May 8, 2007

If the Worst Happens Are You Insured?

Last month, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners launched a campaign, including an extensive web site, to help guide small businesses into ensuring they are insured.

Think about this. What would happen if one day key parts of your business (be you 1 employee or 100) were gone due to fire or theft?

Sure having your data backed up is a good start, but would you have the money to replace the missing hardware? Insurance can go beyond just hardware but can cover just about every area of your business.

NAIC's Insure U web site for small businesses is a great place to start learning about, at times complex insurance aspects for your business.

The site covers workers compensation, business property & liability, commercial auto, health and disability, life, and home-based businesses.

The the business insurance quiz to see how much you know about insurance. If you get all the answers right. Good for you. If you get anything wrong - you know what to do.

Here's some information, from the web site. Note the cash value vs replacement value:

There are three types of property insurance plans:

Basic form, which includes losses resulting from a fire, lightning, windstorm, hail and explosion, plus the cost of removing property to protect it from further damage.

Broad form, which includes basic plus extended coverage for other types of perils, such as a roof collapse (e.g. caused by snow or ice), riot and civil commotion, etc.

Special form, which includes basic and broad, and covers all direct physical losses except conditions specifically excluded as listed in the policy.

With property insurance you can buy either actual cash value or replacement cost insurance.

Actual cash value insurance reimburses you for the value of lost, damaged or stolen goods after depreciation is taken into consideration. Replacement cost insurance reimburses you the amount it would take to replace, rebuild or repair damages with materials of similar kind and quality, without deducting for depreciation.

0 comments