COMMERCIAL INSURANCE
Commercial insurance can protect you from some of the most common losses experienced by business owners such as property damage, business interruption, theft, liability, and worker injury. Purchasing the appropriate commercial insurance coverage can make the difference between going out of business after a severe loss or recovering with minimal business interruption and financial impairment to your company’s operations.
Property Insurance
Commercial Property
Inland Marine
Boiler and Machinery
Crime
Commercial Automobile
Commercial General Liability
Commercial Umbrella
Workers Compensation
It is coverage for businesses and corporations, generally designed to cover the business, its employees and ownership. It is a broad type of insurance policy which provides liability insurance for general business risks. Commercial General Liability is the specific name for policy of this type
Commercial insurance can protect you from some of the most common losses experienced by business owners such as property damage, business interruption, theft, liability, and worker injury. Purchasing the appropriate commercial insurance coverage can make the difference between going out of business after a severe loss or recovering with minimal business interruption and financial impairment to your company’s operations.
The Support Cycle involves eight major steps:
Obtain Required Submission Information
Complete ACORD Forms
Send the Submission
Receive and Review Quotes
Create and Present the Proposal
Bind Coverage with the Insurance Company
Check the Policy
Support the Insured
What Kind of Insurance Does a Business Need?
Commercial Property
Inland Marine
Boiler and Machinery
Crime
Commercial Automobile
Commercial General Liability
Commercial Umbrella
Workers Compensation
Certificates of Insurance
In many business contracts there is a requirement for one party to hold a certain amount of insurance. A certificate of insurance is a form used to provide evidence of insurance to the third-party who has an “interest” in the insured’s coverage. The third-party is most often referred to as the ‘certificate holder’.
There are three processes typically involved with certificates of insurance:
When an insured requests for a certificate of insurance to be issued, it’s necessary to first understand the insured’s contractual insurance requirements.
Make sure to review the following:
The purpose of the request and the working relationship between the insured and the third-party requesting the evidence of insurance
The insured’s current policy effective and expiration dates as they relate to the contractual requirements
The insured’s policy coverages and limits as they relate to the contractual requirements
If the negotiations fail and the contractual requirements are not met by the insured’s current insurance portfolio, it’s then necessary to update the insured’s policy or policies by procuring additional coverage. This is because a certificate of insurance is only a summary of insurance and cannot change the terms of an existing insurance policy.
Typical endorsements include:
Adding the certificate holder as an additional insured
Providing a waiver of subrogation
Providing primary and non-contributory wording
If negotiations are successful or updates have been successfully made to the insured’s insurance portfolio, the certificate of insurance can then be issued.
There are two sets of documents that must be included together when issuing a cert:
Endorsements – 3 common endorsements are Additional Insured, Waiver of Subrogation and Primary & Non-Contributory.
Payment of Premiums
In order for an insured to be covered by an insurance policy, a premium must be paid to an insurance carrier. Depending on the carrier, there may be different billing options available for the insured’s policy premium. In order to understand the what, when, and why for premium financing, we must first understand this difference in insurance carriers.
There are two different kinds of carriers:
Admitted carriers are insurance carriers that have been approved by the state’s insurance department for following their standard rules and regulations.
Insureds experience certain benefits when they secure a policy with an admitted carrier:
The insured doesn’t have to pay as many fees and taxes for the policy
If the carrier fails financially, the state will step in and cover part or all of the insured’s claim(s)
If the insured doesn’t agree with how a claim was handled, they can appeal the decision to the state insurance department
An insured is typically denied coverage when their business operations come with too high a risk or are too complex for an admitted carrier to adhere to the state’s rules and regulations. If an insured is denied coverage by an admitted carrier, their next option is to secure an insurance policy with a non-admitted carrier.
Non-admitted carriers are insurance carriers that have either been denied “admitted” status by the state’s insurance department or are outside the state for which the insured needs to be provided coverage in. Since non-admitted carriers do not have to follow the rules and regulations set forth by the state’s insurance department, they are more willing to write coverage for a more complex, high risk insured. The drawback is that the insured doesn’t experience the same benefits offered by admitted carriers and the premium is usually required as a full down payment.
Insureds typically have the following billing options when paying their premium:
Full down payment
10% deposit with a monthly installment plan
10% down payment with a monthly installment plan
15% down payment with a monthly installment plan
