Easton, MD Business Insurance

Regardless of whether you own one of the many shops and restaurants that line Ocean Gateway or you run a small company out of your home, having the right business insurance products can protect the investment you have made in your Easton business.

Independent insurance agents make it easy to find the best commercial insurance policies. These agents work for you, not for an insurance company. This means they can shop around to find the coverage your business needs at the most affordable prices. Contact an insurance agent near you to learn more.

Why Is Business Insurance Important in Easton, MD?

Every business has risks. If your company is hit by a liability lawsuit, a damaging weather event, or a forced long-term closure, the costs can be overwhelming if you have not covered it with the right business insurance products.

In a typical year, businesses in Maryland collect about $7.5 billion in insurance claims. Will your business be covered if disaster strikes? Independent insurance agents can help to ensure that it will.

How Does Liability Insurance Protect Easton Businesses?

Businesses of all sizes have a risk of being hit by a liability lawsuit. In fact, a study conducted by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) found that around 36% of all business liability lawsuits filed each year are against companies that have fewer than 50 employees.

Business liability insurance products are designed to protect your business by covering expenses such as court costs, legal defense fees, settlements, judgements, other and damages.

There are several different commercial liability insurance policies available. Some you may want to consider for your Easton business include:

• Premises liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries and property damage if it occurs because of an accident on your business premises.
• Product liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, illnesses, and property damage if it is caused products your company produces or sells.
• Cyber liability insurance: This covers your business’s financial obligations if criminals hack into your company’s computer system and access your customers’ or employees’ personal and/or financial data.
• Employment practices liability insurance: This covers your business against accusations of illegal employment practices like breach of contract, harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination.
• Errors and omissions insurance: This covers individuals in professional positions if negligence, an error in judgement, or other mistake causes their clients to experience financial losses, injuries, or other harm.
• Environmental liability insurance: This covers clean-up costs, damage, and restitution if an accident causes toxic substances used, produced, or sold by your business to pollute the air, land, or water.

There are several other commercial liability insurance products available. You will want to be sure that you have all the policies you need to cover against each of your company’s liability exposures.

What Are Some of the Property Damage Risks in Easton, MD?

Commercial property insurance is a standard part of every business insurance policy. It is designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing your business-owned property if it is lost or damaged by a covered event. Examples of covered events that may affect businesses in Easton include:

• Property crimes, including:
  • Theft
  • Vandalism
• Fire, including:
  • Accidental fires
  • Industrial fires
  • Explosions
• Severe storms, including:
  • Windstorms
  • Thunderstorms
  • Microbursts
  • Snowstorms
  • Ice storms
• Hail

Sometimes, it is necessary to supplement your commercial property insurance coverage with additional policies if you want your business to be fully covered. You may therefore want to look into policies such as:

• Flood insurance: Flood damage is excluded from commercial property insurance coverage. You may therefore want to consider purchasing commercial flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is administered by FEMA.
• Inland marine insurance: This covers your business’s portable property whenever it is being transported over land or is being stored away from your place of business, such as if you own a vending machine business.
• Equipment breakdown insurance: This covers repair and replacement costs as well as business revenue losses if your well-maintained essential business equipment has a mechanical malfunction.
• Bailee’s insurance: This covers your customers’ valuable property whenever it is in your business’s custody, care, or control. It is a good idea for businesses that offer services like alterations, maintenance, or repair work on their customers’ belongings.

You will want to be sure that all of your company’s property and assets are appropriately covered against all of the hazards you are likely to face as a business owner in Easton.

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Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea in Easton?

The good news is that the risk of major disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes is quite low in Easton. However, there are instances where businesses may face catastrophic losses, such as if they experience a structure fire or are severely damaged in a microburst.

If this happens, property damage isn’t the only thing you will need to worry about. If the damage is particularly bad, you may need to shut your business down for several weeks while repairs are made. This can mean several weeks where your business cannot generate any revenue.

Many small businesses do not have the financial strength to endure a long-term forced closure following a disaster.

Business interruption insurance offers a solution to this problem. It is designed to provide the funds necessary for your company to continue paying regular expenses like rent, bills, loan installments, taxes, and payroll while it is recovering from damage caused by a covered event.

Do Businesses in Easton Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Employees can be injured on the job, or they might develop an occupational illness due to exposure to toxins at the workplace. If this happens, workers’ compensation insurance can cover the associated costs including medical treatments, follow-up care, prescription medications, and disability pay.

In Maryland, if you have at least one employee, you are required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If you are a sole proprietor, you do not need to buy coverage for yourself, but you can if you want to.

Rates for coverage are based primarily on your company’s overall payroll, the number of employees you have, and the types of jobs they do. The more dangerous your employees’ jobs are, the more your policy will cost.

What about Employee Benefits for Businesses in Easton?

Offering a competitive employee benefits package that includes perks like a retirement plan, paid vacation and sick time, life insurance, and subsidized health insurance, can make it easier to recruit and retain some of the Easton area’s most qualified workers.

There are many different life and health insurance products available for businesses to purchase. Each has a variety of coverage options to choose from. For instance, with health insurance, you must decide between:

• HMO’s, PPO’s, or managed care plans
• The size of the plans deductible for individuals and families
• Co-pay or co-insurance amount
• The level of coverage offered by the policy’s prescription plan
• The size of the area that includes in-network physicians

Having so many options can make it hard to determine which policies make the best choices not only for your employees, but for your business. You may therefore find it beneficial to have knowledgeable insurance expert helping you out when you are shopping for employee benefits insurance products.

Why Work with a Local Independent Insurance Agent?

Local independent agents can help you build a comprehensive, yet affordable, business insurance policy package for your Easton business.

These agents can offer guidance and advice as you make decisions about your coverage options. They can also obtain customized quotes from a variety of the area’s best insurance companies on your behalf. That way, you can be sure you are getting appropriate coverage at a competitive price.

Arrange an obligation-free consultation with an insurance agent near you get started.