Animal Technician insurance – what kind and at what cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Animal Technician insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what is going to happen in the future.

With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other sorts of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unwanted happens.

Like any business owner, for your Animal Technician enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

If your Animal Technician business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a total wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the consequences of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for startup businesses to outline what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where we can, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Animal Technician business?

What this means, for any Animal Technician business owner, is that if some person claims that your business caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Animal Technician business is not protected by laws in the same way as states are, where laws can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Montana, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a court can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a plaintiff more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Animal Technician operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent in advance the money necessary to have your business running as an LLC, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does Animal Technician insurance protect you from?

For your Animal Technician business, the most important types of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

Also there are some mandatory kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Animal Technician business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your Animal Technician businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Animal Technician business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Animal Technician business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your Animal Technician business from the claims themselves and as well to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts insist on proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your Animal Technician business would be with a boundary of $1 million for a single submission and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Animal Technician insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Animal Technician business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Animal Technician business for them, you can quickly be involved in a court case.

Even if the case against you is ruled in your favor, the cost of defense can be substantial, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Most small Animal Technician business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a once-off claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Animal Technician insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Animal Technician operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your guidance was basically incorrect.

You need to know the explicit laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held responsible for injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any following lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Animal Technician

Only you can determine exactly how much insurance you must have.

Best advice is to consult with experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for support.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Animal Technician business

Take care! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle is being used for business purposes.

The proper way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial van policies guarantee the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

Also, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your car is involved in an accident.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, insist on this type of insurance.

The required value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Animal Technician business needs unique and costly equipment, you know how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The equipment may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unpredicted acts.

As well, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can destroy your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such unique gear quickly out of your own pocket, you need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your Animal Technician business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s really dependent on how much you have invested in your Animal Technician business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Animal Technician business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the property, you probably have a substantial capital investment, in addition to a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Every physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against unexpected occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Animal Technician business works in areas of high risk, like Florida or North Carolina, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Washington, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Animal Technician business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Although the level of cover depends completely on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Animal Technician insurance section below to give some indication of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Animal Technician business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Animal Technician business

Is your Animal Technician business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes good sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Animal Technician – are special policies where you can cover a nominated period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having reduced premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a nominated date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of better business activity, get the existing cover improved.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Animal Technician business

You have the choice to combine most of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP integrates commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will protect you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is often the right choice for small and medium-sized Animal Technician businesses, such as yours.

There are a few limits that will rule whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs do not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle risks.

Also, the size of your business will dictate whether you are eligible to take out BOP cover.

The typical business that can take out a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual sales.

In addition, you must separately take out the required worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Animal Technician business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Animal Technician business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if any hired hand experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits include medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s requirements in this regard can leave you as the employer required to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you cannot get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation premiums are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must consult the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Animal Technician insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an insurance representative what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your Animal Technician businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your Animal Technician operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small independent Animal Technician businesses.

In larger states like California, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Oregon, they can be about 20%-30% less.

The location and size and type of your Animal Technician business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

Also you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another reliable source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Animal Technician operations?

This is a wide term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Animal Technician business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Animal Technician business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to run your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Certain other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Animal Technician business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a client for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The exact cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the most common policies for Animal Technician insurance.

How much will Animal Technician business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, certain other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for Animal Technician, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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