Scranton Business Insurance

Make sure your company is covered against all of its potential exposures.

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.

Reviewer: Jeffrey Green Reviewed by Jeffrey Green
Reviewer: Jeffrey Green
Reviewed by Jeffrey Green

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.

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Scranton Pennsylvania Business Insurance

There are nearly 5,000 businesses in Scranton, PA. From the many retail shops in the Viewmont Mall to the five colleges and universities with campuses in this city, each business plays a key role in the health of the local economy. Business insurance helps these companies stay profitable in times of trouble.

If you are a business owner in Scranton, a local independent agent can make finding the right business insurance easy. These experienced professionals can help you build an affordable policy package that will provide coverage against all the potential risks faced by your company.

Contact an independent insurance agent near you to learn more.

Why Do Businesses in Scranton Need Liability Insurance?

Liability insurance is an essential part of every business insurance policy package. This insurance is designed to cover the many expenses related to liability lawsuits, such as court costs, legal fees, and financial damages.

All business insurance policies include commercial general liability insurance (CGL). CGL covers against some of the most common liability risks faced by businesses. Its main coverage components are:

  • Premises liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, injuries, and damage that occurs on your business property for which your business can be held responsible.
  • Product liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, illnesses, and damage caused by defects or design flaws in the products your company produces, sells, or promotes.

Many businesses will need to purchase additional policies in order to be fully covered against all of their liability exposures. An independent insurance agent in Scranton can make recommendations about which of the many other available insurance products are a good fit for your business.

Examples of commercial liability products you may want to consider include:

  • Cyber liability insurance: This covers your company’s liability expenses and financial obligations if hackers install skimmers on your credit card readers or break into your company’s computer system and steal customer information like credit card details, social security numbers, or personal data.
  • Employment practices liability insurance: This covers your business against accusations of illegal employment practices such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
  • Professional liability insurance: Also referred to as errors & omissions insurance, this covers individuals in professional positions if negligence, errors in judgment, or other mistakes on their part lead to third-party damage, injuries, or financial losses.
  • Commercial vehicle liability insurance: This is required if your business owns and operates cars, trucks, vans, or buses. It can cover your company’s increased liability risks if one of your drivers is responsible for a collision while driving a company vehicle.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent to learn more about these and other commercial liability insurance products that are available to your business. Your agent can help you be certain that you do not have unintended liability coverage gaps.

How Does Property Insurance Protect Scranton Businesses?

Commercial property insurance is another major part of every business insurance policy package. It is designed to cover loss or damage to your company-owned assets including things like office furniture, merchandise, inventory, supplies, outdoor signs, tools, and more.

Businesses in Scranton are most at risk for damage caused by accidental fires, property crimes, and severe weather events like hurricanes, tropical storms, windstorms, hail, heavy snows, and freezing temperatures. Fortunately, commercial property insurance covers against all these risks.

Be aware, however, that commercial property insurance does not cover flood damage, and this is a very real risk in Scranton. When heavy rains fall in the area, the banks of Lackawanna River and Keyser Creek can overflow, drainage systems can become overwhelmed, and flash flooding can occur throughout the city.

For your business to be covered against this hazard, you will need to include commercial flood insurance in your business insurance policy package. A local independent insurance agent can help you secure an affordable flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

You may also want to consider adding other supplemental policies such as:

  • Inland marine insurance: This covers your company’s portable assets whenever they are in transit or are being stored off-site.
  • Boiler & machinery insurance: This covers business losses related to essential equipment failure.
  • Bailee's insurance: This covers your customers’ property whenever it is in your business’s custody, care, or control.

Talk to your local insurance agent to learn more about these and other business property coverage options.

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Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea in Scranton, PA?

What if a fire broke out at your place of business and destroyed a large portion of your building? While your commercial property insurance can cover the cost of replacing lost or damaged property, you could still face large financial losses if your businesses cannot reopen for several weeks.

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

Business interruption insurance is designed to provide your company with a continuation of income during times that you must remain closed due to damage caused by a covered event.

This insurance enables you to have the income you need to cover your regular monthly expenses such as loan installments, employee salaries, and utility payments until you can resume normal operations. Most policies will provide this coverage for up to twelve months.

Business interruption insurance isn’t a good fit for every company.  A local independent insurance agent can help you evaluate whether this optional coverage is suitable for your Scranton business.

Do Businesses in Scranton Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to cover the cost of medical treatments, hospital stays, follow-up care, prescriptions, disability pay, and other expenses related to work-related injuries and occupational illnesses.

Rates for this coverage are based primarily on how dangerous the work your employees do is. Therefore, a roofer would cost far more to insure than a professor at the University of Scranton.

The state of Pennsylvania requires all businesses with at least one employee to carry workers’ compensation insurance. There are a few exceptions. For instance, it is not necessary to cover:

  • Sole proprietors, partners, or corporate officers
  • Licensed real estate broker or agents
  • Licensed insurance agents who work on a commission-only basis
  • Domestic or casual laborers

A local independent insurance agent can help you find a competitively priced policy from an insurance company that specializes in covering businesses like yours. Talk to your agent to learn more.

What about Employee Benefits for Businesses in Scranton?

As a business owner in Scranton, you may be thinking about offering subsidized health insurance and life insurance to your workers in your company’s employee benefits package.

There is no getting around the fact that healthcare coverage is expensive. However, many small businesses that subsidize this coverage for their employees can qualify for tax incentives. There are other cost-saving benefits as well.

Human resource professionals have demonstrated that when businesses offer attractive benefits packages, they can more easily recruit and retain the most qualified employees. It has also been demonstrated that workers who have access to healthcare coverage use up fewer sick days than those who do not.

There are several different health and life insurance policy types for you to choose from, so you may find it beneficial to have the guidance of an experienced insurance professional. Your local independent agent can help you find suitable coverage at a competitive price.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Scranton, PA?

Every company has specific coverage needs, and these can vary significantly from one business to the next, especially when they operate in different industries. That is why when it comes to business insurance, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all policy.

The many insurance products and policy options available to business owners in Scranton enable you to fully customize your company’s coverage. A local independent agent can help you navigate through the many choices you will have to make while you are building a business insurance policy package.

Set up a one-on-one consultation with an insurance agent in Scranton to get more information and to start comparing customized quotes for business insurance.

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https://www.city-data.com/city/Scranton-Pennsylvania.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