Bensalem Township Business Insurance
Independent agents can help you find the best coverage at the most competitive rates.
Jeff Green has held a variety of sales and management roles at life insurance companies, Wall street firms, and distribution organizations over his 40-year career. He was previously Finra 7,24,66 registered and held life insurance licenses in multiple states. He is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
Bensalem Township is home to nearly 6,000 businesses, including the headquarters for Rita’s Italian Ice and the Philly Pretzel Factory. From large corporations with many employees to small family-owned stores, all companies in this township can benefit from the protections offered by business insurance.
If you own a company in this Philadelphia suburb, a local independent agent can help you build an affordable business insurance policy package that provides coverage against a wide range of potential exposures. Talk to an insurance agent near you to learn more.
Why Do Businesses in Bensalem Township Need Liability Insurance?
It is not unheard of for liability lawsuits against businesses to result in judgments exceeding $1 million. That is why business liability insurance is so important. It can cover the various expenses related to liability lawsuits, such as court costs, legal defense fees, and financial damages.
Business insurance policies include commercial general liability insurance (CGL) as part of their standard coverage. This insurance is designed to cover many of the common liability risks businesses face. The coverage offered through CGL includes, but is not limited to:
- Premises liability insurance: This is designed to cover third-party injuries, injuries, and property damage that occur due to an accident on your business property for which your company can be deemed responsible.
- Product liability insurance: This is designed to cover third-party injuries, illnesses, and property damage caused by defects or design flaws in products your company produces, sells or promotes.
- Advertising liability insurance: This is designed to cover your business against accusations of illegal marketing practices such as false advertising, deceptive pricing, or copyright infringement.
CGL coverage isn’t always enough. You may need to purchase additional liability policies in order for your company to be fully covered against all of its potential liability exposures. Some of the many commercial liability products you may want to consider for your business include:
- Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): This is designed to cover your business if a current, former, or prospective employee makes an accusation of illegal practices such as discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, retaliation, or wrongful termination.
- Cyber liability insurance: This is designed to cover damages and restitution to those affected if cybercriminals install skimmers on your credit card readers or hack into your company’s computer system and steal sensitive information like your customers’ financial and personal data.
- Environmental liability insurance: This is designed to cover clean-up costs and damages if an accident leads to the pollution of the land, air, or water by toxic substances your company produces, uses, or sells.
- Liquor liability insurance: This is designed to protect your business if it serves alcoholic beverages. This is necessary because Pennsylvania’s dram shop laws enable someone who is injured by an intoxicated person to sue the business that provided the alcohol.
Consult a local independent insurance agent to learn more about these and any other commercial liability insurance products that may be right for your Bensalem Township business.
How Does Property Insurance Protect Bensalem Township Businesses?
Commercial property insurance is designed to cover loss or damage to your company-owned assets like outdoor signs, shelving units, office furniture, tools, computers, merchandise, and supplies. This coverage is a standard part of every business insurance policy.
Businesses in Bensalem Township are most at risk for property loss or damage caused by accidental fires, theft, and severe weather events like electrical storms, heavy winds, and hurricanes.
In the winter, heavy snow and freezing temperatures also present a hazard. Every few years, this township experiences ice storms and snowstorms that drop more than 12 inches of snow. This is particularly likely between December and February when nor’easters tend to occur.
Fortunately, all of the hazards mentioned above are covered by commercial property insurance.
In order to fully protect your business assets, you may also want to consider supplementing your commercial property insurance with additional policies such as:
- Commercial flood insurance: This insurance is important because commercial property insurance does not cover against floods. Businesses located near Neshaminy Creek are at most at risk, but when torrential rains fall, drainage systems can quickly become overwhelmed, and flash flooding can occur just about anywhere in this township.
- Inland marine insurance: This insurance can cover your portable business property whenever it is in transit or is being stored away from your place of business, such as in a warehouse or at a job site.
- Boiler and machinery insurance: This insurance is designed to cover repair costs and business losses related to the failure of your essential business machinery and equipment.
- Bailee's insurance: This insurance is designed to cover your customers’ valuable property whenever it is in your business’s custody, care, or control, such as may happen if you are performing alterations, maintenance, or repair services on it.
Talk to a local insurance agent to learn more about the various property coverage options available to your business.
Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea in Bensalem Township, PA?
In October of 2012, Bensalem Township was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Heavy winds and torrential downpours uprooted trees, destroyed roofs, knocked out power, and caused widespread damage to area homes and businesses.
Disasters in Pennsylvania
- Number of federally declared disasters in PA since 1953: 62
- Most common reasons for declared disasters: floods, severe storms, and hurricanes
- Average number of tornadoes in PA per year: 16
Major disasters, like hurricanes and structure fires, can do more than just damage your business property. If your business must remain closed for several weeks while structural repairs are made, the loss of income can be overwhelming.
Business interruption insurance is designed to provide your company with a continuation of income during such times. This optional coverage provides the funds necessary for your business to pay monthly bills, loan installments, employee salaries, and other regular expenses until it can resume normal operations.
Business interruption insurance is not a good fit for every company. A local independent insurance agent can help you determine whether it makes sense for your business in Bensalem Township.
Do Businesses in Bensalem Township Need Worker's Compensation Insurance?
The state of Pennsylvania requires all businesses to cover their full- and part-time employees with worker's compensation insurance. There are a few exceptions. For instance, you are not required to cover sole proprietors, partners, real estate salespeople, domestic or casual laborers, and certain farmworkers.
If your employees are injured on the job, or if they come down with an occupational illness, worker's compensation insurance can cover the cost of any necessary medical treatments, follow-up care, and prescriptions, and can provide these workers with paid time off while they recuperate.
Rates for worker's compensation coverage are based primarily on the number of employees you have and the types of jobs they do. The more dangerous the occupation, the more the employee will cost to cover. Therefore, a worker at a construction company would cost more to insure than a cashier at a grocery store.
Coverage can be purchased through a private insurer or through the state-administered fund. A local independent agent can help you review costs from a variety of competing providers so you can find the policy that offers the best value to your company.
What about Insurance Products for Employee Benefits Packages?
As a business owner in Bensalem Township, you may be thinking about putting together an employee benefits package that includes subsidized health insurance and life insurance options for your employees.
Even though purchasing health insurance for your employees can be quite expensive, doing so may provide some money-saving benefits for your business.
For instance, many small businesses that subsidize healthcare coverage for their workers qualify for tax incentives. Additionally, human resource professionals have repeatedly demonstrated that when businesses offer an attractive benefits package, they find it easier to recruit and retain some of the most highly qualified employees.
There are many different life and health insurance products available to choose from. You may therefore find it beneficial to have guidance and advice from a local insurance professional. Talk to an experienced agent near you for help finding the best and most affordable policies to include in your employee benefits package.
Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Bensalem Township, PA?
Every business has specific coverage needs, and these can vary significantly from one business to the next. That is why insurance companies offer a wide range of commercial insurance products and options. This enables you to fully customize your business insurance policy package.
A local independent agent can help you navigate through your various options and can ensure that you are getting appropriate and affordable coverage to mitigate all of your business’s potential exposures. Find an insurance agent near you to get started.
http://www.city-data.com/township/Bensalem-Bucks-PA.html
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts
https://www.fema.gov/disasters
http://www.naic.org/prod_serv/AUT-PB-14.pdf
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
https://www.nfib.com/content/legal-compliance/legal/workers-compensation-laws-state-by-state-comparison-57181