Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’

Each year I am sure the most exciting time for your business is your Business Insurance renewal! You enjoy reviewing your coverage with you agent, listen to his multiple reasons (excuses) why your premium went up or why a new driver is now excluded. Ok, so maybe you are not too excited about your business insurance renewal quotes but let’s give you 5 easy steps to make sure you not only have the best price but also the best coverage possible.

Step 1. Go Independent. For business insurance you will be best suited with an agent that works for an Independent Agency. You want an agent that can quote your business through multiple Insurance Companies to find the best fit for your particular business.

Step 2. Challenge your agent. Don’t be afraid to ask for the actual business insurance quotes from other companies to make sure that he didn’t just renew your policy with the same company because he didn’t want to take the time to re-quote through other companies.

Step 3. Shop around. This isn’t the most fun task but it can lead to you lowering your Business Insurance premium while also improving coverage. This is definitely a good idea if your agent can only access one Insurance Company but if you have an agent who is an Independent Agent that you really like just make sure he shops your Business Insurance quote through other companies they have contract with.

Step 4. Discuss your business operations with your agent. It’s amazing how often I discuss a business with the owner and discover exposures that are not covered or coverage they no longer need. Businesses can change quickly in todays world and you want to make sure you have a conversation with your agent at least every year if not more often. This will ensure that your agent has a good understanding of what you do and the correct coverage that you need.

Step 5. Review your payroll and revenue numbers on the Insurance renewal. I talk to businesses all the time that tell me that they get an audit bill every year but don’t have increased revenue or payroll. After reviewing the Business Insurance I quickly realize they are using revenue or payroll numbers from several years ago! What happens is when you have an audit your policy already renewed based on the same information from the previous year. When the audit gets processed it doesn’t automatically change the revenue and payroll numbers on your Insurance renewal unless your agent catches it and makes the change.

If you really dislike the Insurance Renewal process, give us a call. We make things as easy as possible for you and your business insurance program. We can be reached at (888) 581-0331.

Bryan Cranson is the owner of Cranson Insurance Agency in Northville, MI specializing in business insurance quotes, workers compensation insurance quotes, health insurance quotes, disability insurance quotes and life insurance quotes in Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Kent County, Cook County and Wayne County, plus the entire states of Michigan, Arizona, Kansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri.

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I recently quoted some workers compensation insurance for a business owner in Oakland County Michigan that only had a few employees. After getting the quote back he decided that he wanted to exclude himself from the Workers Compensation benefits. Now this is a very common exclusion to put on, especially in certain industries where the insurance cost can be quite severe.  But you need to be sure you have medical insurance and disability insurance elsewhere so you don’t leave any gaps in coverage.  Since he had medical coverage through his wife’s medical insurance plan at work we began a discussion on whether he would be ok financially if he did not receive an income from the business. He said he would be ok financially if he went without a pay check for 90 days. So we quoted him some disability insurance with a 90 day waiting period (or as the call it in the industry, elimination period). Now the price to get the disability insurance was about 25% of the cost to get the Workers Compensation Insurance AND disability covers him if he got hurt on the job or off the job.

So a couple things to think about when excluding yourself from Workers Compensation Insurance.

• Do you have health insurance coverage?
• Do you have short term or long term disability insurance?
• Is the cost for Workers Compensation greater than the cost of disability insurance?

The best advice is to talk to an independent insurance agent that not only specializes in business insurance but also can help you with your health insurance, disability insurance and life insurance needs.

Bryan Cranson is the owner of Cranson Insurance Agency specializing in business insurance quotes, workers compensation insurance quotes, health insurance quotes, disability insurance quotes and life insurance quotes in Oakland County, Washtenaw County, Kent County, Cook County and Wayne County, plus the entire states of Michigan, California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri.

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Being a business owner has a lot of responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is getting business insurance quotes. Now this may seem like a simple task, but with the wrong type of insurance coverage you could leave your business exposed to a financial loss. The best way to get the appropriate insurance coverage is talking to an independent insurance agent. An independent insurance agent has the ability to access multiple insurance companies to make sure you have the very best price for the appropriate coverage. Also make sure you are talking to an insurance agency that specializes in business insurance. There are many insurance agencies out there that can do your home and auto insurance but not many that only specialize in offering a business insurance quote.

In evaluating your business insurance needs there are a few things to consider. First you will need property and liability insurance. Liability will cover you in case someone gets hurt at your business by slipping and falling or an accident you cause in the course of your business. Property coverage is for everything the business owns. If you own a building you will need building insurance. For all of the businesses contents you will need business personal property insurance. The last part of this coverage is business income insurance coverage. This will cover you in case of something happening such as a fire that prevents you from operation a business. The lost business income from not being open would be covered under the business income coverage. This is especially important for restaurants. If a restaurant burns down, there will be a lot of time where the business is not operating before the restaurant is rebuilt and therefore a large loss for business income. So if are getting a restaurant insurance quote, make sure you have plenty of business income coverage.

The next thing you will need to consider if you have employees is workers compensation insurance. This will cover the medical bills in case an employee gets hurt on the job. The other part that workers compensation insurance covers is if there is a serious injury that an employee suffers, they may sue the employer and you would have coverage for this under your workers compensation insurance policy. When you get your workers compensation quote make sure you are reporting the payroll as accurate as possible to your insurance agent. At the end of the year you will get an audit to make sure that the workers compensation quote you were given matches up with the actual payroll at the end of the year. You may end up having to pay more or actual get a refund.

The last thing that has been on everyone’s mind is health insurance. When getting health insurance quotes make sure you first evaluate how you will be using the health insurance. Will you or a spouse be having kids? Are you currently on any prescription drugs? Do you have any serious health concerns? With Health Care reform around the corner, access to health care should improve but you will still need to evaluate your options with an informed health insurance agent to discuss your options.

Bryan Cranson, owner of Cranson Insurance Agency in Oakland County and Wayne County, Michigan,  provides business insurance quotes in Michigan, California,  Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri.

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