Graphics Designer insurance – cost and coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Graphics Designer insurance must be high on 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 Graphics Designer enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Graphics Designer

If your Graphics Designer 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 explain 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 Graphics Designer business?

What this means, for any Graphics Designer 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 Graphics Designer business is not sheltered 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 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 right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a claimant more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Graphics Designer operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the outcomes 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 alone.

What does Graphics Designer insurance protect you from?

For your Graphics Designer 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 mandatory kinds of insurance that various states require.

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

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Graphics Designer business is dealing directly with customers, 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 demand compensation.

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

It protects your Graphics Designer business from the claims themselves and in addition to any follow-on court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it will even 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 Graphics Designer business would be with a cap 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 Graphics Designer insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Graphics Designer business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Graphics Designer business for them, you can quickly have to fight a law suit.

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

Almost all small Graphics Designer 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 Graphics Designer insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Graphics Designer 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 they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to be aware of 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 Graphics Designer

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 Graphics Designer business

Take care! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event like theft or accidental damage when the car is being used for business purposes.

The proper way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

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

Also, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is covered if your truck is involved in a collision.

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 Graphics Designer business needs unique and dedicated equipment, you can appreciate 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 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 whatever needed to keep your Graphics Designer business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s really dependent on how much you have invested in your Graphics Designer business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the building, you may already have a substantial capital investment, along with 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 natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Graphics Designer business works in areas of high risk, like Florida or North Carolina, additional 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 Graphics Designer 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 Graphics Designer insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Graphics Designer business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Graphics Designer business

Is your Graphics Designer business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business variable?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Graphics Designer – 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 reduced premiums but still having identical 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 larger 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 Graphics Designer business

You have the chance 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 amalgamating 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 Graphics Designer businesses, such as yours.

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

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

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

The normal business that can take out a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual turnover.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Graphics Designer business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the operation against any costs that arise if a worker 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 permit coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you cannot take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance companies.

Workers compensation charges are computed 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 Graphics Designer insurance need 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 a broker what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your Graphics Designer businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $330 – $760
Equipment insurance $435 – $1455
General liability insurance $705 – $870
Commercial insurance $800 – $2475
Product liability insurance $205 – $820
Commercial vehicle insurance $1555 – $2855

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

We have reckoned these figures for small freelance Graphics Designer businesses.

In larger states like California, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Utah, they usually are about 20%-30% cheaper.

The location and size and type of your Graphics Designer 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 looking 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 Graphics Designer operations?

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

Does my Graphics Designer business have to have insurance?

Some of the types 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 Graphics Designer business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance 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 recommended policies for Graphics Designer insurance.

How much will Graphics Designer 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 talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

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

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