Business Office Assistant Insurance – Cost and Types Of Policies

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

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With the protection provided by insurance against accidents and all the other types of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Business Office Assistant enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Business Office Assistant

If your Business Office Assistant business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous 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 startup businesses to highlight 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 Business Office Assistant business?

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

Your Business Office Assistant 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 judge can award in any case against the state.

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

When you are running your Business Office Assistant operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the results of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent up-front the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does Business Office Assistant insurance protect you from?

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

In addition there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will outline the most important points any Business Office Assistant business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your Business Office Assistant businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Business Office Assistant business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you usually 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 Business Office Assistant business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your Business Office Assistant business from the claims themselves and in addition to any follow-on 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 normal level of general liability insurance for your Business Office Assistant business would be with a upper limit 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 Business Office Assistant insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Business Office Assistant business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Business Office Assistant business for them, you can quickly have to fight a law suit.

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

Most small Business Office Assistant business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a single claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Business Office Assistant insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Business Office Assistant 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 what they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation was basically incorrect.

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

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Business Office Assistant

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you should get.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for guidance.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Business Office Assistant 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 best way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a proper 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 car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is covered if your car is involved in an accident.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, mandate 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 Business Office Assistant business needs specific and dedicated equipment, you can appreciate 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 unexpected acts.

Also, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can wipe-out your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your Business Office Assistant business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your Business Office Assistant business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Business Office Assistant business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you certainly have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Every physical building location must 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 Business Office Assistant business operates in areas of high risk, like California or South Carolina, supplementary 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 Business Office Assistant business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Although the level of cover depends entirely 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 Business Office Assistant insurance section below to give some indication of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Business Office Assistant business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Business Office Assistant business

Is your Business Office Assistant business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Business Office Assistant – are special policies where you can cover a designated 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 purchase the cover for a defined period – a designated 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 higher 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 Business Office Assistant business

You have the option 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 combines commercial property and public liability insurance by packaging these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

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

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Business Office Assistant businesses, such as yours.

There are two 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 dictate whether you are permitted to take out BOP cover.

The usual business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual turnover.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Business Office Assistant business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Business Office Assistant business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if an employee 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 laws in this regard can leave you as the employer obliged to pay penalties levied by the states.

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

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

Workers compensation charges 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 Business Office Assistant insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of average quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with a broker what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your Business Office Assistant businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Equipment insurance $380 – $1365
General liability insurance $735 – $950
Commercial insurance $1155 – $2700
Product liability insurance $265 – $765
Commercial vehicle insurance $1850 – $3295
Public liability insurance $270 – $575

Cost of insurance for your Business Office Assistant operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small self-employed Business Office Assistant businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Business Office Assistant business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

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

In addition 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 town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Business Office Assistant operations?

This is a general term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Business Office Assistant business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Business Office Assistant business have to have insurance?

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

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

What does a small Business Office Assistant business insurance policy cover?

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

The precise 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 Business Office Assistant insurance.

How much will Business Office Assistant 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 discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for Business Office Assistant, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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