Columbia, SC Business Insurance
Find the right business insurance policy for you.
Written by
Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.
People who live in Columbia are proud to have their city referred to as “The Capital of Southern Hospitality.” Residents of Columbia love their scenic city and enjoy the many sights found here. Columbia is also home to many business enterprises whose owners appreciate the need to carry a Columbia, SC business insurance policy.
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Columbia Business Climate Statistics
- The size of the metropolitan area population is 777,900.
- The three major industries are healthcare, education, and defense.
- The average median household income is $46,605.
Kinds of Risks Faced by Businesses
No matter what type of Columbia business you run, you face certain general risks that have the potential to ruin both you and your business financially. These are the most common risks faced by the majority of businesses:
- Liability: This form of exposure includes any manner of damage in the form of a lawsuit that occurs to another person’s property or injury that might result due to your negligence. The damage also includes employee work-related accidents or injury or damage to a third party such as a client or a customer. Liability includes lawsuits stemming from professional culpability, libel or defamation of character, and malpractice.
- Property damage: Damage to the structure of your building, equipment, and any inventory can occur from a variety of causes such as a fire, wind damage, flooding and even from acts of vandalism.
- Criminal activity: Criminal activity includes burglary, robbery and internal risks such as employee theft, embezzlement, and fraudulent activities.
- Data and company records: Your records and valuable company data such as client lists and intellectual property could be fall prey to any manner of cybercrime and or loss of data.
Each business faces its own unique set of potential risks based on the types of goods and services it provides. Whether it’s a company pickup truck making a delivery or large mobile machineries such as a crane or bulldozer, liability issues resulting in property damage or personal injury can occur at any time. Many companies use dangerous machinery and equipment, or toxic and harmful substances in their activities.
Some companies operate using large sums of cash or produce products that could cause harm to the general product because of a defect. Others perform professional services that can cause physical or financial harm to their clients. A business's staff could cause harm to another’s person or property or even injure themselves while performing their job. These employees could also cause harm to the business through illegal activities such as the theft of money, inventory, and equipment, or through some other fraudulent means.
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Each Business Must Assess Its Risk
Each business must fully assess its risk exposure to fully understand the type of Columbia business insurance policy it will require. The business should do this in conjunction with key staff members combined with legal consultants and with a commercial business insurance agent who can assist in putting a proper insurance plan into place. There are many factors to consider in determining your commercial business insurance needs, including the following:
- The building and exterior
- Machinery and equipment
- The types of services and/or products you manufacture or sell
- Your employees and equipment, or industrial material used
- The security and safety of the building, equipment, records, cash, payroll, and internal data
How to Select a Commercial Insurance Policy
Every business, both large and small, requires business insurance. You must select and design your Columbia business insurance policy so that it will incorporate all facets of your business and the risk exposure potential of your business. Policy coverage options might include these:
- General liability, contractor’s liability or professional liability (errors and omissions)
- Liability for directors and officers
- Malpractice insurance
- Commercial property insurance
- Commercial vehicle and commercial truck insurance
- Contractors and builder’s risk coverage
- Inland marine coverage
- Insurance coverage for business interruption
- Equipment breakdown coverage
- Landlord insurance
- Commercial tenants insurance
- Crime coverage or fidelity insurance
- Cybercrime insurance
- Workers compensation
- Employee health insurance
- Short-term or long-term disability insurance
- Life insurance such as Key Man insurance
How to Buy a Business Insurance Policy
You can locate an independent commercial insurance agent who specializes in Columbia business insurance by contacting a member agent in our network. These independent agents use the services of many different insurers, so they will be able to help you design a customized insurance package tailored to fit the needs of your particular business.
Contact one of these agents right away so you can compare Columbia commercial insurance quotes and get customized coverage that matches your needs.