Answering Service Insurance – Cost and Coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, answering service insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other kinds 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 answering service enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

If your answering service business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant chance not just of losing some money but of a final wipe-out.

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

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

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your answering service business?

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

Your answering service business is not harbored by laws in the same way as states are, where legislation can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like New Jersey, 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 duty of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a claimant more than they have claimed.

When you are running your answering service operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent beforehand the money necessary to have your business running as a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you as a person.

What does answering service insurance protect you from?

For your answering service business, the most important kinds of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some legal kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will describe the most important points any answering service business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any answering service business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be spoiled.

In such a case, they can sue you for compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your answering service business covers you against claims coming from injury to clients or damage to their property.

It protects your answering service business from the claims themselves and in addition to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it will even help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts require proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your answering service business would be with a boundary of $1 million for a single claim 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 answering service insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your answering service business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your answering service business for them, you can quickly face a court case.

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

Most small answering service 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 answering service insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your answering service operations.

Product liability insurance

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

You need to be aware of the particular laws of product liability in your own state.

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

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for answering service

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your answering service business

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

The right 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 truck policies cover 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 covered if your truck is involved in an accident.

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

The necessary value of the insurance is worked-out for the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your answering service business needs unique and costly equipment, you will realize 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 unforeseen acts.

In addition, 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 specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your answering service business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your answering service business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any answering service business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

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

Your physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against criminal damages like theft and vandalism.

If your answering service business works in areas of high risk, like Texas or South Carolina, supplementary coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Rhode Island, where extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of answering service business premises, there is a need for more additional cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends mainly 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 answering service insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your answering service business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your answering service business

Is your answering service business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business variable?

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for answering service – 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 identical risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you buy 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 larger business activity, get the existing cover raised.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your answering service business

You have the option to combine several 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 shield you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized answering service businesses, such as yours.

There are some limits that will dictate whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

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

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

The normal business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your answering service business employees

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

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

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

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

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

In these states, you may not obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation rates 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 answering service insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of average quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough 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 researched for the main types of insurance your answering service businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your answering service operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small independent answering service businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, while in smaller states like New Mexico, they usually are about 20%-30% lower.

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

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

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

Another useful source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for answering service operations?

This is a general term used to describe common insurance policies designed to protect answering service business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my answering service business have to have insurance?

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

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

What does a small answering service business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 best policies for answering service insurance.

How much will answering service business insurance cost?

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

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

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

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