Business Owner's Policy Overview

A Business Owners Package Policy, referred to as BOP for short, is a combination of liability and property insurance. It is designed to save the small to medium-sized business owner money when compared to buying policies separately. To qualify for BOP your company must have less than 100 employees and gross revenues should not exceed $1 million.

The first part of BOP coverage is very similar to stand-alone Commercial general liability insurance. This insures a business against accidents and injury that might happen on its premises, as well as exposures related to its products. It will protect you from payments for bodily injury or property damage to a third party, for medical expenses accruing to the underlying incident, for the cost of defending lawsuits including investigations and settlements, and for any bonds or judgments required during an appeal procedure. However, this coverage does not include professional liability.
Business Interruption insurance is the next component of BOP. This coverage covers lost income and expenses incurred when a company suffers disaster-related losses. With Business Interruption insurance, payroll expenses and other regular expenses, such as rent, are covered. Business Owners Policies will usually cover up to a year of lost revenue resulting from a covered property loss.
Business Owners Policies can usually be modified to contain other types of property coverage. To learn more about BOP coverage, please call us at (323) 874-9400 or request a free quote.

General Liability Overview

Comprehensive general liability coverage insures a business against accidents and injury that might happen on its premises, as well as exposures related to its products. It will protect you from payments for bodily injury or property damage to a third party, for medical expenses accruing to the underlying incident, for the cost of defending lawsuits including investigations and settlements, and for any bonds or judgments required during an appeal procedure. No matter how diligently you remove all possible hazards from your business, you could be sued successfully for accidents resulting from simply the carelessness of a customer. General liability insurance is your last line of defense against devastating claims for things over which you may have little or no control.

How much liability coverage do you need? Generally, experts say, $2 million to $3 million of liability insurance should be plenty. The good news is that liability insurance is
not priced on a dollar-for-dollar basis, so twice the coverage shouldn't be twice the price.
The price you pay for coverage depends on the size of your business (measured either by square footage or by payroll) and the specific risks involved. Limitations will be akin to those on your personal auto policy; for example $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident.

One item of note with general liability insurance is that it tends to have a lot of exclusions. Be sure to make sure you understand exactly what your policy does and doesn't cover. Please call us at (323)874-9400 for details or contact us.