What Is a Business Owner's Policy (BOP Insurance)?
If you own a small business, a Business Owner’s Policy, or BOP, protects you from liability claims and lawsuits; safeguards your buildings, equipment and inventory; and covers you financially if your business unexpectedly shuts down from a covered loss.
What Does a BOP Cover?
A business owner’s policy (BOP) combines two types of coverages to protect your small business against a variety of claims. Its coverage components include:
- Commercial general liability insurance
- Commercial property insurance, often including business income and extra expense (BIEE)
The general liability portion of a BOP safeguards your business in the event someone makes a claim against you or your business. General liability insurance provides protection from liability lawsuits resulting from things like a customer slipping on a wet floor, a defective product causing damage to a client’s property, or claims that the products or services you provided caused injury. It can also protect you from libel, slander and certain legal claims related to advertising.
The property portion of a BOP helps protect business property you own, lease or rent, including your buildings, equipment, furniture and inventory. It helps cover repair or replacement costs of stolen, damaged or destroyed property, including property that isn’t yours but was in your care. It can also cover loss of income and covered expenses like rent, payroll and other financial responsibilities while your property is being repaired or replaced after a fire or other covered loss.
A Travelers BOP builds in many specialized coverages that can be tailored to the unique risks facing your business. Plus, it offers a wide variety of optional coverages that can offer additional protection. For example:
- Hired and Non Owned Auto — covers your business on those occasions when you rent, lease or borrow a vehicle on a short term basis, or when your employees use their personal vehicles for company business.
- Cyber Liability, Including Data Breach — protects your business against the costs of data breaches and other cyber security issues.
- Crime — protects against the costs of theft of money and securities.
- Contractor’s Equipment — helps pay for repair or replacement of tools and equipment if they are lost, stolen, or damaged.
How Can a BOP Help Small
Businesses?
If you are a small business owner, a Travelers business owner’s policy offers valuable protection if you encounter scenarios like the following:
- A customer trips over a loose wire while visiting your business, falls and fractures their wrist. They sue you to cover their medical expenses.
- One of your contractors loses control of a piece of equipment, which damages the wall of a client’s home or accidentally breaks an item of value while performing their work.
- A pipe bursts and floods one of your workrooms, damaging business-critical equipment and some of your products.
- A fire destroys one of your buildings, leading you to temporarily shut down part of your business. Yet, despite being shut down, you still have to pay rent and your employees.
Who Is a Business Owner's Policy Right For?
Travelers BOP is built to protect many types of small businesses, including:
- Commercial Real Estate
- Contractors
- Financial Services
- Garages
- Healthcare
- Manufacturers
- Personal Care Services
- Pet Care Services
- Printers and Publishers
- Religious and Cultural Organizations
- Restaurant and Food Service
- Retail
- Service Businesses
- Technology Services
- Wholesalers and Distributors
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