Elmhurst Business Insurance

There are more than 5,000 registered businesses located in Elmhurst, IL. From companies that employ many people, like Edward-Elmhurst Hospital, to sole proprietorships run out of people’s homes, each of these businesses plays an important role in the health of the local economy. Business insurance helps these companies stay profitable in times of trouble.

Building a comprehensive policy package for your business can be complicated and time-consuming, but it doesn’t need to be. Independent insurance agents can simplify the process by identifying all of your company’s potential exposures and recommending the best and most affordable policies to cover against each of them.

Set up a one-on-one consultation with an independent insurance agent near you to get answers to your insurance-related questions and to start reviewing customized quotes for business insurance.

Why Do Businesses in Elmhurst, IL, Need Liability Insurance?

A liability lawsuit filed against your company by your customers, employees, or even by other businesses, has the potential to result in large financial losses. Even if the courts ultimately rule in your favor, these lawsuits can be extremely expensive for your company unless it is properly insured.

Business liability insurance can protect your company by covering court costs, legal defense fees, and financial damages incurred if your business is sued for a covered event.

You will need to be sure to purchase the right insurance policies to cover against each of your company’s liability exposures. The following are examples of some of the many commercial liability products you may want to consider including in your business insurance policy package.

• Premises liability insurance: This covers against third-party injuries, illnesses, or property damage that results from accidents on your business property for which your company can be deemed responsible, such as if a customer slips on a wet floor and is seriously hurt.
• Product liability insurance: This covers against third-party injuries, illnesses, or property damage that is caused by a defect or design flaw in a product your business produces, sells or promotes.
• Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): This covers businesses with employees against accusations of illegal employment practices such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and wrongful termination.
• Cyber liability insurance: This covers against losses related to cybercrimes. If criminals install skimmers on your credit card readers or hack into your business’s computer systems and steal customer data like financial or personal information, your company can face high liability costs. This insurance can cover financial losses as well as the cost of restitution and credit monitoring services for affected individuals.
• Environmental liability insurance: This can cover cleanup costs, damage, and other financial obligations if an accident or disaster at your place of business results in the pollution of the ground, air, or water by toxic substances used, produced, or sold by your business.
• Liquor liability insurance: This is crucial for businesses that sell or serve alcoholic beverages in Elmhurst. This is because Illinois’s dram shop laws make these businesses liable for the actions of the people they are serving if they become intoxicated and go on to cause property damage or injure others.

Talk to a local independent agent to learn more about these and any other commercial liability policies that may be a good fit for your Elmhurst business. Your agent can help you be certain that your company is sufficiently covered against all of its potential liability risks.

What Insurance Products Cover Your Business Property?

Businesses in Elmhurst are most likely to experience property damage caused by severe storms (including electrical storms, windstorms, snowstorms, and tornadoes), hail, ice accumulation, freezing temperatures, property crimes, and accidental fires. Fortunately, each of these risks is covered by commercial property insurance.

This coverage, which is included as a standard part of every business insurance policy, is designed to pay for the cost of repairing or replacing business property if it is lost or damaged due to a covered event. Covered items include, but are not limited to, office furniture, supplies, computers, merchandise, inventory, tools, display cases, and outdoor signs.

In some cases, businesses will need to purchase supplemental policies for their property to be fully covered against all potential risks. Your insurance agent may therefore recommend products such as the following.

• Commercial flood insurance: This is important because flood damage is not covered by commercial property insurance coverage. When heavy, prolonged rains fall in Elmhurst, water levels in Salt Creek can rise and drainage systems can be overloaded, leading to flash flooding just about anywhere in this city. A local independent agent can help you review your flood risk and, if you want, can help you obtain an affordable flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• Inland marine insurance: This can cover your company’s portable property whenever it is being transported to or from another location or is being temporarily stored at a location other than your place of business, such as a job site or in a warehouse.
• Bailee's insurance: This can cover your customers’ valuable property whenever it is in your company’s custody, care, or control. This insurance is ideal for companies that perform services like maintenance, repair, or alteration work on their customer’s property.
• Boiler & machinery insurance: This can cover the cost of repairing or replacing your company’s essential machinery if it breaks down. It can also cover business revenue losses associated with the machine malfunction.

