Greenbelt Business Insurance

A suburb of Washington, DC, Greenbelt Maryland was an experimental town planned and built by the Federal government in 1935. Today, it is home to about 2,500 businesses ranging from mid-sized corporations like Bozzuto Group to small, home-based companies. 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 your company’s potential exposures and recommending the best and most affordable policies to cover against each of them.

Arrange a one-on-one consultation with an independent insurance agent near you to get more information and to start reviewing customized quotes for business insurance.

Why Do Businesses in Greenbelt Need Liability Insurance?

If a liability lawsuit is filed against your company by your customers, employees, or even by other businesses, it 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 if it is not properly insured.

Business liability insurance is designed to protect your company by covering court costs, legal defense fees, settlements, judgments, and other 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 or property damage that result from accidents on your business property and 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 defects or design flaws in products your business produces, sells or promotes.
• Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): This covers businesses that have 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 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 produced, used, or sold by your business.

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 Greenbelt business. Your agent can help you be certain that your company is sufficiently covered against each of its potential liability risks.

What Insurance Products Cover Your Business Property?

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

Commercial property insurance, 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, inventory, tools, and outdoor signs.

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

• Commercial flood insurance: This is important because flood damage is not covered by commercial property insurance coverage, even when it is caused by a covered hurricane. A local independent agent can help you review your flood risk and, if needed, 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 temporary storage facility.
• Bailee's insurance: This can cover damage to 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, such as if you have to close due to having no heat.

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 Greenbelt?

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

The risk of tornado activity in the Greenbelt area is 12% greater than the national average. One of the worst to strike nearby was an F3 twister that touched down less than seven miles from the Greenbelt city center in September of 2001. This tornado caused more than $100 million in damage to area homes and businesses.

Disasters in Maryland

• Number of federally declared disasters in MD since 1953: 36
• Most common reasons for declared disasters:  Floods, hurricanes, severe storms
• Average number of tornadoes in MD per year: 10
• Amount paid out in business insurance claims in MD in 2019: $7,567,341,000

A major disaster like a tornado or a structure fire can result in more than just damage to your business property. It can also make it necessary for your company to shut down for several weeks while repairs are made.

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 Greenbelt business.

Do Businesses in Greenbelt Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers sometimes get hurt while doing their jobs or 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 important coverage. Nearly all employers in the state of Maryland 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 cover a roofer than it would to cover a cashier at the local Giant grocery store.

A local independent agent can help you review coverage and rates from a few of the best 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 lower your rate of 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.

These products often require you to make a lot of decisions. 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 competitive price.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Greenbelt, MD?

Every business has risks and exposures that 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 Greenbelt company can sometimes 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 near you to learn more and to start comparing customized quotes.