Commercial property owners purchase commercial property insurance to protect themselves and/or their company from hazards such as fire, water damage, wind, lightning, theft, and/or natural disasters. Commercial property insurance offers similar, but often time more complex, protections to residential property insurance that many consumers may already be at least somewhat familiar with, but in many ways commercial property insurance is quite different.
Along with the physical building where you do business, a business owner should consider other property to cover under a commercial property insurance plan, including office equipment, essential company documents, manufacturing equipment, inventory, landscaping, and even signage.
Damage to your physical business assets is just one area that your commercial insurance policies are able to provide compensation for. As previously stated, commercial policies tend to be more complex than residential policies and may give the property owner additional coverages they may not know were included in the policy they purchased.
Your company’s business owner’s policy (“BOP”) will bundle different types of business insurance, depending on the coverage necessary for your type of business and physical location. Commercial property insurance may be bundled with business interruption insurance and general liability insurance.
Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Areas
Business interruption insurance, also known as business income insurance or contingent business interruption coverage, can help replace lost income if you can’t open your business, for certain covered, non-excluded reasons, after a loss. Business interruption insurance may include some lesser-known coverage areas that commercial property owners should be aware of, including, but not limited to:
- Lost revenue you would have made if your business were open;
- Mortgage, rent, and lease payments for the property you operate from;
- Outstanding loan payments;
- Monthly or quarterly tax payments;
- Employee payroll;
- Relocation costs if physical damages require you to move; and
- Training costs to educate employees on new equipment.
Not all areas of damage or loss are obvious to business owners after experiencing a loss. The business owner should retain experts to investigate the extent of the damage, document losses, and assist in timely filing an insurance claim so that the owner can maintain the day-to-day operation of the business or deal with any emergencies at hand.
Business owners should not be reluctant to retain an attorney to guide them through this process, as our lawyers work on a contingent basis and we repeatedly hear from commercial business owners who state that they wish they retained us earlier to guide them through what can be a very complex and complicated claims process. Even a single deadline missed or policy provision not strictly complied with could result in a complete inability to recover any benefits under the policy. Lastly, we will say this: the longer you wait to retain qualified legal counsel, the more likely it is that your claim could be lost or, in the least, substantially prejudiced.
If your business needs to file a commercial property insurance claim, our team at Vishio Forry will be here to guide you through the entire process. Let our team help your business, so you can get back to work and profitability faster. Call us for a free consultation at (239) 703-7210 or contact us online.
