Liability Risks For Business Owners

Owning a business is a dream for many people. If you have been fortunate enough to make this dream come true, you want to do all that you can to protect yourself from liabilities that could affect the success of your business. Here at Bayshield Insurance serving San Jose, CA and the surrounding areas, we want to help business owners better understand how they can protect themselves from liabilities. 

Here are some of the liability risks you might face:

Employee Injuries 

Employees being injured on the job can certainly create a liability risk for a business owner. You are held responsible to provide a safe work environment for your employees. If an employee is injured, they may opt to sue you for not fulfilling this responsibility. Solid insurance coverage can help protect you from this risk. 

Customer Injuries

Similar to employee injuries would be customers being injured on your property or as a result of your goods or services. When this happens, you are almost always held liable for the expenses incurred by the customer’s injuries. Again, a solid insurance policy can help protect you from this risk, even if you can’t always prevent these types of events. 

Property Loss

Another common liability is the risk of property loss. Property loss can happen if your place of business is damaged or lost due to fire, natural disaster, or burglary. This can have a devastating effect on your business. Insurance coverage, however, can help you bounce back from this type of event. 

Reach Out To Us

If you would like to learn about commercial insurance coverage and how it can help you as a business owner, please contact us at Bayshield Insurance. We serve San Jose, CA and the surrounding areas, and we will be happy to help you. 

Commercial Insurance Protects Against Liability

Commercial Insurance is essential for all sizes of businesses. This protection allows individuals and companies to operate while being covered against outlined events. It’s necessary to understand how commercial insurance works to protect against liability.

You can count on the professionals at Bayshield Insurance, proudly serving San Jose, CA, to help provide information and support with insurance selection.

Commercial Liability Protection 

If you own a business, you’ll need protection against certain liabilities. For example, if an individual gets hurt at your business location or you break customers’ property, your liability coverage will protect you. Liability insurance allows you to operate with peace of mind knowing that if you are at fault for property damage, personal injury, or other losses, your insurance will protect you from risks.

If you’re looking for top-quality commercial insurance to give you liability protection, you’ll want to learn more about how this coverage works. We sit with each customer to determine their current situation in which insurance policies can meet current and future needs. Additionally, we can provide support before, during, and after the insurance policy purchase. It’s all part of our commitment to superior customer service.

Reach Out Today 

Don’t wait to get the essential commercial insurance coverage you need. Anyone residing in and around the San Jose, CA area can rely on Bayshield Insurance to provide the coverage they need to protect their assets.

Call or stop by our office today to speak to one of our helpful insurance agents. You can also schedule a consultation to ask questions about policy coverage options and begin securing commercial insurance coverage. Get the insurance protection you need today for security and peace of mind.

What Happens If I Don’t Have Commercial Insurance For My Business?

In California, businesses with one or more employees – full-time or part-time – must carry workers’ compensation insurance which helps pay for the medical bills associated with workplace injuries and illnesses. Additionally, any vehicle owned by a company must be protected under a commercial auto insurance policy with the following minimum liability requirements:

  • $5,000 property damage liability per accident
  • $15,000 bodily injury liability per person
  • $30,000 bodily injury liability per accident

Failure to carry both of these insurances can result in significant penalties. While it can be busy to look for ways to cut your spending, insurance for your small business should never be one that you neglect or fail to pay. Not only does commercial insurance protect your business from employee mishaps, but also most policies include a general liability clause that can protect your livelihood from third party claims such as a vendor slipping and falling on ice in front of your building or failure to take certain safety precautions. If you do not have adequate insurance, there are a myriad of consequences ranging from fines and jail time associated with failure to have workers’ compensation insurance, which is a felony in many states and lack of financial protection for your business if it is facing an emergency like a dissatisfied client. Other ramifications may include clients refusing to work with you, a landlord refusing to rent you a facility or storefront, significant loss of money, and the permanent shut down of your company. 

