»   What does a businessowners policy cover?

Insurance companies selling business insurance offer policies that combine protection from all major property and liability risks in one package. (They also sell coverages separately.) One package purchased by small and mid-sized businesses is the businessowners policy (BOP). Package policies are created for businesses that generally face the same kind and degree of risk. Larger companies might purchase a commercial package policy or customize their policies to meet the special risks they face.

»   BOPs include:

1. Property insurance for buildings and contents owned by the company -- there are two different forms, standard and special, which provides more comprehensive coverage.
2. Business interruption insurance, which covers the loss of income resulting from a fire or other catastrophe that disrupts the operation of the business. It can also include the extra expense of operating out of a temporary location.
3. Liability protection, which covers your company's legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others. This harm is a result of things that you and your employees do or fail to do in your business operations that may cause bodily injury or property damage due to defective products, faulty installations and errors in services provided.
4. BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation or health and disability insurance. You'll need separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles and your employees.
(With permission - Insurance Information Institute)

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Commercial General Liability Insurance is generally for larger companies or companies that need to customize their policies to meet the special risks they face.

Here are a few types of Liability Insurance your company may need in addition to or apart from Commercial Auto, Property or Workers Compensation Insurance:

»   Commercial Liability

• -Accidents causing bodily injury to other people (a customer trips and falls in your shop)
• -Accidents causing property damage to other people's property (you sell a toaster to a customer which malfunctions and causes fire damage to their home)
• -Personal injury such as invasion of privacy, wrongful eviction, libel, slander, or false arrest or advertising injury such as copyright infringement or false advertising

»   Commercial Umbrella
This coverage takes over on large claims when your regular business insurance limits have been used up providing an extra layer of business liability coverage against catastrophic loss.

»   Employment Practices Liability
Over the last few years, the number of employee complaints pertaining to discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination has increased dramatically. Even organizations with unbroken record of spotless management behavior are vulnerable to expensive lawsuits. This coverage insures against such legal judgments.

»   Errors and Omissions (or Failure to Disclose)
This endorsement states that coverage will not be affected if the insured unintentionally fails to disclose existing hazards or unintentionally makes an error or omission.

»   Pollution Liability
Pays up to $100,000 for losses that result from accidental release of pollutants that are brought by you to a job site.

Call Lenzinger Insurance Agency today at 559-440-0742 to help you find The Right Coverage At The Right Price With The Right Company!

»   Do I need workers compensation insurance?

Employers have a legal responsibility to their employees to make the workplace safe. However, accidents happen even when every reasonable safety measure has been taken.

To protect employers from lawsuits resulting from workplace accidents and to provide medical care and compensation for lost income to employees hurt in workplace accidents, in almost every state, businesses are required to buy workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance covers workers injured on the job, whether they're hurt on the workplace premises or elsewhere, or in auto accidents while on business. It also covers work-related illnesses.

Workers compensation provides payments to injured workers, without regard to who was at fault in the accident, for time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitiation services. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents.

Each state has different laws governing the amount and duration of lost income benefits, the provision of medical and rehabilitation services and how the system is administered. For example, in most states there are regulations that cover whether the worker or employer can choose the doctor who treats the injuries and how disputes about benefits are resolved.

Workers compensation insurance must be bought as a separate policy. Although in-home business and businessowners policies (BOPs) are sold as package policies, they don't include coverage for workers' injuries. (With permission - Insurance Information Institute)

Call Lenzinger Insurance Agency today at 559-440-0742 to help you find The Right Coverage At The Right Price With The Right Company!

A bond guarantees the fulfillment of a legal obligation. It's a three-party agreement where the third party (surety company) guarantees to a second party (obligee or owner) the successful performance of the first party (principal). One of the primary uses of bonds today is to protect public and private funds from financial loss.

A surety bond is not an insurance policy. An insurance policy assumes that there will be a loss, so the premium for an insurance policy is calculated to cover losses that will occur. A bond, on the other hand, is an extension of credit with the assumption that the legal obligation will be fulfilled, and consequently, there will be no loss. The bond premium paid to the surety covers only the underwriting expenses of the surety company. When losses occur, they have a significant impact on the surety company's financial results.

Call Lenzinger Insurance Agency today at 559-440-0742 to help you find The Right Coverage At The Right Price With The Right Company!

»   Do I need a commercial auto insurance policy?

As a businessowner, you need the same kinds of insurance coverages for the car you use in your business as you do for a car used for personal travel -- liability, collision and comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states) and coverage for uninsured motorists. In fact, many business people use the same vehicle for both business and pleasure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the "principal insured" rather than your name. This will avoid possible confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

Whether you need to buy a business auto insurance policy will depend on the kind of driving you do. A good insurance agent will ask you many details about how you use vehicles in your business, who will be driving them and whether employees, if you have them, are likely to be driving their own cars for your business.

While the major coverages are the same, a business auto policy differs from a personal auto policy in many technical respects. Ask your insurance agent to explain all the differences and options.

If you have a personal umbrella liability policy, there's generally an exclusion for business-related liability. Make sure you have sufficient auto liability coverage. (With permission - Insurance Information Institute)

Call Lenzinger Insurance Agency today at 559-440-0742 to help you find The Right Coverage At The Right Price With The Right Company!

Lenzinger Insurance Agency works with the most reputable and well known Health Insurance companies: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, HealthNet, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, PacifiCare and more.

Let Lenzinger Insurance Agency answer your questions on Health Insurance and provide you with a proposal that will fit your budget and specific needs.

Here is quick Eligibility and Benefits Chart for your convenience:

	Eligibility for Small Group		Benefits
1	2-50 eligible people(W2, partners, sole proprietors, corporate officers...not 1099); can choose to include part-time or not.	1	Plans are guaranteed issue...regardless of health. Premiums by employer are 100% tax deductible.
2	75% of eligible people must go with the plan.	2	Employers can pay as little as 50% of the employees premium.
3	Employer must pay at least 50% of employees premium.	3	Can offer choice. The employer can offer one or many plans to the employees.

Group Health Insurance can be a lot more inexpensive than one might think.

Here are some added benefits to providing Health Insurance to your employees:

• Increased Employee Loyalty
• Fewer sick days taken
• Better Employee Health
• Higher productivity due to fewer sick days taken and improved employee health
• Fewer sick days taken due to employee dependent illnesses

Call Lenzinger Insurance Agency today at 559-440-0742 to help you find The Right Coverage. At The Right Price. With The Right Company!