Business health insurance
Insurance can provide life support to a business:
Entrepreneurship is the pillar of the economic progress of any capitalist country. But there are hazards in running ones own business. Unless you take some sort of measure to protect your business health insurance, you make yourself vulnerable to the onslaught of unforeseen natural and unnatural forces of any kind.
Let's see what we are up against and why we need protection for our business. A business will need proof against disaster, debts, theft, troubles with personnel or family mishaps.
The conception of business health insurance took its root spurred by the Social Security Act in1935. With the legitimization of New Deal, unions, consumers, employers and doctors began developing a range of health care services that enabled the employees get financial support in case of sickness and injury, thus bringing medical care within the reach of more people.
*Language of Security-came into existence, while the insurance companies vied with each other to enter the burgeoning market of prepaid health services. By 1950 commercial group insurance had become entrenched in many workplaces, even as the bargaining started between unions and management. As a result, alternative advantages began to thrive, giving the business health insurance houses an impetus to pool in more risks and costs.
Insurance protects your business, if it faces a shortfall in profits, when it loses a valuable employee, when disaster strikes, or many such unforeseen situations come along. Some of the most common types of required business insurance are:
* Property Insurance
* Business Interruption Insurance
* Extra-Expense Insurance
* Disaster Insurance
Property insurance covers the office building, its contents, money and securities, machineries and supplies and even the intangible assets such as trademark.
Some insurance companies offer compensation by mentioned risks such as fire, theft etc. Other companies offer policies such as multiple risk benefits. But business health insurance owners may purchase additional risk coverage involving local perils, e.g. a Midwest or East Coast inhabitant will need coverage on damages from snow, ice sleet etc., while a businessman residing on the West Coast may consider an earthquake insurance policy.
What is business owners policy
Businessmen often purchase insurance through BOP that includes liability insurance policy also. They may include business interruption insurance and extra- expense insurance. They protect a business after a loss occurs.
Business interruption insurance
This policy will provide you with your expenses for salaries, taxes and debts. It has provision for helping in case of loss of profit due to interruption in business.
Extra expense insurance
Extra expense insurance covers when a peril occurs and the business temporarily gets out of gear. For example, a fire destroys a clothing store. Extra- expense coverage will pay for a business to resume its operation and even cover the new tasks as buying or leasing equipments, getting new merchandise and notifying the customers about the shifts and changes that have occurred.
Disaster insurance
Newspapers don*t publish about local business going down under when phenomenal disasters like earthquake and hurricane strike. But it*s quite common that companies face rough waters when nature deals so cruelly. So a business located in such disaster prone areas must bear additional coverage to address those risks. Besides any business is vulnerable to accidents and emergencies. So better be prepared in advance. Have a plan tucked in a place to ensure that business can be continued even after the disaster strikes. This is the essential component to deal with uncertainties.
Last but not the least important is to prepare oneself to stake the claims in case of an emergency.
Making a business insurance claim
The easier part of the job is buying an insurance policy but staking a claim is harder and time consuming. Wisdom lies in preparing yourself in advance and not waiting till the emergency raises its ugly head.
* It is your responsibility to notify the insurance company immediately after you experience loss, damages or have a lawsuit filed against you or your business
* You should also notify the police of a burglary, theft or accident
* Read your insurance policy scrupulously, because it will explain your responsibilities to the insurance company
* Assess the damages and list the items stolen or destroyed
* Proofs of ownership, receipts are important for the items lost, stolen or destroyed. So make it a habit of preserving those receipts meticulously
* In a lawsuit from a third party, gather all the valid information on the reason of lawsuit. A registered notice should be sent to the insurance company to have a verifiable proof of the date that you have notified the company.
The procedure of filing a claim will require that you have your papers in order. It*s a good habit to preserve all relevant business papers in regular order. They will support you regarding how much income you are losing. Once you file a claim, be prepared that you will have to fight your case. If you think you are not getting a fair deal, contact your agent and the customer service division of the insurer company. If you are still dissatisfied it is time to hire an attorney who is adept at handling such cases.
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