The 11 most common insurance types for SMB

The 11 most common types of insurance for small businesses are:

1. General Liability Insurance General liability insurance helps protect your business from claims that it caused bodily injury or property damage to someone else. For example, if a customer slips in your store, this coverage can help pay for their medical expenses.

2. Professional Liability Insurance professional liability insurance helps cover claims related to mistakes in the professional services that your business provides. Let’s say your accounting firm makes a mistake on a customer’s financial statement and they have to pay a penalty. If they sue your business, professional liability insurance can help cover your legal costs. Investing in this coverage can help you save money in claims costs. This coverage is also known as errors and omissions insurance or E&O insurance.

3. Business Income Coverage Business income coverage, also known as business interruption insurance, can help replace lost income if you can’t operate because of covered property damage. This includes damage from fires, storms or theft.

4. Commercial Property Insurance Commercial property insurance helps protect your owned or rented building and equipment used to operate. So, if someone breaks into your building and steals your business computers, commercial property insurance can help cover the replacement costs.

5. Workers’ Compensation Insurance Workers’ compensation insurance provides benefits to employees if they get a work-related injury or illness. For example, if an employee gets carpal tunnel syndrome from years of typing and poor ergonomics, this insurance can help pay for their treatment costs. Most states require businesses to have this coverage if they have employees.

6. Commercial Auto Insurance Commercial auto insurance helps cover property damage and bodily injury claims if you or an employee gets into an accident while driving a company-owned vehicle for business. So, if your employee swerves off the road while making a delivery and hits a mailbox, this insurance can help pay for the damages.

7. Data Breach Insurance Data breach insurance helps your business respond to a breach if personally identifiable information gets lost or stolen.

8. Commercial Umbrella Insurance Commercial umbrella insurance extends the limits of certain liability policies that your business has. So, if a claims cost exceeds your policy’s limits, commercial umbrella insurance can help cover the difference.

9. Employment Practices Liability Insurance Employment practices liability insurance, also known as employers’ liability insurance, helps protect your business from employment-related claims.

10. Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) A Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) is one of the most popular types of insurance. It combines:

    - General liability insurance
    - Commercial property insurance
    - Business income insurance
    

11. Hazard Insurance Small business hazard insurance is another name for commercial property insurance. It helps protect the owned or rented business property, like your building and equipment.