Workers Compensation Law insurance – cost and coverage

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

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With the protection provided by insurance against accidents 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 Workers Compensation Law enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Workers Compensation Law 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 results of their actions. 

Workers Compensation Law Insurance

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for growing businesses to outline 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 Workers Compensation Law business?

What this means, for any Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law business is not harbored 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 court can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the privilege 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 Workers Compensation Law 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 corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does Workers Compensation Law insurance protect you from?

For your Workers Compensation Law business, the most important types of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some legal kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Workers Compensation Law business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main headings of insurance for your Workers Compensation Law businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Workers Compensation Law business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you generally 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 sue you for compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Workers Compensation Law business protects you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your Workers Compensation Law business from the claims themselves and in addition to any associated 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 Workers Compensation Law business would be with a cap 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 Workers Compensation Law insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Workers Compensation Law business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Workers Compensation Law business for them, you can quickly face a law suit.

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

Almost all small Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Workers Compensation Law 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 you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation was basically incorrect.

You need to be aware of the explicit 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 possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Workers Compensation Law

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you should get.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Workers Compensation Law business

Take care! – practically all 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 proper commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial van policies guarantee 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 insured if your truck is involved in a collision.

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

The necessary 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 Workers Compensation Law 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 gear may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unexpected 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 unique gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Workers Compensation Law business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you certainly 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 accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Workers Compensation Law business deals in areas of high risk, like Texas or South Carolina, supplementary 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 Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Workers Compensation Law business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Workers Compensation Law business

Is your Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law – 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 identical risk cover.

The key 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 improved.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Workers Compensation Law business

You have the option 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 merges commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating 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 often the right choice for small and medium-sized Workers Compensation Law businesses, such as yours.

There are two limits that will rule 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 rule whether you are permitted to take out BOP cover.

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

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 Workers Compensation Law business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Workers Compensation Law business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if a worker experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits provide for 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 having 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 obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation premiums are worked out 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 Workers Compensation Law insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of usual 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 agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your Workers Compensation Law businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial insurance $1170 – $2464
Product liability insurance $324 – $633
Commercial vehicle insurance $1662 – $3465
Equipment insurance $481 – $1256
General liability insurance $626 – $1006
Public liability insurance $377 – $568

Cost of insurance for your Workers Compensation Law operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small self-employed Workers Compensation Law businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like Oregon, they usually are about 20%-30% less.

The location and size and type of your Workers Compensation Law 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 useful source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Workers Compensation Law operations?

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

Does my Workers Compensation Law 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 Workers Compensation Law business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 Workers Compensation Law insurance.

How much will Workers Compensation Law business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, certain 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.

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