Why Home Businesses Need Coverage

You are exposing yourself to unnecessary risks if you are running a home business and you don't have insurance coverage. This is especially true if your business is still young (many people start their businesses at home). Here are some of the reason such a business should have insurance coverage:

You Can't Afford Losses at This Early Stage

Most businesses are cash-strapped when starting out. If you are in such a situation, then you are probably operating on limited expenses and you don't have a bank account you can fall back to if things go haywire and you need a lot of cash at once. This means if you are sued for, say, a slip and fall accident in your home office, you will be hard-pressed to come up with the settlement. In fact, such liability claims can easily cripple your business. Of course, this won't be the case if you have the right insurance coverage.

Mistakes Are Common At This Stage

Entrepreneurs are prone to experimentations and mistakes when starting out, especially entrepreneurs who are charting new territories. Not only that, but you are also less experienced if you are just starting out. This means that your risk exposure is likely higher than those of an established business in the same industry. You can't afford to operate with that heightened risk exposure without suitable insurance coverage.

Existing Coverage May Be Inadequate

Some people assume, incorrectly so, that they don't need business insurance coverage if they are operating out of their homes. They think that their homeowner's insurance, renters insurance or auto insurance coverage will extend to their business operations, but this is rarely the case. Your homeowner's insurance won't cover you if someone gets injured by your business operations and your personal auto insurance coverage won't apply if you cause an accident and your insurance carrier knows that you have been using your car for livery (income-generating purposes). Even if the existing coverage does apply, they may have low limits on your business's side of operations.

There Are Many Risks Not Connected To Your Base of Operations

Lastly, you need business insurance because many risks that businesses face are not restricted to geographical locations; that is, such risks can occur irrespective of where you are operating from. In fact, it doesn't even matter whether you deal with physical customers or not. For example, if you run an accounting consultancy, you can make mistakes that can cause others thousands of dollars in losses; you need insurance coverage to protect yourself from such risks. Contact an agency, like United Counties Insurance Group, for more help.


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