A local independent insurance agent can help you be sure that all your business assets are suitably covered by appropriate policies and that your coverage limits are high enough to cover the cost to rebuild, repair, or replace lost or damaged property following a covered event.

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Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea in Elmhurst?

Businesses in Elmhurst are occasionally impacted by major disasters like structure fires and tornadoes.

In fact, the risk of tornado activity in the Elmhurst area is 46% greater than the national average. The closest to strike was an F2 twister that touched down 2.7 miles from the Elmhurst city center in March 1976. The most damaging to hit the area was an F4 twister that touched down about 14 miles from the Elmhurst city center in June of that same year.

A major disaster like a structure fire or a tornado can result in more than just damage to your business property. It can also necessitate your company to shut down for several weeks while repairs are made. When damage is widespread, as is frequently the case with a tornado, repair efforts can take even longer.

Disasters in Illinois

• Number of federally declared disasters in IL since 1953: 63
• Most common reasons for declared disasters: Severe storms, floods, and tornadoes
• Average number of tornadoes in IL per year: 54
• Amount paid out in business insurance claims in IL in 2019: $16,998,439,000

Most small companies cannot financially handle a forced long-term closure. Business interruption insurance can help by providing your business with a continuation of income until you are able to resume normal operations.

This insurance can provide the funds necessary for your company to continue paying regular monthly expenses such as rent, loan installments, bills, and employee salaries while it is temporarily unable to generate revenue due to the damage caused by a covered event.

Consult a local independent insurance agent for help determining whether this optional coverage is a good fit for your Elmhurst business.

Do Businesses in Elmhurst Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers can sometimes get injured on the job or can develop occupational illnesses due to exposure to toxins in the workplace. If this happens, your business is responsible for covering their medical treatments, lost wages, and other related financial losses.

Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to protect your business from large financial losses and potential liability lawsuits by providing this coverage. Virtually all employers in the state of Illinois are required by law to cover their workers with this insurance.

Costs for workers’ compensation insurance are based mainly on the types of jobs your employees do and the likelihood that they will be seriously injured while doing them. It would therefore cost a lot more to insure an emergency room nurse at Edward-Elmhurst Hospital than it would to cover a professor at Elmhurst University.

An independent insurance agent can help you review coverage and rates from a few competing insurance providers that specialize in covering businesses that operate in your industry.

What about Insurance Products for Employee Benefits Packages?

High employee turnover can cost your business a lot of money. Offering a competitive employee benefits package can reduce staff turnover as well as make it easier for your company to attract highly qualified workers.

When you are looking for insurance products for your employees, you will find that there are several different life insurance and health insurance policies available to choose from. For instance, with health insurance, you can choose from PPO, HMO, or managed care plans with different deductibles, co-pays, prescription plans, and coverage limits.

This can make it difficult to decide which policies are best to purchase. A local independent insurance agent can go over the pros and cons of each of your options to help you make an informed decision. Your agent can also help you be certain that the policies you choose are offered at a reasonable price.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Elmhurst, IL?

Every business has specific risks and exposures, and these can vary from one company to the next, particularly when they operate in different industries. That is why insurance companies offer a wide range of business insurance products and policy options. It is also why buying coverage for your company can be complicated and confusing.

Independent insurance agents make buying business insurance easy. These agents are free to work with a variety of insurance providers, so they can shop around to help you find the best and most affordable policies to meet all of your company’s coverage needs.

Talk to an independent insurance agent in Elmhurst to learn more. Your agent can help you build a comprehensive, yet affordable, business insurance policy package that does not leave your company open to any unintentional coverage gaps.