Ridgeland Business Insurance

(Everything you need to know - and more)

Written by Meg Stefanac
Written by Meg Stefanac

Financial blogger and business owner, Meg Stefanac, has more than 15 years experience working in the financial services industry and enjoys helping individuals make solid financial decisions. Meg has extensive experience writing about insurance and finances and is a key contributor to TrustedChoice.com.

Updated
Hernando Mississippi business insurance

A suburb of Jackson, the city of Ridgeland, MS is home to more than 3,000 businesses. From large companies like C Spire Wireless to the small kiosks at Northpark Mall, these businesses all play an important role in the local and state economies. Business insurance helps to protect these companies in times of trouble.

Local independent insurance agents make shopping for business coverage easy. These agents are available to help you identify your company’s specific risks and find the right insurance products to cover them. Find an insurance agent in Ridgeland to get more information and to start comparing customized business insurance quotes.

What Kinds of Liability Coverage Can Your Ridgeland Business Insurance Provide?

Let’s face it: We live in a litigious society. If your business ends up on the wrong end of a liability lawsuit, having the right insurance coverage is crucial for protecting your company’s finances. Business liability insurance is designed to absorb expenses like court costs, legal defense fees, and financial damages if your company is sued for a covered event.

All business insurance policies include, at a minimum, commercial general liability insurance (CGL). It is designed to cover third-party injuries, illnesses, and damage, whether they are caused by an accident on your business property (premises liability insurance) or because of a defect in a product your company produces, sells, or promotes (product liability insurance).

In many cases, companies have liability risks that go well beyond what a basic CGL policy can cover. An independent insurance agent can help you identify your business’s other liability exposures and can recommend the right liability coverage products to protect against them.  Examples of some of the many commercial liability insurance policies available to you include:

  • Employment practices liability insurance: This covers businesses against accusations of illegal business practices such as discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination.
  • Cyber liability insurance: This covers businesses that electronically store customer data in the event that criminals place skimmers on credit card readers or hackers break into company computer systems and steal sensitive data like financial and personal information. This insurance can pay for resultant damages and provide restitution to those who were affected.
  • Environmental liability insurance: This covers businesses that use or produce toxic substances. It can pay for clean-up costs and damages if an accident or disaster leads to these substances polluting the land, air or water.

Talk to your insurance agent to learn more about these and other liability products that may be a good fit for your Ridgeland business.

What Kinds of Property Does Ridgeland Business Insurance Cover?

Commercial property insurance is designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing your company’s property if it is damaged or destroyed by a covered event. This insurance can cover nearly all of your business assets, including merchandise, inventory, tools, machinery, computers, furniture, and more.  

Businesses in Ridgeland are most likely to experience property damage caused by severe weather events like tornadoes, hurricanes, severe storms and hail. Fortunately, these hazards are covered by your commercial property insurance.

One hazard that is not covered by your commercial property insurance, however, is flood damage. This is a very real risk in Ridgeland, particularly for businesses located near White Oak Creek and Brashear Creek. Of course, when hurricanes and tropical storms bring heavy rains to the area, flash flooding can occur just about anywhere in this city.

Commercial flood insurance policies are available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and provide an affordable way to get coverage against this expensive hazard. Adding flood insurance to your commercial insurance policy package can further protect your business assets.

Talk to a local insurance agent to learn more about covering your business property.

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Why Purchase Business Interruption Insurance?

Damage to your business-owned property isn’t the only expensive risk your business faces during a catastrophic event. Major damage caused by disasters like fires and tornadoes can potentially cause your businesses to remain closed for several weeks while repairs are made.

Take, for example, the F4 twister that touched down just 4.5 miles from the Ridgeland city center in November 2001. This tornado caused around $12 million in damage to area homes and businesses, some of which had to temporarily close.

Disasters in Mississippi

  • Number of federally declared disasters in MS since 1953: 83
  • Most common reasons for declared disasters: Severe storms
  • Average number of tornadoes in MS per year: 43

Without an ongoing stream of revenue, many small businesses would be forced into bankruptcy. Business interruption insurance protects against this risk by providing a continuation of income during the times that your company is forced to temporarily close because of damage caused by a covered event.

When your company is covered by business interruption insurance, you can afford to continue to pay regular expenses like loan payments and employee salaries until your business can once again resume normal operations.

Do All Ridgeland Businesses Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

If you have at least five regular employees in Mississippi, you are required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Exceptions are made for certain employees such as sole proprietors, corporate partners, LLC members, domestic workers, and farm laborers, though you may cover these workers if you want to.

Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to cover medical treatment, lost wages, and other related expenses if your workers are hurt or suffer an occupational illness due to exposure to toxic substances in the workplace. This insurance can also pay survivor benefits to family members in the unfortunate event that a workplace injury proves fatal.

Costs for workers’ compensation insurance are based primarily on the types of jobs your workers do. The more dangerous the job, the higher the cost for coverage. It costs much more to insure a long-haul truck driver than to cover a cashier at a hardware store.

An independent insurance agent can help you compare rates from a variety of reliable insurance companies that specialize in covering businesses likes yours. Or, with state approval, your company can opt to self-insure.

What about Purchasing Insurance Benefits for Your Employees?

It’s a fact that healthcare coverage in the United States is expensive. However, subsidizing it for your employees can have money-saving benefits for your company.

Studies by human resources experts have shown that workers who have access to health care tend to use fewer sick days. Also, offering an attractive benefits package helps businesses recruit and retain the most qualified employees.

  • Annual amount spent on healthcare coverage by MS businesses: $332 million
  • Average annual cost of health care in MS: $5,207/person or $14,053/family

If you are looking for health insurance and life insurance products to include in your employee benefits package, you will find that there are many different policy types and options available for your consideration. You may therefore find it beneficial to have the guidance and advice of an experienced insurance professional when you are deciding which policies to purchase.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent for help when you are shopping for employee benefits insurance products.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Ridgeland, MS?

Businesses ' insurance needs can vary significantly from one company to the next. The risks at a local diner are very different from those at a manufacturing plant. That is why there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all business insurance plan. With a wide variety of products and options at your disposal, you can fully customize your coverage.

Independent insurance agents can help you choose the right policies and options to meet your company’s specific coverage needs. Because they don't work for a particular insurance company, these agents can shop around to find the best business insurance policies at the most competitive prices. Contact an insurance agent in Ridgeland to learn more.

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https://www.census.gov/quickfacts
https://www.fema.gov/disasters
http://www.naic.org/prod_serv/AUT-PB-14.pdf
https://www.nfib.com/content/legal-compliance/legal/workers-compensation-laws-state-by-state-comparison-57181
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/alter-benefits-attract-retain.aspx
https://www.business.org/hr/benefits/top-reasons-to-offer-employee-benefits
http://www.city-data.com