Diagnostic Services insurance – cost and types of policies

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Diagnostic Services insurance must be high on 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 unexpected happens.

Like any business owner, for your Diagnostic Services enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Diagnostic Services 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 results of their actions. 

Diagnostic Services Insurance

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 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 Diagnostic Services business?

What this means, for any Diagnostic Services business owner, is that if some person 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 Diagnostic Services 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 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 person more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Diagnostic Services operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

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

What does Diagnostic Services insurance protect you from?

For your Diagnostic Services business, the most important kinds of insurance are designed 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 Diagnostic Services business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Diagnostic Services business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be damaged.

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

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

It protects your Diagnostic Services business from the claims themselves and in addition to any associated 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 usual level of general liability insurance for your Diagnostic Services 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 Diagnostic Services insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Diagnostic Services business

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

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

Every small Diagnostic Services 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 Diagnostic Services insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Diagnostic Services 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 what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice 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 responsible for injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Diagnostic Services

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Diagnostic Services business

Beware! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle 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 proper commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies insure 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 car is involved in a crash.

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 intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Diagnostic Services business needs specific and expensive 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 unexpected acts.

As well, 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 unique 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 Diagnostic Services 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 Diagnostic Services business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the property, you certainly 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 deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Diagnostic Services business deals in areas of high risk, like Texas or Georgia, additional 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 Diagnostic Services 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 Diagnostic Services insurance section below to give some indication of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Diagnostic Services business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Diagnostic Services business

Is your Diagnostic Services 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 Diagnostic Services – 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 the same risk cover.

The important feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a specific 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 improved.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Diagnostic Services 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 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 often the right choice for small and medium-sized Diagnostic Services businesses, such as yours.

There are a few limits that will determine 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 permitted to take out BOP cover.

The typical business that can take out a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Diagnostic Services business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Diagnostic Services business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if any hired hand 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 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 authorize 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 premiums are calculated 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 Diagnostic Services insurance need 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 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 Diagnostic Services businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial vehicle insurance $1644 – $3084
General liability insurance $694 – $1262
Public liability insurance $304 – $747
Equipment insurance $487 – $1384
Commercial insurance $1030 – $2864
Product liability insurance $235 – $528

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

We have calculated these figures for small self-employed Diagnostic Services businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like Utah, they can be about 20%-30% less.

The location and size and type of your Diagnostic Services 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.

As well you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Diagnostic Services operations?

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

Does my Diagnostic Services business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate 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 Diagnostic Services business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection 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 Diagnostic Services insurance.

How much will Diagnostic Services 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.

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