Massachusetts Insurance: All Your Needs in One Place

Homeowners insurance in Massachusetts comes with four standard coverages that you'll find in most policies across the country. The basics of a home insurance policy are:

• Additional living expenses coverage: If you have to temporarily stay at a hotel and/or pay other unexpected costs while your home is undergoing extensive repairs after a covered disaster like a fire, this coverage can reimburse you.
• Contents coverage: If a fire, break-in, or other covered disaster damages or causes a loss of your personal property like clothing, furniture, etc., this coverage can reimburse you to repair or replace it.
• Dwelling coverage: If your home's structure gets damaged or destroyed by a covered peril like lightning, fire, vandalism, etc., this coverage can reimburse you to repair or rebuild it.
• Liability coverage: If a neighbor, guest, or other third party sues you for claims of bodily injury or personal property damage, this coverage can reimburse you for the legal fees.

Car insurance in Massachusetts comes with the same coverages needed by all drivers in the US to start off, such as:

• Medical payments: Covers injury treatment for the driver or their passengers resulting from an accident they were at fault for.
• Collision: Covers the physical damage to your vehicle after an accident you're at fault for. 
• Comprehensive: Covers the physical damage to your vehicle caused by threats other than collision, including accidents with large animals, theft, storm damage, and more.

By state law, Massachusetts requires all drivers to carry at least these coverages:

• Bodily injury liability: Massachusetts state law dictates drivers must carry at least $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident of bodily injury liability coverage, which covers the injury treatment for other drivers and their passengers after an accident you were at fault for.
• Property damage liability: Massachusetts state law requires drivers to carry at least $5,000 per accident of property damage liability coverage, which covers the costs of damage repairs to a third party's vehicle or other personal property that you struck with your vehicle. 
• Uninsured motorist coverage: Massachusetts state law requires drivers to carry at least $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident of uninsured motorist coverage, which covers the costs of physical damage to your vehicle, injury treatment for you and your passengers, etc. if you get into an accident with someone else who's at fault but doesn't carry enough insurance of their own.
• Personal injury protection: Massachusetts state law requires drivers to carry at least $8,000 of personal injury protection coverage, which covers medical bills, funeral costs, and even lost wages for the driver and their passengers after an accident.

Massachusetts state law requires all businesses with employees to carry workers' comp. coverage. Even businesses with a single, part-time employee must have this coverage, regardless of industry. Workers' comp in Massachusetts covers medical treatment and rehabilitation costs if an employee gets injured or ill or even dies due to their job duties or work environment.

Business insurance in Massachusetts provides the core protections needed by all businesses in the US. Of course, your policy can be customized according to your specific niche, if additional coverages are required. But the basic coverages in a business insurance policy are:

• Commercial general liability: If a customer or other third party sues the business for claims of personal property damage or bodily injury, this coverage can reimburse for the legal expenses.
• Commercial vehicle insurance: If a company vehicle gets damaged by a covered peril like a fire or gets involved in an accident, this coverage can help reimburse for repairs, lawsuit costs, etc.
• Workers' comp insurance: If an employee gets injured, ill, or dies due to their job or work environment, this coverage can pay for their medical treatment, rehabilitation, etc. Businesses in Massachusetts are required to carry this coverage if they have even one employee.
• Commercial property insurance: If the business's structure or other property like inventory gets stolen or damaged by a covered peril like a fire, this coverage can help reimburse for repairs or replacement of company property.

Commercial vehicle insurance in Massachusetts can reimburse a business for costs related to physical damage to company vehicles after an accident, vandalism, fire, etc. It also covers lawsuit expenses if a third party sues the business for claims of bodily injury or personal property damage caused by a company vehicle.

In addition to the basics provided by a business insurance policy, restaurants in Massachusetts also need a couple of specific types of coverage. Restaurant insurance in Massachusetts includes the core protections provided by business insurance, as well as:

• Equipment breakdown coverage: Boilers and other large appliances used by the restaurant are covered against many threats, including fire damage, power outages, and more.
• Spoilage coverage: Food spoilage and other inventory losses caused by covered disasters like extended power outages are covered.

Umbrella insurance in Massachusetts extends an existing policy's liability coverage limits. Policies like home insurance or commercial general liability insurance come with liability coverage, but it may not be substantial depending on your needs. An umbrella policy can increase the liability coverage of another policy to a limit of $1 million or greater. Businesses with a higher risk of hefty lawsuits can greatly benefit from increasing their liability coverage with a commercial umbrella policy.

Renters insurance in Massachusetts is kind of like a homeowners insurance policy without dwelling coverage. Since the outer building technically belongs to the landlord and is covered under their landlord insurance, the renter is not responsible for damage that impacts the overall structure. Therefore, renters insurance policies only include the following:

• Liability coverage: Pays for lawsuit costs if you get sued by a third party for claims of bodily injury or personal property damage.
• Additional living expenses: Pays for extra costs if you must live somewhere else, like a hotel, while your unit is being repaired for extensive, covered damage, such as from a fire.
• Personal property coverage: Pays for the repair or replacement of your personal property if it gets stolen, lost, damaged, or destroyed by a covered peril like theft, fire, etc.

There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all insurance policy. With a wide variety of products and options at your disposal, you might need help from a professional to choose what you really need.

Massachusetts independent insurance agents can help you choose the right policies and options to meet your specific coverage needs. Because they're independent, these agents can work with several of the best insurance companies in Massachusetts to find you the right coverage at a great price.