There are many important decisions you need to make when starting a small business. Choosing business insurance is one of them. Buying policies is a significant investment in your business’ success, so you’ll want to make the right decision.
The internet has made it easier to compare and buy business insurance policies. However, knowing which insurance to buy may still be confusing if you’re unsure where to start.
Buying Business Insurance Online Checklist
To help you start your business insurance search, we’ve created a checklist to help guide you through the process.
1. Assess your risks
There are many types of business insurance products available. The policies you need to protect your business will depend on the types of risks your business may face.
To help identify your business risks, it may help to ask questions such as:
- Do you have employees, or plan on hiring people?
- Do you or your workers give professional advice?
- Do clients or customers visit your premises?
- Do you visit client or customer homes, offices, worksites, or other third-party locations?
- Does your state or professional association require you to carry business insurance?
- Does your commercial lease or a business contract require you to carry business insurance?
The answers to these questions can help you begin to assess your risks and decide which types of business insurance you may need.
2. Decide how much coverage you need
Assessing your risks will in part help you determine the amount of coverage you need. Though your business insurance needs will depend on many factors, this is a good place to start.
You may be required to hold minimum levels of coverage for some types of business insurance products. For example, your professional association may require you to carry a minimum level of Professional Liability coverage. Or, you could be required to have a certain amount of General Liability coverage to sign a commercial lease.
Workers’ Compensation insurance is required in most states, even if you employ just one person. The amount of coverage you need is generally determined by your payroll size.
3. Gather your business details
Once you’ve determined what types and amounts of business insurance you need, you can begin comparing policies. Gathering some business details can help streamline this process.
Business insurance applications often require information such as:
- Basic business details – Your business name, address, and number of locations
- Unique business details – A description of what you do, your business structure, and your federal employer identification number (FEIN) or social security number (SSN)
- Employment details – Number of employees, your annual payroll, and your workers’ comp claims history or loss experience
- Policy details – The date coverage should start and how much coverage you need
4. Visit the BizInsure website to get policy quotes
Comparing business insurance quotes can take a lot of time. Small business owners traditionally needed to call each insurer or visit their websites just to get quotes for different products. However, BizInsure has helped simplify this process.
With BizInsure, enter your details just once and instantly receive multiple quotes for multiple business insurance products from top insurers. This saves you time, eliminating the need to contact each insurer individually, sharing the same details over and over, and then waiting for each quote to come through.
5. Compare & buy
Once you’ve received your quotes, it’s time to make a decision! BizInsure also makes it easy to buy business insurance online or over the phone. You’ll instantly receive your policy documents via email, so you’ll have your proof of insurance ready to go.
6. Review your policies throughout the year
Buying business insurance isn’t the end of the story. You’ll also want to review your coverage as your business grows and changes to make sure it’s still a good fit.
Changes that may mean it’s time to update a business insurance policy may include:
- Hiring new employees or promoting existing ones
- Opening a new location
- Moving your work premises
- Expanding your service or product offering
Get business insurance today!
Business insurance is an important part of protecting the business you are building. Finding the right policies is essential, but it doesn’t need to be difficult. By following the steps above, you can simplify the process of finding and buying business insurance. That way, you can focus more time and energy on making your business as great as possible.
Start comparing business insurance today.
