Marine Electronics Technician Insurance – Cost and Types Of Policies

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, marine electronics technician insurance must be near the top of 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 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 marine electronics technician enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for marine electronics technician

If your marine electronics technician business runs without proper insurance, you are taking an enormous 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 consequences of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to outline 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 marine electronics technician business?

What this means, for any marine electronics technician 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 marine electronics technician business is not sheltered 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 claimant more than they have claimed.

When you are running your marine electronics technician operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the results of your actions.

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

What does marine electronics technician insurance protect you from?

For your marine electronics technician business, the most important types of insurance are designed to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

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

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any marine electronics technician business is dealing directly with members of the public, 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 marine electronics technician business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your marine electronics technician 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 insist on proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your marine electronics technician business would be with a cap 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 marine electronics technician insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your marine electronics technician business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your marine electronics technician business for them, you can quickly face a monetary claim.

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

Almost all small marine electronics technician 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 marine electronics technician insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your marine electronics technician 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 understand the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for damages caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for marine electronics technician

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your marine electronics technician business

Beware! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event 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 direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

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

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

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your marine electronics technician business needs specific and costly equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The tools may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unpredicted acts.

In addition, 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 should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your marine electronics technician 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 marine electronics technician business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any marine electronics technician business that owns or rents space in a building should have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you may already have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Your 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 marine electronics technician business works in areas of high risk, like Texas or North Carolina, extra 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 marine electronics technician business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Although 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 marine electronics technician insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your marine electronics technician business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your marine electronics technician business

Is your marine electronics technician business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for marine electronics technician – 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 less premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for 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 marine electronics technician 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 integrates commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating 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 marine electronics technician businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle cover.

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

The typical business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual sales.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your marine electronics technician business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your marine electronics technician 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 requirements 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 allow coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you cannot obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation premiums 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 marine electronics technician 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 an agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your marine electronics technician businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial vehicle insurance $1520 – $3270
Commercial insurance $1025 – $2315
General liability insurance $700 – $1010
Equipment insurance $315 – $1360
Product liability insurance $235 – $855
Public liability insurance $295 – $585

Cost of insurance for your marine electronics technician operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small self-employed marine electronics technician businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your marine electronics technician 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 searching for insurance companies near where your business is located.

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for marine electronics technician operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect marine electronics technician business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my marine electronics technician business have to have insurance?

Some of the forms 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 marine electronics technician business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection against lawsuits or claims filed by a client 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 recommended policies for marine electronics technician insurance.

How much will marine electronics technician business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, certain 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 marine electronics technician, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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