Tag: Business Interruption Coverage

Q&A with Tim Davis

Q&A with Insurance Expert Tim Davis

 

What are the most significant Weather Related Risks for Small Businesses?

 

What’s the biggest mistake small business owners make when it comes to safeguarding their businesses from weather-related interruptions and why is that a problem?

The biggest mistake small business owners make is failing to buy business interruption coverage. This coverage is not a stand-alone policy, but is typically included on a business owners’ package (or BOP) policy. The Hartford has some of the best coverage available on their business interruption coverage as a part of their BOP policy, but several other carriers offer great coverage as well.

How can we know if we need flood insurance in addition to business interruption coverage?

Flood insurance will not only provide coverage to replace the damage to your building, but the business interruption coverage won’t respond for flood-related losses if you don’t have flood insurance in place.

What’s a common misconception about business insurance related to weather issues and what’s the truth? 

As highlighted above, business interruption coverage won’t apply to all weather-related issues. Whatever peril (or risk) caused the business interruption must be a covered peril on the BOP policy. If an earthquake caused the damage and interrupted your business, but you didn’t have earthquake coverage on your policy, then coverage for the earthquake damage wouldn’t exist.

Another common myth centers around off-premises power failure. If a weather-related event causes power to fail at a location away from your business (like a blackout or a transformer a mile away gets struck by lightning) … business interruption coverage won’t apply. With most policies, the weather-related cause of the power failure must happen at your business.

Do we need special coverage to protect from wildfires, or will traditional property & casualty cover us? Why or why not? 

A wild fire would be a covered cause of loss on many commercial property policies, but it is not guaranteed.  I would recommend reading over your policy – identify covered causes of loss as well as exclusions in the policy.

What kind of protection do we need related to employees and customers who might be injured on our premises during a weather event?

Your standard workers compensation insurance (for employees) and general liability insurance (for your customers) policies should suffice. These two policies should be enough to protect your business from incidents that occur on your premises.

What documents should we be sure to store safely to make the claims process go faster after a weather disaster strikes? Please describe each document and why it’s important.

Financial records will be the most helpful piece of information to provide to simplify the claims process. Carriers will evaluate the income losses your company sustained based off the company’s past sales history and reasonable projections of your company’s profits and losses for the time your company suffered from the weather-related interruption.  Policy information – including agent and carrier contact information.  Also, it is good to take pictures of the equipment in a building – including serial numbers.  This helps with replacement parts and valuation.

What phone numbers should we keep on hand in the event of a weather emergency and why? 

Make sure you have either your insurance agent’s number on hand, or (even better) the claims reporting phone number for the insurance carrier on your business owners’ package policy.  I would also consider having phone numbers for emergency response/clean up companies.  In the event of a major weather event, it is smart to have a few companies to choose from – maybe even consider a company from a neighboring community so that they are less likely to be impacted by the same weather event.

What’s the first thing we should do if our business is impacted by a weather event and why? 

Life safety is the very first concern – make sure that all employees and guests at your premises are accounted for and safe.  Then, secure your building and business personal property.   If you can help prevent further damage by taking additional steps, those extra expenses can be covered in some policies.

What else should small business owners know about preparing for and responding to a weather disaster? 

A proper BOP policy with business interruption coverage will provide a real sense of relief in the aftermath of a disaster. Loss of business income is the #1 reason that most businesses do not open after a serious loss. This coverage will help provide coverage for the actual income loss sustained; the net income (net profit or loss before income taxes) that would have been earned over that period; and provides costs for things like payroll so you can keep your employees while your company rebuilds.  Be prepared – think ahead – develop a contingency plan.  If something happens, have a plan already in place and make sure that everyone in the business is aware of what steps to take.

What other questions should I ask my agent about this coverage?

Check the time period you have for extended business income. Thirty days is standard coverage, but some carriers can offer up to 12 months by endorsement. Also ask your agent if you need contingent business interruption coverage — this pays out when your company is unable to operate because of an event like a natural disaster that damages the business of one of your suppliers or customers, which causes your company to lose income.

 

 

Business Income Coverage

Business Income Coverage

If you are thinking about adding business income coverage or would like to learn more about why you have it, let me start by defining what Business Income Coverage. According to The Insurance Risk Management Institute, business income coverage is commercial property insurance covering loss of income suffered by a business when damage to its premises by a covered cause of loss causes a slowdown or suspension of its operations. Coverage applies to loss suffered during the time required to repair or replace the damaged property. It may also be extended to apply to loss suffered after completion of repairs for a specified number of days. Business income coverage is also referred to as business interruption coverage.

Now that we have defined business income coverage, lets look at how it works.  This coverage is designed to cover what your business lost. Not the businesses total revenue. What is typically covered under this policy is profits, fixed costs, temporary locations, extra expenses, civil authority and few other areas like training cost. Most policies will have a standard 72 hr waiting period before coverage begins. You may be able to modify this if you talk to your agent. They can a;ways check with carriers for additional options to expedite this process. The period of restoration ends when property should be repaired or replaced within a reasonable time-frame. This is in comparison to a similar quality and type of business as yours to either repair the facility or move to a new location.

Business income amounts are determined by comparing historical net income with actual net income during the period of business interruption. The loss is the difference between the net income that would have been earned under normal business conditions and the net profit or loss that has occurred during the period of restoration. Lets say after repairs have been completed that the business is still not generating the business it would have prior to the loss. You can add extended business income coverage to you policy for up to 60 days. For example if your business resumes and income is still below normal amounts then extended business income would pay the difference for that time period.

Also, business income coverage will cover what is called extra expenses. This part of the coverage is for the cost to rent a temporary office space, lease computers or office machines, and installation of new equipment during the period of restoration. Just like business income, this is limited to the 12 months from the date of loss. The time limits on business income may seem like they are not long enough, but according to industry studies most businesses who don’t have this coverage do not reopen their doors.

Business income and extra expense is designed to help you through an uncontrollable event. Within the coverage of most policies it can prevent you from losing key staff members that otherwise would leave to find other employment due to the loss of a paycheck. This is a basic snapshot of the coverage for you to get a grasp of what it can do for your business. In most cases this coverage is already a part of your BOP policy. Many business owner’s look at it and think this could never effect their business, but in reality it can save your company. It will benefit certain types of businesses more than others, but it can help everyone. Retail Stores, Medical Offices, Restaurants, or anyone that operates out of an office location where customers come to you need this coverage. Contractors can also benefit from this coverage, but it is not as critical as locations where customers come to them to generate business.