasper, AL to talk to an agent about your needed coverage.