Service Station Attendant Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, service station attendant insurance must be included in the list because you can’t always know exactly what can happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by general 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 service station attendant enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for service station attendant

If your service station attendant 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 we can, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your service station attendant business?

What this means, for any service station attendant business owner, is that if some company claims that your actions caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your service station attendant business is not sheltered 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 Texas, 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 service station attendant 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 service station attendant insurance protect you from?

For your service station attendant business, the most important sorts of insurance are meant 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 describe the most important points any service station attendant business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your service station attendant businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any service station attendant business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you generally have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

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

It protects your service station attendant business from the claims themselves and in addition to any associated 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 usual level of general liability insurance for your service station attendant business would be with a upper limit 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 service station attendant insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your service station attendant business

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

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

Every small service station attendant 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 service station attendant insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your service station attendant 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 they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation 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 liable for damages caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for service station attendant

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you need.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your service station attendant business

Be careful! – practically 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 proper 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 guarantee the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

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

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

The required 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 service station attendant business needs specific and expensive 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 unexpected acts.

Also, 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 unique gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your service station attendant business running.

It is hard to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your service station attendant business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any service station attendant business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you probably have a substantial capital investment, in addition to 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 man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your service station attendant 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 Illinois, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of service station attendant 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 service station attendant insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your service station attendant business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your service station attendant business

Is your service station attendant 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 service station attendant – 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 lower premiums but still having identical risk cover.

The important 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 higher 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 service station attendant business

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

It is frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized service station attendant 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 risks.

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

The normal business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual turnover.

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 service station attendant business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if a worker 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 laws 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 cannot take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

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 see the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every service station attendant insurance need 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 an insurance representative what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your service station attendant businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Equipment insurance $475 – $1010
Commercial vehicle insurance $1515 – $3450
General liability insurance $610 – $1060
Product liability insurance $310 – $555
Commercial insurance $1025 – $2075
Public liability insurance $330 – $705

Cost of insurance for your service station attendant operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small independent service station attendant businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your service station attendant 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 good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your suburb.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for service station attendant operations?

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

Does my service station attendant business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds of insurance are not mandatory for you to run 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 service station attendant business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party 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 best policies for service station attendant insurance.

How much will service station attendant business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, several 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 service station attendant, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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