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If you are starting a small business, one of the expenses that you are going to have to consider for your business is your plan for business liability insurance. There are a wide variety of different kinds of business insurance as well as a wide variety of providers, and it is important to understand the different properties of them so that you know exactly who to go with, and what to buy.
There are four kinds of business liability insurances: general, professional, product and EPLI. General insurance refers to basic insurance that covers the owner from problems that can arise from the most common business liability pitfalls: property damage, personal injury, false advertisement, etc. General business liability insurance is purchased by nearly every industry, though the nature, premium and costs vary widely from business to business. Professional insurance (or as it is more commonly called, errors and omissions), protects professional organizations from pitfalls that might befall a law firm, doctor’s or dentist’s office, real estate firm, accounting business, or any number of other organizations that require protection from potential professional negligence. Product liability insurance protects manufacturers from lawsuits that might arise from the malfunction of their products, and EPLI protects owners from wrongful workplace habits, such as sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. If you are purchasing more than one of these types of insurances, you might want to see if your insurer can provide you with umbrella insurance, which allows you to bundle multiple insurance options into a single premium, thus saving you a lot of money on the payments.
Shopping around for business liability insurance is fairly easy. You can do a quick cost comparison through netquote.com, and check JD Power and Associates for consumer ratings on the insurers that you are considering buying from. You may also want to consider checking your state’s department of insurance, as they can also provide some very useful consumer-based information.
