Commercial property insurance

Commercial property insurance is insurance for the items your business owns. If a covered event damages or destroys them, your policy will pay to repair or replace the affected items.

Typically, property insurance covers damage that results from:

• Fire
• Theft
• Wind-related events
• Acts of vandalism

Property insurance does not pay for losses such as:

• Flood or earthquake damage
• Employees or business partner theft
• Damaged or stolen company vehicles
• Theft of cash from your site
• Losses affecting property on the move (inventory, tools, or other equipment in transit)
• Environmental damage relating to chemical pollution, oil spills, etc.
• Equipment breakdowns from power surges, operator mistakes, or wear and tear
• Loss of income due to not being able to operate from your building or plant
• Product defects resulting from faulty design or manufacturing

Property insurance is often combined with general liability insurance and sold in a package called a business owner’s policy (BOP).

You can also buy separate business interruption insurance, or add it via an endorsement to your property insurance policy. This provides cash to cover overhead after property damage makes it impossible to operate from your facility.

Like general liability insurance, property insurance is one of the most important forms of insurance protection. Nearly every business should have this coverage, even those whose business property is primarily electronic in nature.

Property insurance is widely available in the insurance marketplace. However, insurers won’t provide coverage to every small business. 

First, a business must prove to the insurer that it is a professional and financially responsible firm. 

A business can do this by fulfilling the insurer’s underwriting requirements, which are a combination of facts about the business and information about the company’s prior history of filing property damage insurance claims. Companies that are viewed as inherently risky or that have a track record of suffering frequent property losses may not be able to qualify for coverage, or they may have to pay extra for it.

Insureon helps small business owners compare commercial insurance quotes from A-rated U.S. carriers with one easy online application. Start a quote today to protect your business against theft, fires, and other risks.