Small Business Insurance Checklist: 5 Questions to Ask Your Agent
Apr 25, 2024
2 min read
A lot can change in a year. Whether you’re a seasoned pro with decades of experience growing your company or a side-hustler who’s starting to see solid growth, you’ll want to make sure your business insurance is keeping up.
What questions should you ask an insurance agent? When it’s time for your policy review, or anytime you think your insurance needs might be changing, you may want to ask your agent these commercial insurance FAQs.
1. Do I Have the Right Commercial Coverages?
Depending on your operation there are different commercial coverages you may be interested in. We support contractors, apartment or housing complex owners, auto service and repair shops, restaurants and other businesses, including those with special insurance needs.
Some examples of types of insurance you might need include the following.
Business Property Insurance
This protects your property and everything inside it. It could protect buildings, inventory or leased property. If you conduct your business from home, you may need home-based business insurance on top of your homeowner’s insurance.
Business Liability Insurance
This coverage protects your business from the cost of covered liability claims and lawsuits.
Business Vehicle Insurance
If you have a car, truck or other vehicle you use for business, you’ll want auto liability and physical damage coverage.
Business Umbrella Insurance
Umbrella insurance policies provide an extra layer of protection that arches over existing coverages.
Workers’ Compensation
Worker’s compensation pays certain benefits to employees who experience injury, illness or death related to their employment with you.
Data Breach Insurance
This insurance covers costs associated with investigating a data breach, notifying customers who are affected, restoring services and protecting you from liability if someone accuses your business of a data breach.
Key Person Insurance
Losing a key employee or manager can hurt your business. It can lead to lost income or profit, management disruptions and costs you face as you replace the key employee. Key person insurance can protect your business from these unexpected costs.
2. How Much Coverage Do I Have?
As you review your small business insurance checklist with your agent, make sure to ask about current policy limits. It may be time to review how much your property is worth, especially if you’ve made improvements or values have been increasing in your area.
You’ll also want to ask commercial insurance questions, such as what other coverage limits and liability limits you have. Review your liability limits closely. If your business has grown, it may be a good idea to increase any liability and umbrella limits to make sure you have the protection you need.
If you are insuring inventory or leased property, bring a current list of everything you own so you can verify you are fully covered.
3. Should I Increase My Deductibles?
Sometimes having lower deductible limits can increase your premium. That’s because the insurance company is taking on more of the risk if you have a claim. If you can afford a higher deductible, the insurance company will likely reward you for agreeing to help share more of the cost by giving you a lower rate.
Your agent should be able to quote different deductible and premium amounts and help you decide which deductible is best for you.
4. Are There Any New Coverages Available?
Insurance companies are always trying to improve and add new products to better serve their customers. Since the last time you met with your agent for a policy review, the company may have released new policy enhancements or endorsements. There could be new or improved coverages that you may be interested in.
Add this to your small business insurance checklist and ask your agent to review any new coverages to see if they could benefit you.
5. Are There Any Discounts Available?
As a small business owner, your budget may be tight. Talk to your agent about any discounts you might be able to qualify for. You may be able to get discounts for having multiple insurance policies covered by the same company, for example.
If you don’t qualify for any discounts, you can discuss how you might qualify for them in the future.
Get Answers From a Pro
These questions are a great jumping off point to start a policy review discussion and get answers to your business insurance questions from your agent. Reach out to your Farm Bureau agent today to schedule a SuperCheck® where they will review all of your policies and coverage with you.