Businesses can tailor a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) to help meet their unique needs by adding optional coverages like data breach, business income for off-premises utility services and other specialized coverages to their BOP.

Who needs a Business Owner’s Policy?

You should consider a business owner’s policy if:

• Your business has a physical location, whether it’s out of your home or a rented or owned office, store or other work place.
• There’s a possibility of you being sued – for example, by a customer who was injured at your work place.
• You have assets that could be stolen or damaged – whether they’re digital assets, customer data, equipment, furniture, cash or inventory.

What’s the advantage of a Business Owner’s Policy?

Purchasing a BOP is smart and convenient. It simplifies coverage needs by including business property and business liability, two important coverages that most businesses need, in one policy. Compared to purchasing separate policies for business property and business liability, Business Owner's Policies (BOP) offers businesses a way to save money while getting broad coverage for things like fire, theft, lawsuits and loss of income. It’s an even smarter and more convenient choice because other important coverages can be added to it. Businesses with specific needs can tailor their business owner’s policy by adding additional coverages like business income for off-premises utility services, data breach and more, to suit the particular needs of their company.

What does a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) typically include?

Business Property Insurance 

Property insurance can help protect the property your business owns, leases or rents, including things like buildings, equipment, inventory, furniture and fixtures. It provides coverage for loss of accounts receivable and valuable papers and records.

Business Liability Insurance 

When it comes to liability protection, the broader the coverage the better. That's why BOPs provide business liability insurance that helps cover your business in the event it is sued for causing harm to a person and/or damage to property. It also helps cover the cost of your defense – because businesses can be sued even if they did nothing wrong.

Business Income Coverage 

If unexpected events cause a suspension in your operations resulting from a covered cause of loss, BOP insurance will help replace loss of income to help you meet your continuing financial obligations such as rent or payroll.

There are additional coverages that you can add to your business owner’s policy to help to tailor coverage to your specific needs. Here are two popular optional coverages that are frequently added to a Business Owner’s Policy:

Data Breach Coverage

Any business that handles or stores private customer, patient or employee information is at risk for a data breach. When this sensitive information is lost or stolen, it’s important to act quickly to restore confidence in your business. If a breach occurs, Data breach coverage can help pay for the expenses to notify impacted individuals, engage credit monitoring services (if warranted), public relations and more. Coverage can include help with defense and settlement or judgment costs in the event your business is sued because of a breach. And coverage is provided even if private data is stored internationally. Additional coverage options can help:

• Replace lost income and pay for extra expenses incurred to keep your business running if your business must close temporarily or slow operations due to a covered data breach.
• Protect a business from a data breach that occurred prior to the policy effective date.
• Pay for extortion expenses and ransom payments associated with the threat of a data breach.

Data Breach coverage can also include access to professionals who can help guide you on how to prevent breaches and how to manage should one occur.

Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) Coverage

You put your professional judgment and expertise on the line just about every day. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, your business can be sued by a customer or client claiming a negligent act, error or omission in the professional services you provided. Add Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) coverage to your BOP insurance to help protect your business from this type of claim.

Learn More About Professional Liability Insurance

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