Correctional Officer Insurance – Cost and Coverage

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

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With the protection provided by insurance against accidents 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 Correctional Officer enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Correctional Officer

If your Correctional Officer 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 results of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for startup businesses to explain 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 Correctional Officer business?

What this means, for any Correctional Officer business owner, is that if some customer 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 Correctional Officer business is not harbored 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 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 duty 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 Correctional Officer operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the results of your actions.

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

What does Correctional Officer insurance protect you from?

For your Correctional Officer business, the most important sorts 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 Correctional Officer business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main headings of insurance for your Correctional Officer businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Correctional Officer business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can demand compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Correctional Officer business protects you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your Correctional Officer business from the claims themselves and as well to any resulting 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 require proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your Correctional Officer business would be with a cap of $1 million for a single event 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 Correctional Officer insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Correctional Officer business

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

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

Every small Correctional Officer 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 Correctional Officer insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Correctional Officer 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 you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your guidance 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 liable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Correctional Officer

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Correctional Officer business

Be careful! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening like theft or accidental damage when the van 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 truck policies cover 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 guaranteed if your truck is involved in a crash.

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Correctional Officer 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 unforeseen acts.

As well, 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 specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your Correctional Officer business running.

It is hard to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s really dependent on how much you have invested in your Correctional Officer business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Correctional Officer business that owns or rents space in a building should have 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.

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

If your Correctional Officer 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 Correctional Officer business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas 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 Correctional Officer insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Correctional Officer business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Correctional Officer business

Is your Correctional Officer business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

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

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having less premiums but still having adequate risk cover.

The important feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for 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 better business activity, get the existing cover increased.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Correctional Officer business

You have the option 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 merges commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating 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 often the right choice for small and medium-sized Correctional Officer businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle cover.

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

The typical business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and maximum 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 Correctional Officer business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Correctional Officer 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 cover 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 obliged 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 can’t get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation charges are worked out 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 Correctional Officer insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate 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 Correctional Officer businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $305 – $770
Product liability insurance $340 – $635
Commercial insurance $1195 – $2370
General liability insurance $750 – $1140
Commercial vehicle insurance $1590 – $3345
Equipment insurance $460 – $1470

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

We have reckoned these figures for small self-employed Correctional Officer businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like Utah, they will be about 20%-30% cheaper.

The location and size and type of your Correctional Officer 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 good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your suburb.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Correctional Officer operations?

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

Does my Correctional Officer business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds 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 Correctional Officer business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party 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 Correctional Officer insurance.

How much will Correctional Officer business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, some 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 Correctional Officer, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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