At Bayshield Insurance in San Jose, CA, we don’t want any of these scenarios to happen to you so we take immense pride in working with our small business owner customers to ensure they have adequate commercial insurance. Give us a call today to learn more about our insurance offerings.

Why Do Insurance Companies Investigate All Claims?

At Bayshield Insurance, we understand that our San Jose, CA area customers get confused or even upset when we investigate their claims. And some might even become angry if we deny their claims for any reason.

So why do we check into all of these claims so heavily? Understanding this process should help you make it easier for you to get the coverage you want for your needs as a buyer and minimize any confusion or frustration.

Why We Investigate Policies 

Our investigations are designed to help both you and us by providing the most possible insight into your claim. Doing so helps to improve your chances of getting approved, not decrease them. That’s because we’ll verify every element of your claim to ensure that it is as accurate as possible.

And we only deny claims if there are problems with your paperwork or if there is a lack of information proving your need for coverage. So by appealing to us and providing more details, it is more likely that you’ll get your claim approved and get the payment that you need for your life.

You can make this process simpler for everyone involved by gathering information about the situation, testimony from people who may have seen it develop, and much more. Then, our professionals will sit down with you and come up with a solution that makes sense and improves your investigation speed. In this way, your claim is more likely to succeed.

What You Can Do to Help 

Beyond gathering information that helps improve our investigation speed, you can work with our agents at Bayshield Insurance to provide detailed and accurate records. Doing so should help decrease your investigation time and ensure that your San Jose, CA area claims get approved.

Required Commercial Insurance in California

When you own a small business in California, there are certain types of insurance that most businesses have to have in place. There are two required types, and many business owners get comprehensive types of coverage to make sure their business is fully insured in case of problems. If you are interested in commercial insurance, call us at Bayshield Insurance in San Jose, CA to find out more. 

Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Every vehicle in California and owned by a business has to have a commercial auto insurance policy. This policy must have a specific amount of property damage liability as a minimum for each accident. It requires another minimum amount for each person injured or killed in an accident, and a higher amount is required for all of the people injured or killed in the accident as a whole. These liability amounts are some of the lowest in the country, so many California drivers opt to increase the coverage amounts to be more in line with the current costs of medical bills and auto repairs. 

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

This type of insurance pays for the medical bills of any employee of the business who gets sick or injured while on the job. In California, this is required no matter how many employees you have, even if they are only part-time employees. 

Other Insurance Types

It’s common for business owners to get liability insurance to protect against stiff medical bills and lawsuits. General liability insurance is a good type for many business owners in California. It pays for many different risks, and many leases on commercial buildings require businesses to have this insurance type.

Get Your Commercial Insurance

If you have a business in California, you need commercial insurance. To get started, contact us at Bayshield Insurance in San Jose, CA.

Common types of commercial insurance

Commercial insurance is not just one type of insurance. It is customized to your particular business. If you don’t have company vehicles, you don’t need commercial auto insurance. When it comes to making sure you get commercial insurance, which makes sense for your business having an insurance agent who knows you and your business helps. At BayShield Insurance in San Jose, CA, we are independent agents committed to giving our customers reliable coverage at reasonable prices. 

When it comes to commercial/business insurance, some types are more common than others and more universally helpful. 

Commercial liability insurance

When people visit your business location, you run the risk of someone being injured in an accident. People can also be injured by a product you create as part of your business. Being sued can cost you your livelihood if you are under-protected. 

Commercial property insurance

Damage by a covered event to your business building can put you out of business temporarily and even permanently if you are not covered. This insurance covers the building itself, your inventory, office equipment, and machinery. 

Business interruption insurance

If something happens that makes it impossible to do business, this insurance will help you save your business by providing the money you need for day to day expenses and salaries. Be sure to read the exclusions. 

When you are looking for the right commercial insurance for your business, no matter how big or small your business is, you want to have coverage that offers you only the protection you need. At BayShield Insurance in San Jose, CA, we work with our clients to ensure the commercial policy we write for them makes sense. Come in and sit down with one of our team to discuss your need and get a free no-obligation quote.