Songwriters insurance – cost and coverage

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

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 unexpected happens.

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

If your Songwriters 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 growing 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 Songwriters business?

What this means, for any Songwriters business owner, is that if some customer 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 Songwriters 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 Montana, 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 duty of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Songwriters operations, you can’t deny 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 an individual.

What does Songwriters insurance protect you from?

For your Songwriters business, the most important sorts 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 Songwriters business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Songwriters business is dealing directly with customers, 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 demand compensation.

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

It protects your Songwriters business from the claims themselves and in addition to any resulting court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it should help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts demand proper liability insurance.

The normal level of general liability insurance for your Songwriters business would be with a upper limit 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 Songwriters insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Songwriters business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Songwriters 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.

Almost all small Songwriters 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 Songwriters insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Songwriters 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 the results 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 responsible for injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

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

Only you can know exactly how much insurance you need.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Songwriters business

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

In addition, in case of any accident, the van 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, mandate this type of insurance.

The required 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 Songwriters business needs specific and expensive 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 specific 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 Songwriters business running.

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

Commercial Property insurance

Any Songwriters 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.

Any physical building location needs to 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 Songwriters business works in areas of high risk, like Florida or North Carolina, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Songwriters business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends completely 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 Songwriters insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Songwriters business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Songwriters business

Is your Songwriters 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 Songwriters – 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 reduced 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 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 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 Songwriters 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 combines commercial property and public liability insurance by packaging these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will shield you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Songwriters businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

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

The normal business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual sales.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Songwriters business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Songwriters 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 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 take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation charges are computed 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 Songwriters insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough 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 collected for the main types of insurance your Songwriters businesses needs.

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

We have estimated these figures for small independent Songwriters businesses.

In larger states like New York, 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 Songwriters 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.

As well you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Songwriters operations?

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

Does my Songwriters business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds 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 Songwriters business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 Songwriters insurance.

How much will Songwriters 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 consult with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.