Facility Manager Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Facility Manager insurance must be included in the list because you can’t always know exactly what could 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 Facility Manager enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Facility Manager

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

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small 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 Facility Manager business?

What this means, for any Facility Manager business owner, is that if some customer 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 Facility Manager 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 court 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 sort.

When you are running your Facility Manager 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 a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does Facility Manager insurance protect you from?

For your Facility Manager business, the most important kinds of insurance are designed to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

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

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Facility Manager business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Facility Manager business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

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

It protects your Facility Manager 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 demand proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your Facility Manager business would be with a boundary 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 Facility Manager insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Facility Manager business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Facility Manager business for them, you can quickly be involved in 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 Facility Manager 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 Facility Manager insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Facility Manager 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 recommendation was basically incorrect.

You need to understand 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 damages caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Facility Manager

Only you can determine 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 Facility Manager business

Take care! – almost all 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 car policies insure the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is guaranteed if your truck is involved in an accident.

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

The required 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 Facility Manager business needs specialized 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 unexpected 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 specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Facility Manager business running.

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

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the building, you probably have a substantial capital investment, in addition to a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Your physical building location needs to carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Facility Manager business operates in areas of high risk, like Texas or Georgia, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Facility Manager business premises, there is a need for more additional cover than in warmer climes.

Because the level of cover depends completely 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 Facility Manager insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Facility Manager business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Facility Manager business

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

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Facility Manager – 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 larger 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 Facility Manager business

You have the choice 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 merges 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 Facility Manager businesses, such as yours.

There are a few 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 dictate whether you are allowed to take out BOP cover.

The usual business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and maximum 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 Facility Manager business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Facility Manager 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 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 cannot get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

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 refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Facility Manager insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard 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 agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your Facility Manager businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Equipment insurance $415 – $1145
Public liability insurance $370 – $640
Product liability insurance $210 – $810
Commercial vehicle insurance $1690 – $2515
General liability insurance $625 – $985
Commercial insurance $1020 – $2105

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

We have calculated these figures for small freelance Facility Manager businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Facility Manager business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

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

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

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Facility Manager operations?

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

Does my Facility Manager business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to open 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 Facility Manager business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 recommended policies for Facility Manager insurance.

How much will Facility Manager business insurance cost?

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

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

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

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