Business Owner’s Policy Insurance

BOP — Insurance for Business Owners

From sourcing suppliers to managing staff to pleasing customers, you’ve got a lot to handle. It can be easy to overlook insurance. It also can be risky for your business. BOP insurance, meaning business owner policy insurance can make a lot of sense for a busy business owner.

A business owner's policy typically combines different coverages, such as property and liability insurance, into a single policy. And it can deliver some great benefits for business owners with a lot on their plates.

• Simplicity: Make one purchase instead of multiple purchases
• Flexibility: Add or drop coverages as your needs change
• Value: It often costs less than buying all those policies separately

You can get started right now and get covered online in just minutes.

What is a BOP Policy?

A BOP is a package policy that typically bundles three types of business insurance together:

1. General liability insurance (GL)
2. Commercial property insurance
3. Business interruption insurance

Depending on your specific business, you also can add optional coverages to your BOP insurance to make it an even better fit. For example:

• Cyber insurance
• Employee theft coverage
• Spoiled merchandise (perishable goods) coverage
• Forgery coverage
• Equipment breakdown coverage

What Does BOP Insurance Cover?

Let’s take a look at the various coverages typically available in BOP insurance.

General liability insurance.

If business insurance were a house, general liability insurance could be the foundation. It can help cover costs from third-party accidents and third-party bodily injury, as well as damage to someone else’s property.

A GL policy also can cover personal or advertising injury claims.These can include claims of stolen ideas, invasion of privacy, libel, slander, and copyright infringement related to advertising.

General liability can also help if your business makes an inadvertent mistake manufacturing or sells a defective product that injures someone.

Commercial property insurance.

If you have a storefront, office space, or other building for your business, commercial property insurance can cover damages caused by fire, theft, weather, or other unpleasant events. It also can cover damage to physical assets such as inventory, supplies, equipment, tools, and machinery.

Commercial property insurance can cover:

• Fire
• Wind, storms, and snow
• Sprinkler leakage and various other forms of water damage
• Vandalism or theft on the premises
• Building collapse

While it tends to cover a lot of weather-related and third-party claims, it usually does not cover:

• Theft or losses occurring away from the business premises
• Vehicle damage
• Income loss due to damage to the premises
• Loss relating to employee dishonesty
• Cyber fraud
• Damage resulting from earthquake or flood
• Employee injuries (e.g. Workers’ Comp)

Business interruption insurance.

It’s bad enough if you have a business-related accident, damage, or loss. But what if the damaged property forces you to shut down for a period of time? BOP insurance with business interruption coverage can help replace lost income if you can’t operate your business due to covered property damage.

In addition to lost income, business interruption insurance may cover:

• Temporary relocation
• Payroll
• Fixed costs such as operational expenses
• Loan payments and taxes
• Closure due to damage to a nearby business
• Training costs when new equipment is needed following a loss

Business interruption insurance typically won’t cover lost income due to:

• Flood or earthquake damage
• Utility interruption
• Pandemics and other public health events
• Undocumented business income

How Business Owner Policy Insurance Can Work for You

We believe having BOP insurance is a good idea. But it can be helpful to see what it could actually do for you.

Here are some examples:

• Heavy rain has left your store entrance wet. A customer slips and falls on a poorly secured mat and has to go to the hospital. A business owner’s policy that includes general liability insurance may be able to help cover medical costs and other related claims (up to your policy limits).
• You arrive at your restaurant one morning and notice that the door lock has been damaged by vandals and must be replaced. With lock replacement coverage, which may be available as an add-on, the cost of repairing the damage likely won’t come out of your pocket.
• Your business is broken into in the middle of the night and the most expensive inventory is stolen from the shelves. Business personal property coverage as part of your BOP insurance may help to replace the goods.

Business Owners Insurance vs. General Liability

This is a topic that can come up when you’re looking at insuring your business. We believe a general liability policy is a good idea for just about every business. And it may be required if you’re leasing or renting space for your business.

Whether you own the building, rent, or have inventory or equipment, you may want to consider a business owner’s policy. A BOP typically includes GL insurance, along with commercial property and business interruption insurance, which you won’t find with general liability insurance. If you think you’ll need this level of coverage, you may want to request a business owner’s insurance quote.

Who Needs a BOP?

Generally speaking, brick-and-mortar businesses with inventory and equipment, such as restaurants and retail stores, often can benefit from BOP insurance. But when you consider the simplicity, flexibility, and value of a business owner’s policy, it could make sense for many business owners who don’t have a lot of time to search for different coverages, prices, and providers.

Business owner’s policies are generally designed for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees or annual revenue of less than $5 million, although not every small business meeting these criteria will be eligible. These criteria may vary based on the type of business, and certain insurance carriers may have criteria of their own.

Who is Not Eligible for a BOP?

It’s important to note that some industries are not eligible for business owner’s policies due to the unique risks they face. Some examples might include:

• Financial institutions
• Theme parks
• Bars
• Manufacturers

Are there other coverages to consider besides a business owner policy?

The flexibility of a BOP policy is that it typically lets you add different types of coverage to meet the needs of your specific business. Plus, you can add or drop coverages as your business changes.

There are, however, other policies you may need to consider outside of BOP coverage. If you have a restaurant or retail store, you likely have employees. If so, you may need workers’ compensation insurance. And if you have business vehicles, you’ll likely need commercial vehicle insurance.

A business owner’s policy offers a lot of flexibility. If you want to customize your business owner’s policy, the following add-ons may be available:

• Cyber
• Employee theft
• Spoiled merchandise
• Forgery
• Equipment breakdown

Our licensed insurance agents can help you get the coverages your business needs. They’re just a call away at 844-654-7272, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (ET).

How Much Does BOP Insurance Cost?

You might think a policy that can cover as much as BOP insurance might be out of your price range. Actually, a business owner’s policy can be a case where more is less. Since BOP insurance bundles together different policies, it often can be less expensive than buying all those policies separately.

As with most types of insurance, your cost will depend on a number of factors, such as:

• Your type of business
• The services you provide
• Where your business is located
• The number of employees you have
• Your estimated revenue
• And more

In some cases, restaurants and retailers can pay as little as $550 annually. And whatever your premium is, you often can elect to pay with convenient, interest-free, monthly installments. Request a business owner's insurance quote to see what BOP insurance might cost for your business.

Small Business Insurance. It’s Our Thing.

A business owner's policy can do a lot for you, but that doesn’t mean you have to do a lot to get covered. We can make it fast and easy 24/7 with our online quote tool. Or our licensed insurance pros can talk with you via phone. Either way, we can get BOP coverage that’s easy for you to understand and even easier to put in place.