If your New Year’s resolution was to make your business bigger and better, the first place to start is with your commercial insurance renewal. 

While you may not realize the full importance of your commercial insurance to your business. The truth is, it could be the difference between continuing on after a loss or closing your doors. For example, one trip, one fall, and you’re out thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands, in medical and legal fees.

Commercial Renewal Checklist 

The first thing you’ll need to review for your commercial insurance renewal is any changes that were made to your business since you last checked in. If the name of your business has changed, you’ve opened new locations or moved locations, or you’ve made changes to the amount of staff you employ. It would be best if you let your agent know.

The next thing you’ll want to check up on in your commercial insurance renewal is liability insurance coverage. For proper coverage, it is crucial for you to complete your quarterly reports, and that your payroll figures are all up to date. The company’s assets are most efficiently protected if they are correctly reflected in your business’ numbers. Additionally, your insurance agent must determine whether or not you have more than one kind of income or operation. That way, we can get you the coverage you need if it’s not on your policy already.

The next thing you’ll need to look at for your commercial insurance renewal is your workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Business owners can offer their staff protection through this coverage. Still, it’s crucial that your insurance coverage on your policy correctly reflects your company. Your payroll needs to be appropriately divided into the right class codes, and all of your class codes need to be correct as well.

The last thing you should check on before your commercial insurance renewal is your commercial auto insurance coverage. This is especially important if you have employees on the road often. As a business owner, you should check the driver’s license information for those in your business who are operating your company vehicles to ensure that the DMV states they are qualified to operate your vehicles. Additionally, we’ve put together a piece on non-owned or hired auto liability coverage to help you understand if you have the right coverage or not.

The Takeaway

Don’t let an unforeseen accident eat up all your savings and destroy your business. The truth is there are a myriad circumstances where coverage is necessary even if no one is ever injured. Many landlords require their tenants to carry specific commercial liability limits to protect themselves. If your landlord finds out you aren’t carrying adequate limits, you could quickly find yourself losing (or losing out on if you’re moving into a new place) a lease. 

There’s no limit to the number of freak disasters that can destroy an otherwise thriving business. Call our commercial insurance experts at 860-684-5270 to chat about your commercial insurance needs. We’ll make sure you are adequately protected with the ideal business insurance policy for your budget and needs.