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What is Commercial Property Insurance?
Businesses that own buildings and land have made significant investments in these assets, and those investments should be protected. Commercial property insurance won’t stop a building or lot from being damaged, but it can help Massachusetts businesses recover from the financial costs of covered perils.
Commercial property insurance policies are specialized property policies that have specifically been designed for businesses. As commercial policies, their coverages and limits are adjusted to meet businesses’ needs.
What Massachusetts Businesses Need Business Property Insurance?
Most Massachusetts businesses that own buildings and/or land should have a business property insurance policy. Without coverage in place, a business could be financially devastated if a disaster struck.
Do Professionals with Home Offices Need Business Property Insurance?
Whether professionals who work out of home offices need business property insurance depends on what level of protection their homeowners insurance policy offers.
Some homeowners policies may offer basic coverage for home offices as a standard or optional protection, and this coverage might be sufficient in certain situations. Not all homeowners policies offer coverage, however, and those that do may only provide minimal protection.
If coverage isn’t offered or is too basic, professionals should consider supplementing their homeowners policy with a commercial property policy that offers all the protections they need for their home office.
Professionals who are unsure whether they should get a business property policy can talk with an insurance agent who specializes in this type of insurance. A knowledgeable agent will be able to review a homeowners policy to see whether additional coverage is necessary, and they can help find a business property policy if one is needed.
What Coverages Are Included in Business Property Policies?
As is true with most types of insurance, the exact coverages included in business property policies can vary and is subject to a policy’s terms. In most cases, these policies offer two primary protections:
● Building Coverage, which generally is used to cover buildings and secondary structures
● Contents Coverage, which generally covers certain equipment and inventory
In some cases, businesses that don’t own buildings but have substantial equipment may want to purchase a property policy that offers only contents coverage. An experienced insurance agent can help determine whether this or another type of insurance is most appropriate for businesses in this situation.
Do Business Property Policies Include Liability Protections?
Because businesses have vastly different liability risk exposures, most business property policies don’t include liability coverage. Instead of getting protection liability coverage through this type of policy, businesses usually obtain the protection they need through one or more liability-specific policies. There are many such policies, such as general liability, product liability and pollution liability coverage.
How Much Do Business Property Policies Cost?
Business property policies vary a lot in price, for they’re used to insure all sorts of buildings. How much a particular policy costs depends on many factors, often including:
● Where the property is located and how large it is
● What sort of work the property is used for
● Whether any security systems are installed on the property
● Whether the policy-holding business has recently filed insurance claims
● Whether the policy is an open-perils or closed-perils policy
(Open perils policies normally cover any risk that’s not excluded in their paperwork, while closed-perils policies usually cover only those risks that are listed in their paperwork. Open-perils policies frequently cost slightly more because they tend to provide more robust coverage.)
How Can Massachusetts Businesses Get Commercial Property Insurance?
Commercial property insurance is widely available through stand-alone policies, business owners policies and commercial package policies. For help finding the right coverage and deciding which way to procure it, contact the insurance agents at John P. Russell Insurance. Our team has worked with many Massachusetts businesses, and we’d be happy to assist you.
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