Couriers insurance – cost and coverage

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

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With the protection provided by general 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 Couriers enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Couriers business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a complete 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. 

Couriers Insurance

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 Couriers business?

What this means, for any Couriers business owner, is that if some person 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 Couriers 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 Texas, 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 claimant more than they have sort.

When you are running your Couriers 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 corporation, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does Couriers insurance protect you from?

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

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

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

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Couriers business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you always 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 require compensation.

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

It protects your Couriers business from the claims themselves and also to any follow-on court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it should 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 Couriers 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 Couriers insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Couriers business

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

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

Most small Couriers business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover an individual claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Couriers insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Couriers 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 be aware of the explicit 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 Couriers

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you need.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Couriers business

Beware! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening 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 van policies guarantee the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the car 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 wanted 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 Couriers business needs unique and dedicated equipment, you know how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The gear 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 destroy your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your Couriers 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 Couriers business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the property, you may already have a substantial capital investment, as well as 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 man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Couriers business works 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 extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Couriers business premises, there is a need for more additional 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 Couriers insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Couriers business.

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

Is your Couriers 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 Couriers – 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 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 Couriers 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 Couriers businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

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

The typical business that is allowed to take 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 mandated worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Couriers business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if a worker 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 required 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 companies.

Workers compensation rates 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 Couriers insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of standard 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 collected for the main types of insurance your Couriers businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial insurance $859 – $2823
Commercial vehicle insurance $1985 – $3269
Product liability insurance $342 – $877
Equipment insurance $322 – $1343
General liability insurance $730 – $1098
Public liability insurance $264 – $590

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

We have estimated these figures for small independent Couriers businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Couriers 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.

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 city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Couriers operations?

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

Does my Couriers 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.

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

What does a small Couriers business insurance policy cover?

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

The specific 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 Couriers insurance.

How much will Couriers business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, several 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.

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