HR Consulting insurance – what kind and at what cost

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

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With the protection provided by liability 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 HR Consulting enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for HR Consulting

If your HR Consulting business runs without proper insurance, you are taking an enormous 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. 

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 possible, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your HR Consulting business?

What this means, for any HR Consulting business owner, is that if some company 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 HR Consulting 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 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 privilege of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have claimed.

When you are running your HR Consulting operations, you can’t avoid 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 limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does HR Consulting insurance protect you from?

For your HR Consulting business, the most important kinds of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

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

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

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any HR Consulting business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be spoiled.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your HR Consulting business covers you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your HR Consulting business from the claims themselves and as well to any follow-on 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 HR Consulting 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 HR Consulting insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your HR Consulting business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your HR Consulting business for them, you can quickly be involved in a monetary claim.

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 HR Consulting 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 HR Consulting insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your HR Consulting 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 liable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any following lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for HR Consulting

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 HR Consulting business

Take care! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event 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 designated commercial vehicle insurance package.

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

As well, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your car is involved in a crash.

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

The wanted value of the insurance is calculated on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your HR Consulting business needs unique and dedicated 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.

Also, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can eliminate 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 HR Consulting 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 HR Consulting business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

If you own the building, you certainly 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 unexpected occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your HR Consulting business operates in areas of high risk, like California or North Carolina, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Rhode Island, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of HR Consulting business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Because 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 HR Consulting insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your HR Consulting business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your HR Consulting business

Is your HR Consulting business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for HR Consulting – 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 identical risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you purchase 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 raised.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your HR Consulting business

You have the chance 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 protect you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized HR Consulting businesses, such as yours.

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

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

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

The normal business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual turnover.

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 HR Consulting business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if an employee experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits provide for 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 required 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 obtain 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 refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every HR Consulting insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate 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 researched for the main types of insurance your HR Consulting businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $320 – $680
Commercial insurance $1115 – $2065
General liability insurance $765 – $965
Commercial vehicle insurance $1955 – $2500
Equipment insurance $450 – $1025
Product liability insurance $310 – $725

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

We have estimated these figures for small freelance HR Consulting businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, while in smaller states like Oregon, they usually are about 20%-30% cheaper.

The location and size and type of your HR Consulting 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.

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

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for HR Consulting operations?

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

Does my HR Consulting business have to have insurance?

Some of the forms 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 HR Consulting business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a client 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 HR Consulting insurance.

How much will HR Consulting 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.

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