Long Island Business Insurance

There are more than half a million businesses located on Long Island. From high-end boutiques in the Hamptons to manufacturing firms in Nassau, these companies represent a wide range of industries. Business insurance helps them stay profitable in times of trouble.

Building a comprehensive policy package for your business can be complicated, but you do not need to do it alone. Independent insurance agents can help by identifying your company’s potential exposures and recommending the best and most affordable policies to cover against them.

Set up a one-on-one consultation with an independent insurance agent near you to learn more and to start reviewing customized quotes for business insurance.

Why Do Businesses on Long Island Need Liability Insurance?

Liability lawsuits can potentially be filed against your company by your customers, employees, or even other businesses. Even if the courts ultimately rule in your favor, lawsuits can be extremely expensive.

Business liability insurance is designed to shield your company’s finances by covering the associated court costs, legal fees, and financial damages if your business is sued for a covered event.

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

• Premises liability insurance: This can provide coverage if someone suffers an injury, illness, or property damage as the result of an accident, like a slip and fall, on your business property and your company can be deemed responsible.
• Product liability insurance: This can provide coverage if someone suffers an injury, illness, or property damage as the result of a defect or design flaw in a product your business produces, sells, or promotes.
• Employment practices liability insurance: This can provide coverage if someone accuses your company of engaging in illegal employment practices such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
• Cyber liability insurance: This can provide coverage for expenses incurred cybercriminals install skimmers on your credit card readers or hack into your business’s computer systems and steal customer data such as financial or personal information. It can pay for restitution and credit monitoring services for affected customers.
• Liquor liability insurance: This can provide coverage against lawsuits related to damage and injuries caused by someone who became intoxicated while at your place of business. This insurance is crucial for companies that sell or serve alcoholic beverages because New York’s dram shop laws allow the injured party to sue your establishment for providing alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron.
• Environmental liability insurance: This can provide coverage if an incident at your place of business results in the accidental pollution of the ground, air, or water by toxic substances used, produced, or sold by your company. It can pay for cleanup costs, damage, and other financial obligations.

Talk to an independent insurance agent in Long Island to learn more about these and other commercial liability policies that are available. Your agent can help you be certain that your business is properly covered against all its potential liability exposures.

What Insurance Products Cover Your Business Property?

Businesses in Long Island are most likely to experience property damage due to hurricanes, tropical storms, electrical storms, windstorms, hail, heavy snows, freezing temperatures, thefts, and accidental fires. Fortunately, all of these risks are covered by commercial property insurance.

This coverage, which is included as a standard part of your business insurance policy, is designed to pay for the repair or replacement costs for your company-owned property. Covered items include, but are not limited to, office furniture, computers, supplies, inventory, tools, and outdoor signs.

Sometimes businesses need to purchase supplemental property insurance policies in order to be fully covered against all of their risks. Your insurance agent may recommend adding products such as:

• Commercial flood insurance: This is important because flood damage is not covered by commercial property insurance coverage, even when they are the direct result of a covered hurricane or tropical storm. A local independent agent can help you review your flood risk and, at your request, can help you obtain an affordable flood policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• Inland marine insurance: This can provide coverage for your company’s portable property whenever it is being transported or is being stored away from your place of business, like at a job site or in a warehouse.
• Bailees insurance: This can provide coverage for your customers’ valuable property whenever it is in your company’s custody, care, or control. This insurance is ideal for companies that perform maintenance, repair, or alteration services on expensive items.
• Boiler & machinery insurance: This can provide coverage for the cost of repairing or replacing your company’s essential machinery if it breaks down or malfunctions. This insurance can also cover business revenue losses associated with the malfunction.

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

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Is Business Interruption Insurance a Good Idea on Long Island?

Hurricanes and tropical storms present a very real risk on Long Island. One of the most damaging to hit the area was Super Storm Sandy in 2012. As a result of this storm, 95,000 homes and buildings on Long Island sustained significant damage.

A major disaster, like a hurricane or a structure fire, can result in more than just damage to your business property. It could also force your company to remain forced to remain closed for several weeks while repairs are made. When damage is widespread, repair efforts can take even longer.

Disasters in New York

• Number of federally declared disasters in NY since 1953: 101
• Most common reasons for declared disasters: Severe storms, floods, and heavy snows
• Average number of tornadoes in NY per year: 9.6

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

This insurance can enable your company to continue paying regular monthly expenses such as rent, bills, loan installments, and employee salaries even during the times it is temporarily unable to generate revenue.

Business interruption insurance isn’t ideal for every business. Talk to a local independent insurance agent for help determining whether this coverage is a good fit for your Long Island business.

Do Businesses in Long Island Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Workers sometimes come down with occupational illnesses or get injured on the job, even when all reasonable safety precautions have been taken. 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 provide this coverage. With very few exceptions, all employers in the state of New York are required by law to cover their employees with this insurance.

Costs for workers’ compensation insurance are based mainly on the types of jobs your employees do and the chances that they will be seriously injured while doing them. It would therefore cost a lot more to insure a mechanic in a garage than it would to cover a concierge at a 5-star hotel.

An independent insurance agent can therefore help you review coverage and rates from a few competing private insurers who specialize in covering businesses like yours.

What about Insurance Products for Employee Benefits Packages?

High employee turnover costs businesses a lot of money. However, human resource managers have consistently demonstrated that when companies offer competitive employee benefits, they find it easier to attract and retain highly qualified employees.

When you are shopping for insurance products to include in your employee benefits package, 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.

This can make it difficult to determine which policies to purchase. 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. Your agent can also help you be certain you are getting suitable coverage at a competitive price.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Long Island, NY?

Every company has its own specific risks, and these can vary significantly from one business to the next, particularly when they operate in different industries. Insurance companies, therefore, offer a wide range of commercial insurance products and policy options so you can fully customize your coverage.

An independent agent can help you identify your company’s specific coverage needs and can assist with finding the best and most affordable policies to meet them. Your agent can also help you rest assured that your business insurance policy package isn’t leaving your company with any unintended coverage gaps.

Talk to an independent insurance agent in Long Island to learn more. You will soon discover how easy it can be to purchase comprehensive business insurance at a reasonable price.