When getting General Liability think about how your business runs, think about the upsides—and then think about the downsides and what you can do to protect your business them! Once you get General Liability coverage you will need to think about things like “Is my facility likely to have fires/accidents?”, “Would this business go into the red if so-and-so were to get sick?”, if you have thoughts like that you should definitely look into adding extra coverage to your policy!
If you own a facility that houses propane, acetylene, or gasoline as part of your contracting business (Not very safe to store at home!), it becomes almost a must to have Building Coverage added onto your General Liability policy! Just one single spark can cause a fire—and this would be devastating to any business! 
Lesson is, always ask and let your agent know what your business does and what risks are at hand, so they know exactly what kinds of coverage to add to your policy!
General Liability isn’t required by law, but it really can save your business if there was a claim that was big enough to end it all! For example, say you own a nice furniture store, it has tapestries, rugs, armchairs, nightstands, and a man who is walking through—not paying attention, slips on the rug and hits his head on a nightstand? Not a good situation without General Liability!
Cyber Liability coverage is a huge advantage in this day and age, hackers can shut your systems down and hold it ransom for a sum of money—or worse: take your employee’s or customer’s information! With the increasing prevalence of these situations this type of coverage should become an essential part of any kind business that uses the internet!
I remember a story of a plumber losing their bond to a client that had their water heater pipes worked on by him. The plumber did not put a simple o-ring on a pipe he was replacing and ended up causing massive water damage to the inner walls of the house! The bond was paid out, the plumber was extremely distraught, and became even more so when he received a call from the bond company about how he was going to pay them back! If he had a General Liability plan with a Plumber’s Liability policy attached, he would have only paid his deductible and the client probably would not have made a claim on his bond!
consider that if a claim is made against a bond and paid out to the claimant, the bond company will pay the person making the claim and then will turn around and ask you to pay them right back! This is different than General Liability since Surety Bonds do not protect your company and work against accidents or property damage like insurance coverage would, bonds are only are paid out when a legitimate claim is made against them!
“Inland Marine Insurance” has an interesting history of how it came to be, before the Industrial Revolution occurred many people and companies shipped goods and other things of value over the ocean by ship. Many of these people and companies insured their cargo with “Marine Insurance” and it covered any type of risk that it would come across during its journey! These companies became very wealthy and large due to the large amount of ocean shipping at the time!
Many businesses can get away with having a Commercial Property Insurance Policy since they probably will not be taking their equipment off their property, but if you run a contracting business or even something like a mobile food truck it becomes more crucial for you to have something like an Inland Marine Insurance policy that can cover you while you are not on your own property!
getting what is called a “floater”, or more simply called a “Contractor’s Equipment Policy”. Think of additional floaters as add-ons to your Inland Marine Insurance coverage, with floaters like Fine Arts Floater for works of art, Installation Floater to cover property that is being shipped to be installed, or a Jewelry Floater—a coverage to protect jewelry inventory (Who would’ve guessed?). Most do realize it is important to protect themselves and insure replacement of their property if damaged, so if you feel that way too it might be good to consider Inland Marine Insurance!
Inland marine coverage provides valuable protection to business owners of all different types! But it is especially important to businesses such as contractors and tradesmen who frequently travel for work and carry around high-dollar tools and equipment. An inland marine policy would cover the loss if a contractor’s tools and equipment were stolen from a vehicle or at a job!
has valuables that cannot be conveniently or reasonably kept at a fixed location or insured at a standard rate, you probably will need Inland Marine Insurance!
You will hear an insurance agent refer to an Inland Marine Insurance as a “floater” policy, which means the coverage goes where the insured property goes, floating along with it!
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