Office Clerk Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Office Clerk insurance must be high on 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 liability insurance and all the other kinds of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Office Clerk enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Office Clerk

If your Office Clerk 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 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 available, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Office Clerk business?

What this means, for any Office Clerk business owner, is that if some company 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 Office Clerk business is not protected by laws in the same way as states are, where edicts 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 right 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 Office Clerk operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

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

What does Office Clerk insurance protect you from?

For your Office Clerk 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 official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will describe the most important points any Office Clerk business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your Office Clerk businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Office Clerk business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you always 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 Office Clerk business insures you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your Office Clerk business from the claims themselves and as well to any resulting 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 demand proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your Office Clerk 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 Office Clerk insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Office Clerk business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Office Clerk business for them, you can quickly have to fight a monetary claim.

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

Most small Office Clerk business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a single claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Office Clerk insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Office Clerk 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 guidance was basically incorrect.

You need to understand the particular laws of product liability in your own state.

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Office Clerk

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

Best advice is to consult with experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Office Clerk business

Beware! – almost all 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 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 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 crash.

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

The required 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 Office Clerk business needs specialized and costly equipment, you can appreciate 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 unpredicted acts.

As well, 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 should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your Office Clerk business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your Office Clerk business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

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

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

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

If your Office Clerk business works in areas of high risk, like California or South 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 Office Clerk business premises, there is a need for more additional 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 Office Clerk insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Office Clerk business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Office Clerk business

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

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Office Clerk – 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 lower premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The essential 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 better 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 Office Clerk business

You have the choice to combine a few 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 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 Office Clerk businesses, such as yours.

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

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

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

The usual business that can take out a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual sales.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Office Clerk business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Office Clerk 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 include 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 allow coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you may not obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation premiums are calculated 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 Office Clerk insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of average quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an insurance representative what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your Office Clerk businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
General liability insurance $710 – $1235
Commercial vehicle insurance $1645 – $2810
Product liability insurance $225 – $520
Public liability insurance $340 – $585
Commercial insurance $1035 – $2080
Equipment insurance $355 – $1390

Cost of insurance for your Office Clerk operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small self-employed Office Clerk 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% lower.

The location and size and type of your Office Clerk 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 enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Office Clerk operations?

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

Does my Office Clerk business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

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

What does a small Office Clerk business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 most common policies for Office Clerk insurance.

How much will Office Clerk business insurance cost?

As well as 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 Office Clerk, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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