Ask these questions when renewing your business insurance policy

As a business owner, you have annual tasks requiring your attention, from preparing taxes and completing employee evaluations to maintaining equipment and conducting safety checks. Some of these are check-the-box duties you perform every year without much thought, while others require preparation, analysis, and action.

What type of effort do you put into reviewing your business insurance policy when it comes up for renewal?

Your business is always evolving in some fashion, and your business insurance policy should, too. The one question you should always be able to answer when something unfortunate happens is, “Am I covered?”

Business insurance renewal checklist

What changes did you make to your business in the last year? Identifying those changes can help you decide to add or remove insurance coverages to better protect you and your business, while keeping an eye on costs.

Here are questions to consider when renewing your business insurance. Did you:

• Add or reduce employees? This can impact certain coverages, such as workers’ compensation.
• Change your form of business or business structure? New owners, officers, members, or even DBAs (doing business as) can require updates to more than one policy.
• Compile gross annual sales/receipts and payrolls?  These can help you develop an accurate premium for more than one policy.
• Move your business to a new location? A different physical location might mean your costs go down if it’s a smaller place, in a safer location, or equipped with additional safety features.
• Add new, remodel, or modify structures? You may need to add new structures or adjust the contents within. Remodeling and modifying structures may require a change to your coverage and limits.
• Buy new equipment, such as machinery? Your policy limits might need to be adjusted to help protect you in the event of a loss.
• Change the services you provide? Perhaps you added delivery services. If so, consider adding commercial auto coverage to your policy.
• Enter into any new contracts? Subcontractors, leases, rental agreements, and other contracts may have specific requirements that result in necessary changes to your coverage.
• Add or improve your business technology? With a move to a more digital platform, cyber liability insurance becomes increasingly necessary.
• Replace outdated equipment? Don’t pay for equipment and machinery you no longer own.
• Change your service area or use of vehicles? How much you travel impacts your rates, as well as how you use vehicles in your operations.
• Think about future business plans? Renewal time may be a good time to discuss how possible future business plans could impact your insurance program.

You’re not alone in this. A quality insurance provider will ask you their own questions to help provide the best coverage for your business. However, it’s beneficial to do a self-analysis ahead of time.

Take notes on how your business has changed and come prepared with questions on how that impacts your business insurance policy and costs. Share the risks you experienced in the past, along with what you’re currently facing. This will help shape what you might need in the future.

Coverage types you should review

While you should look over your entire business insurance policy, here are a few specific coverages to focus on:

• Commercial property and liability
• Commercial auto
• Workers’ compensation
• Professional liability
• Cyber liability insurance

You should add or adjust each of these coverages based on your answers to the earlier questions.

In addition, look at your liability limits and consider changes. When you first bought your insurance policy, you may have gone with less coverage simply because that’s all you could afford. Adjust those limits to your current situation. Conversely, you may have downsized and don’t need as much coverage.

Bundle insurance

Go with a provider that offers a range of coverages that fit your business. Working with one provider saves you time versus working with two or three carriers, and that provider gets a full picture of your entire operation and what coverages will work best for you.

Prepare

You don’t add new products or services before analyzing the pros and cons and weighing how that change will impact your business. That same type of analysis should go into your insurance policy. Not preparing—and discussing your current business situation with an insurance carrier—can lead to you renewing your policy with the same parameters as before.

Planning ahead and having a conversation with your provider also allows you to anticipate and plan for possible rate changes to your policy.

Contact us

At Hortica®, our professionals only serve the horticultural and floricultural industries, offering you a full range of coverages. In addition, we provide our customers quality claims service and safety programs to help manage risks in the workplace.

Our representatives are available to help protect your business and can guide you through the insurance process. Contact us to learn more.

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