Marine Surveyor Insurance – Cost and Types Of Policies

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

With the protection provided by insurance against accidents and all the other sorts 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 Marine Surveyor enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

If your Marine Surveyor business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant chance not just of losing some money but of a final 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 startup businesses to explain 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 Marine Surveyor business?

What this means, for any Marine Surveyor 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 Marine Surveyor 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 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 right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a plaintiff more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Marine Surveyor operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the consequences 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 alone.

What does Marine Surveyor insurance protect you from?

For your Marine Surveyor business, the most important sorts 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 Marine Surveyor business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Marine Surveyor business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

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

It protects your Marine Surveyor business from the claims themselves and also 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 insist on proper liability insurance.

The normal level of general liability insurance for your Marine Surveyor business would be with a boundary 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 Marine Surveyor insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Marine Surveyor business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Marine Surveyor business for them, you can quickly be involved in a law suit.

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

Most small Marine Surveyor 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 Marine Surveyor insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Marine Surveyor 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 recommendation was basically incorrect.

You need to know the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Marine Surveyor

Only you can know 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 Marine Surveyor business

Be careful! – most 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 direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial van policies guarantee 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 covered if your van is involved in a crash.

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Marine Surveyor business needs specific and dedicated 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 unforeseen acts.

In addition, 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 need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Marine Surveyor business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your Marine Surveyor business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

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

Every physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against criminal damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Marine Surveyor business works in areas of high risk, like Texas or South Carolina, 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 Marine Surveyor business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

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

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Marine Surveyor business

Is your Marine Surveyor 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 Marine Surveyor – 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 less premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a designated 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 higher 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 Marine Surveyor 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 integrates 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 mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Marine Surveyor businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs do not 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 typical business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have fewer than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual sales.

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 Marine Surveyor business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the operation 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 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 may not obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance companies.

Workers compensation charges are calculated based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must see the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Marine Surveyor insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate 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 Marine Surveyor businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your Marine Surveyor operations depends on many different factors.

We have reckoned these figures for small self-employed Marine Surveyor businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like New Mexico, they will be about 20%-30% cheaper.

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

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

Also 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 Marine Surveyor operations?

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

Does my Marine Surveyor 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.

Certain other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Marine Surveyor business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party 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 Marine Surveyor insurance.

How much will Marine Surveyor 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 Marine Surveyor, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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