Westminster, CO Business Insurance
A suburb of Denver, the municipality of Westminster is home to large businesses like DigitalGlobe and Western Fuels Association. There are also several small businesses representing a wide range of industries including high-tech, medical services, and energy. If you own a company in Westminster, business insurance can help your firm stay profitable.
Selecting the right business insurance products can be confusing, but you do not need to go at it alone. Independent insurance agents in Westminster can help you build a solid commercial insurance package by identifying your company’s specific risks and recommending the policies that can best cover them. Contact an insurance agent near you to learn more.
Why Do Businesses in Westminster Need Liability Insurance?
Liability insurance is one of the most important parts of every business insurance policy package. It is designed to cover your business’s court costs, legal fees, and financial damages if you are sued for a covered event. You will need to be sure to have the right kinds of liability insurance to cover the specific risks faced by your particular business.
Some of the many commercial liability products that are available to you include:
- Premises liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, illnesses, and property damage that occur due to an accident on your business property.
- Product liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, illnesses and property damage that are caused by defects in products your business produces, sells, or promotes.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This covers lawsuits related to accusations of illegal employment practices such as discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination.
- Environmental liability insurance: This covers clean-up costs and damages if your business is responsible for an accident that leads to the pollution of the ground, water, or air.
- Cyber liability insurance: This covers financial losses and liabilities if hackers access your computer systems and steal sensitive customer data such as financial information, credit card numbers, social security numbers, or personal data.
- Commercial vehicle liability insurance: This is required by law if your business owns and operates vehicles. It can cover your company’s increased liability risks in the event that one of your drivers causes an accident that results in third-party injuries or damage.
You can learn more about these and many other commercial liability coverage options by consulting a local independent insurance agent. Your agent can recommend all the business liability products that are appropriate for your Westminster business.
What Insurance Products Cover Your Business Property?
Businesses in Westminster, CO are most likely to experience property loss or damage due to hazards such as structure fires, property crimes, freezing temperatures, severe storms, and hail. Tornadoes also pose a threat to area businesses. The tornado risk in Westminster is 25% higher than the national average rate.
All business insurance policies include commercial property coverage, which is designed to compensate your business for loss or damage to your commercially owned property. This insurance covers a wide range of assets, including furniture, outdoor signs, computers, supplies, merchandise, and inventory.
Sometimes, specialized property insurance products are necessary. Depending on your business’s scope and location, your insurance agent may recommend adding:
- Inland marine insurance: This covers portable business property while it is in transit or is stored away from your place of business, such as at a worksite.
- Boiler & machinery insurance: This covers the repair or replacement of a broken down furnace or other machinery and can also cover any business losses associated with machine malfunctions.
- Flood insurance: This is necessary if you want your business property to be covered against flood damage, since commercial property insurance will not cover this type of damage.
- Earthquake insurance: This is necessary if you want your business property to be covered in the event of an earthquake. While the risk of an earthquake is not especially high in Westminster, it is 83% higher than the national average.
A local insurance agent can help you be sure that all of your business assets are appropriately covered, and that your coverage limits are high enough to enable you to rebuild, repair, or replace, as necessary.
Why Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea in Westminster, CO?
A major disaster can do more than just damage your business’s property. If the damage is particularly severe, it could also force your business to remain closed for an extended period while repairs are made.
- Number of federally declared disasters in CO since 1953: 80
- Most common reasons for declared disasters: Wildfires and Floods
- Average number of tornadoes in CO per year: 49.5
A closure that lasts for several weeks can be financially devastating, especially for a small company. Business interruption insurance provides a solution to this problem by providing your company with a continuation of income until your business can resume normal operations.
When you have this insurance, your business can afford to pay regular monthly expenses such as utility payments, loan installments, and employee salaries even though your business is temporarily unable to generate revenue. Business interruption insurance is usually limited to up to one year of coverage.
Do Businesses in Westminster Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?
As a business owner in Westminster, you are required to provide a safe and healthy workplace for your employees. Unfortunately, even when precautions are taken, workers sometimes get hurt. Your business is responsible for covering your employee’s financial losses in the event of a workplace injury or occupational illness. Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to cover the cost of medical treatment, lost wages, and other expenses related to these workplace injuries. In the event of a fatal work-related injury, this insurance can also provide long-term benefits to surviving family members and dependents.
With a few exceptions, all employers in the state of Colorado are required by law to cover their full-time and part-time employees with workers’ compensation insurance. A local independent agent can help you review your costs and can match you up with an insurance company that specializes in covering businesses in your industry.
What about Insurance Products for Employee Benefits Packages?
Although health insurance can be expensive, offering subsidized coverage to your employees can have cost-saving benefits. Studies conducted by human resource professionals have demonstrated that when businesses offer a competitive employee benefits package, they find it easier to attract and retain the best employees.
- Annual amount spent on healthcare coverage by CO businesses: $858,947,000
- Ranked 24th for highest medical insurance costs in the US
- Average annual cost of health care in CO: $5,396/person or $16,636/family
There are many different life insurance and health insurance products available for you to choose from. This can make it difficult to determine which policies are the best to include in your employee benefits package. A local independent insurance agent can go over the pros and cons of each of your various options so you can make an informed decision.
Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Westminster, CO?
Every business has it is own specific risks and exposures. That is why insurance companies enable business owners to fully customize their commercial insurance coverage. An independent agent can make shopping for coverage easy by offering guidance and shopping around to help you find the best and most affordable policies to cover your business.
Find an independent insurance agent with an office in or near Westminster to learn more. You will soon discover how easy it can be to build a comprehensive business insurance policy package.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts
https://www.fema.gov/disasters
http://www.naic.org/prod_serv/AUT-PB-14.pdf
https://www.nfib.com/content/legal-compliance/legal/workers-compensation-laws-state-by-state-comparison-57181
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
http://www.city-data.com