What is required to make your business run?
What would happen if all of the computers were removed from your office? Could you continue to work? What if all of your vehicles broke down? Your inventory wiped out. Your equipment gone. Every business has crucial equipment and inventory that makes their company run. A software development company requires computers to function, a bakery requires ovens.
These business contents are critical to the success of any business. Business contents insurance protects these assets to ensure that you and your business remain open, even after an accident, injury, or complete loss.
Definition
Business contents insurance protects a company’s items and inventory from loss. The policy can be customized to fit your exact business needs, but most policies will provide coverage for a variety of situations including fire, storm damage or other covered disaster.
For most businesses, the contents insurance policy will reimburse the value of lost items quickly and accurately to get you up and running as soon as possible. Business contents insurance is included in most general business insurance policies, though coverage levels and prices vary widely by insurer. For this reason, it is important to shop around for coverage to ensure the levels are adequate and the prices are manageable.
Coverage
Whatever raw materials you need to run your business is covered by business contents insurance. In a flower shop, this might be flowers, vases, refrigerators, or materials. If you run a bookstore, this would include your inventory, backroom stock, computer system, and furniture. Anything your business needs is covered by a content insurance policy.
Each policy is completely customizable to fit the exact needs and levels of any business, large or small. Even if you run a graphic design studio out of your home, a business content insurance policy can cover your computer and printing equipment against loss or damage.
Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cost Value
When buying business contents insurance, there are two options for payout: Replacement Cost or Actual Cost Value. Replacement cost coverage reimburses the amount it will cost to buy a brand new item, ignoring depreciation, actual cash value will provide the current market value of the item, which factors in depreciation.
The best option is to select replacement cost. For example, if several computers used in your accounting office were destroyed in a fire, a replacement cost coverage policy would reimburse you for the amount of money it would cost you to go and buy brand new computers for everyone in the office of similar quality. On the other hand, an actual cash value policy would reimburse you the market value of the lost computers.
This requires you to either pay out additional out-of-pocket expenses to buy new computers, or take the insurance money and try to find more inexpensive used computers that were comparable to what you lose.
Shop Around
As with other insurance policies, business contents insurance can vary widely between different carriers. It pays to compare policies from different companies to find a coverage level and a rate that you are comfortable with. By doing your homework and shopping around, you can often find better coverage for less money. Always read the fine print in any policy and ask the representative about specific or significant exclusions, limits, or restrictions.
For those who are self-employed and depend on their own equipment to make a living, or who run a company and have other people depending on them, business content insurance is necessary. Running your own business indicates a significant investment in time, money, and hard work. It is important to protect your most valuable investment against fires, accidents, and other forms of damage that could halt business altogether.
By Matt Reynolds - Google+