Circuses Insurance – Cost and Coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, circuses insurance must be high on the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

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

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

If your circuses business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant 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 upshots of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for growing businesses to outline 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 circuses business?

What this means, for any circuses 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 circuses business is not protected 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 Montana, 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 duty 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 circuses operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the consequences 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 circuses insurance protect you from?

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

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

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

The main categories of insurance for your circuses businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any circuses business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be damaged.

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

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

It protects your circuses business from the claims themselves and as well 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 average level of general liability insurance for your circuses 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 circuses insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your circuses business

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

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 circuses 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 circuses insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your circuses operations.

Product liability insurance

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

You need to know the specific 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 circuses

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your circuses business

Be careful! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle 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 designated commercial vehicle insurance package.

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

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

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your circuses business needs specialized and expensive equipment, you know how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

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

Also, 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 specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your circuses business running.

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

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the space, you certainly have a substantial capital investment, as well as 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 circuses business works in areas of high risk, like California or Georgia, 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 circuses business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Although 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 circuses insurance section below to give some indication of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your circuses business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your circuses business

Is your circuses 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 circuses – 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 lower premiums but still having adequate risk cover.

The important 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 higher 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 circuses business

You have the chance to combine a few 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 circuses businesses, such as yours.

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

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

Also, the size of your business will rule whether you are allowed 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 revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your circuses business employees

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

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

The benefits cover 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 obliged 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 can’t obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

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

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every circuses insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough 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 circuses businesses needs.

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

We have reckoned these figures for small freelance circuses businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like New Mexico, they can be about 20%-30% lower.

The location and size and type of your circuses 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 enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for circuses operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe common insurance policies designed to protect circuses business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my circuses business have to have insurance?

Some of the forms of insurance are not mandatory for you to open 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 circuses 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 circuses insurance.

How much will circuses business insurance cost?

In addition to the size of the business, some other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

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

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