If your company has gone through some changes or advancements since first obtaining business insurance, it might be time to review your insurance policies and decide if you should get a new policy. Business insurance is essential for proper protection of your business, but your first policies are not always the policies you have every year. Things like earning more or less money, purchasing equipment, or getting more property, change the types of insurance policies you need.
Change in Revenue
One of the most common changes that require adjusting your business insurance is due to a significant change in revenue. Small changes in revenue are usually fine, but when you are making a large deal more or less, it is time to call your insurance agent and find out if your coverage should be adjusted. In general, the more money you make, the more insurance coverage you need in order to have adequate protection of your assets.
New Equipment or Inventory
Another business change that requires viewing your insurance coverage is when you purchase new equipment or have changes in your services or merchandise sold. If you began as a small business selling artwork and pottery from local artisans and are now also selling a wide range of antiques in your shop, then that is considered a big enough change in products to warrant new or adjusted insurance. Keep in mind at the time you purchase insurance, it covers the equipment, products, and revenue you have at the time. When it changes, so should your coverage. If you start offering different services or expanding your inventory type, your business risks may also change.
Expanding Your Business Property
If you are expanding your business property, then your property insurance and other types of business insurance policies are certainly going to change. If you do in fact go from a boutique to having a brand new section selling antiques as well, then this is going to require a significant expansion. When you do this, your insurance coverage changes as the previous policy only covered the business property you had at the time. Once you have made the decision to expand, you need to increase how much coverage you have so that all of your property is covered.
Considerable Employee Changes
Lastly, re-visit your current business insurance policies if you have considerably changes in your employees. If you are planning to lay off a large number of people, hire a large group of employees for new services offered, or changing between full and part-time staff, then you need to review your workers’ compensation, employment practices liability insurance, and related insurance policies. You want to be sure your insurance protects your company, as well as your employees. To do this, the insurance policy needs to include the number of employees you have, their occupations, and how many hours they work.
Keep in mind that as your business grows, so do your business risks. These changes are good, but to maintain the same amount of insurance protection, your policies may need some tweaks.
