Supply Chain Management insurance – cost and coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Supply Chain Management insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what can 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 Supply Chain Management enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Supply Chain Management

If your Supply Chain Management business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous 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 upshots of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for growing 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 Supply Chain Management business?

What this means, for any Supply Chain Management business owner, is that if some person 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 Supply Chain Management 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 Texas, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator 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 claimant more than they have sort.

When you are running your Supply Chain Management operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent up-front 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 Supply Chain Management insurance protect you from?

For your Supply Chain Management business, the most important sorts of insurance are designed 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 outline the most important points any Supply Chain Management business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your Supply Chain Management businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Supply Chain Management business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can demand compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Supply Chain Management business insures you against claims coming from injury to clients or damage to their property.

It protects your Supply Chain Management business from the claims themselves and as well 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 insist on proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your Supply Chain Management 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 Supply Chain Management insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Supply Chain Management business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Supply Chain Management business for them, you can quickly have to fight a court case.

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

Almost all small Supply Chain Management 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 Supply Chain Management insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Supply Chain Management 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 guidance was basically incorrect.

You need to know 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 damages caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Supply Chain Management

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Supply Chain Management business

Take care! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the van 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 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 car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is guaranteed if your car is involved in a crash.

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

The required value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Supply Chain Management business needs specific 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 unforeseen 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 specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Supply Chain Management 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 Supply Chain Management business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Supply Chain Management business that owns or rents space in a building needs 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.

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 Supply Chain Management business works in areas of high risk, like Florida or Georgia, 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 Supply Chain Management business premises, there is a need for more additional cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas 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 Supply Chain Management insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Supply Chain Management business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Supply Chain Management business

Is your Supply Chain Management business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes good sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Supply Chain Management – 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 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 larger 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 Supply Chain Management business

You have the option to combine several 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 frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized Supply Chain Management 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 determine whether you are permitted to take out BOP cover.

The normal business that can take out a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual turnover.

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 Supply Chain Management business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Supply Chain Management 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 cover 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 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 can’t take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance companies.

Workers compensation rates 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 Supply Chain Management insurance level 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 researched for the main types of insurance your Supply Chain Management businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Equipment insurance $480 – $1110
General liability insurance $550 – $1275
Product liability insurance $330 – $880
Commercial vehicle insurance $1885 – $2870
Public liability insurance $250 – $775
Commercial insurance $1025 – $2470

Cost of insurance for your Supply Chain Management operations depends on many different factors.

We have reckoned these figures for small freelance Supply Chain Management businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Supply Chain Management 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.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by looking for 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 Supply Chain Management operations?

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

Does my Supply Chain Management business have to have insurance?

Some of the forms of insurance are not mandatory for you to run 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 Supply Chain Management business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection 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 most common policies for Supply Chain Management insurance.

How much will Supply Chain Management 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 discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

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