Brighton Business Insurance Guide

Michigan means business, and the state is doing everything it can to promote a strong business climate. Brighton, MI is a great place to start a business because it’s close to the Detroit metro area but much more affordable. Great employees and access to Fortune 500 companies like Ford and GM are what make all the difference. But before you open your doors here in Brighton, you need to have the right insurance to protect your business. How dynamic is business in Michigan? Consider these figures from recent years:

There were 856,682 small businesses.
They employed 1.8 million people.
These businesses realized a total of $12.8 million from insurance claims.

The dynamic and growing small business climate is a great asset, but the right Brighton commercial insurance is essential to managing the potential liabilities that come with it. While your business insurance needs are daunting and complex, your Independent Insurance Agent is there to help you understand them. Your agent will help you navigate your many options and find you multiple quotes from many different agencies so that your business has the right insurance for your operation at the lowest possible cost.

The portfolio that will protect your business starts with general liability insurance. This coverage handles any damage on your property to customers, delivery personnel or visitors of any kind. Because the cost of an injury is essentially unlimited, your business needs to be protected. How expensive can an injury on your property be? A recent Travelers Business Risk survey found that 60 percent of all businesses said medical cost inflation was the biggest concern, and 30 percent said that they felt unprepared to handle this risk. This is one of the biggest risks that any business takes, and it comes the moment you first open the doors.

That is only the start of the liability coverage your Brighton business needs, however. If you make any product or provide a service, you need product liability insurance for events that take place apart from your premises. It has the same concerns. The Insurance Information Institute found recently that 71 percent of product liability awards, as well as 53 percent of medical malpractice awards, were for more than $1 million or higher.

Business Interruption Insurance for Brighton Businesses

When something happens beyond your control, you may not be able to conduct normal business. This may be something as simple as an extended power outage, or a major problem like a fire or water pipe break. Whatever the reason, business interruption insurance fills the gaps until you can get back up and operating.

It’s based on the revenue you took in before the event that put you temporarily out of business. It pays out until you can resume normal operations again and makes sure that your continuing bills such as rent, electricity and so on are covered. This insurance is often the difference between a business that can survive a serious event and not. Business interruption insurance is vital for covering unforeseen circumstances, which can keep you closed for a long time.

Property Insurance for Brighton Businesses

When there is a major event that keeps you from operating, the next thing to consider is putting everything back together and fixing the damage. That’s what property insurance is for. Whether you rent the space or you own it yourself, property insurance is essential for fixing whatever goes wrong and getting the doors open as soon as possible. For this reason, the right Brighton business insurance for you isn’t always the lowest priced. Far too many businesses try to cover their losses on their own, often with results as disastrous as a storm:

There were 119 recent natural disasters in the U.S.
Only 61% of the damage they caused was covered by insurance.
Uninsured losses came to $9.7 billion, which businesses had to cover out of pocket to reopen.

There are many reasons your property might suffer damage. Fire and storms are the most common, but there are many unforeseen events covered by the right insurance policy. Saving money may seem like a good idea in good times, but when disaster strikes you want good coverage that gets your business’s doors open quickly.

Workers' Compensation for Brighton Businesses

There is much more to finding the best business insurance than business liability and property coverage. You also have to take care of your workers, starting with workers' compensation as required by Michigan state law. Workman’s comp, as it is usually known, is insurance that pays out to your employees if they are injured on the job and unable to work. It doesn’t matter if the injury is from a single event or takes place over years of repetitive stress – if they can’t work for a period of time, they are covered.

The cost of the policy is based on either your history of employee claims or, in the case of a new business, the rates seen by similar businesses with similar tasks in the area. Nationally, this averaged $1.27 for each $100 in wages in recent years, which comes to $612 per employee. There are many things you can do to keep this cost low. Your Independent Agent can help you identify areas where equipment or procedures can be put into place to reduce the chance of injury and help you to find a more affordable policy to cover the sometimes high cost of workman’s comp.

Employee Coverage for Brighton Businesses

Employers spend more on health insurance than for any other business insurance category. A total of $1.1 billion was paid for employee health care coverage in Michigan in recent years. An average single person health plan cost employers $5,321. While a family policy ran $15,242. But it is only one of the kinds of coverage you may want to offer to your employees. Options include the following:

Health plan insurance: This is required by law for companies with 50 or more employees, but many smaller businesses are opting to provide this coverage as a service for their loyal workers.
Life Insurance: In case something happens to your employee, you may want your business to cover the employ as well as protect the family.
Disability Insurance: Similar to life insurance, this pays out when an employee cannot work anymore for any reason.

Many Brighton businesses offer packages for their employees to keep the best ones and reward loyalty. You spend a little more on insurance but save on training while keeping service and quality high. It’s worth considering depending on your situation.

Cyber Crime Insurance for Brighton Businesses

There is still more insurance that your business needs to have, some of it in areas you might never think of. For example, 10,338 identity thefts were reported recently in Michigan, the sixth-highest number of thefts in the nation. Policies are available to protect your business at affordable rates, assuming you take a few precautions of your own and work with your insurance carrier.

This is one of the main reasons why a good relationship with your Brighton-based Independent Agent is absolutely critical. Your agent can assess the needs of your business and explain how a wide variety of policies can work for you. When you know you are covered for anything beyond your control, you can concentrate on what you do best – running your business for a brighter future.

Talk to your agent today.

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