Commercial Property Insurance Basics

Protect your valuable business assets with commercial property insurance

Commercial property insurance is a must for your business. It is important to protect your property, equipment and supplies from potential hazards and loss. Most commercial property insurers also will help your company put loss-prevention guidelines in place. Requirements for commercial property insurance coverage vary by business and state. So knowing the commercial property insurance basics can make sure your business has the protection it needs.

Commercial property insurance protects your business assets, and in some cases personal and other property, from workplace loss. The commercial property insurance rate as well as policy terms will vary depending on the location of your business and many other variables, such as the amount of real estate and tangible property involved. To get a good grasp on commercial property insurance basics, take the following steps:

1. Gather information from commercial property insurers.

2. Consider your basic business property insurance situation.

3. Get commercial property insurance quotes.

 

Collect basic commercial property insurance information

Most major insurance companies offer commercial property insurance. In addition, some companies specialize in business property insurance. Visit the websites of several commercial property insurance providers or order information to review the basic insurance information.
Try: As an introduction, review the commercial property and casualty insurance information at the iBank website. Together with the online information from AIG, it provides a quick summary of commercial property insurance basics.

Determine your commercial property insurance needs

Your commercial property includes buildings; equipment and machinery, including vehicles, computers and office equipment; supplies and real estate. Also factor in the physical settings of your property: is it prone to natural "disasters" such as flooding or windstorms? Depending on the type of business, there could be many other circumstances to consider as you estimate your business property insurance needs.
Try: Use the categories identified by Nationwide Insurance to begin your analysis of your business's property insurance needs. Add what you've learned about business property insurance to the information offered by Insurance Services Group. Note that they represent several insurers.

Compare commercial property insurance rates

nsurance rates for commercial property will vary based on several factors. They might differ from company to company as well as for the coverages selected and other policy terms. As you review and compare commercial property insurance quotes, be sure you are comparing apples to apples with quotes for equal coverages from all insurers.
Try: Use USInsuranceOnline.com to collect several commercial property insurance quotes to compare. Be sure to signify "small business" and "commercial property" in your request for accuracy. In addition to a quote of rates from Liberty Mutual, read the recommendations about loss prevention and preparedness.

 

• To fully protect your business, add commercial liability coverage to your commercial property insurance. Many insurers will combine them into a business insurance package.

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