Determining Your Needs

There’s a reason 98% of all small businesses work with an agent or broker for their business insurance

This stuff is complicated. You’re an expert at what you do, and GTPS agents are experts at what they do. So lean on them.

Your agent will make the process of buying business insurance as easy as possible by talking through your needs and recommending a combination of coverage from GTPS’s menu of products.

Prepare for the conversation

We’ve put together some questions to get you thinking about your insurance needs and to help you prepare for your discussion with an agent.

• Will a policy provide income for me if a fire shuts us down?
• How much can my business grow and still be supported by my selected coverages and limits? At what point will I need to increase them?
• How much of my personal auto and homeowners coverage extends to my business activities?
• Can GTPS help me prevent losses from happening on my business property?
• Can GTPS help me develop a safe driving program for my employees that spend time on the road?
• Some of my employees drive their own cars for company business. Am I liable if any of them cause an accident?
• What happens if one of my customers sues me claiming that the work I did for them was incorrect or faulty?
• What happens if a court awards someone a huge settlement against me that’s more than the liability coverage I have now? Can they go after me personally?
• What happens if there is a power surge and my accounts receivable information on my computer is destroyed?
• Can someone sue me for a claim I’ve made in my advertising?
• Can insurance protect me if my equipment fails and all my perishable inventory is destroyed?
• How can I protect myself from employee theft?
• If an employee is injured on the job can they sue me?
• I have a printing business. Can a customer sue me for errors or information left out of printing work that I take on for them?
• How can GTPS help me avoid claims?

Business Property and Income Insurance

Business property insurance covers the physical parts or your business. These are things like your building, equipment, furnishings, fixtures, inventory, computers, records and other valuable items. This coverage helps repair or replace the building and its contents, and can also help provide income if your business can't operate for a while after a covered loss.

What if...

• Your business is totally destroyed by a fire.
• Water from a broken pipe floods your store.
• A power surge in your office damages all of your computers.

A large property loss could bring your business to a halt for months or longer. While your property is being repaired or rebuilt, business income insurance will help cover the costs to maintain your operation and continue to support your customers and employees. Without this coverage a business may not be able to recover lost income or lost customers.

Even if your building is not damaged, your equipment can be. You can add GTPS's equipment breakdown insurance, which covers repair or replacement of damaged equipment, due to mechanical and electrical breakdown.
 

Business Liability Insurance

Business liability insurance protects your business if your company is sued for being responsible for bodily injury or property damage to someone else.

What if...

• A customer slips and falls on your property.
• A person claims that a product you make has injured them.

Your agent can put together a package of property and liability coverages designed to give you the best value while still protecting you from many of the inherent risks in operating your business.
 

Commercial Auto Insurance

Just like the insurance on your own car, commercial car insurance is there to protect you and your assets.

What if...

• While on company business one of your employees fails to stop at a light and hits another car.
• An employee is making a delivery and is hit and injured by an uninsured driver.
• Your fleet of trucks is vandalized and all the windows are broken.

Your agent can help you select from a variety of auto liability, medical, uninsured motorist, collision and comprehensive coverages and deductibles to create a policy that meets your company's needs.
 

Worker's Compensation Insurance

Whether you have one employee or hundreds, most states require you to have Worker's Compensation insurance. This insurance protects employees by providing benefits for job-related injuries or illnesses. It protects you and your company by eliminating lawsuits from employees related to these injuries or illnesses. Every state has different requirements, so it's important to talk to your agent about what you need.

What if...

• One of your workers seriously injures their back while moving boxes.
• A group of employees is exposed to harsh chemicals and they must be taken to the hospital.
• An employee is badly burned.

Your agent has the experience to help you put together a worker's compensation policy that helps protect you and your employees.
 

Crime & Burglary Insurance

Although burglary is a crime, not all crimes are burglaries. And, each situation requires different insurance coverage.

Crime & burglary insurance covers a variety of losses such as the loss or damage to your property in the event of a theft resulting from a violent, forced entry into your business or an armed hold-up. Fidelity coverage will protect against non-violent losses like employee theft.

What if...

• In checking your inventory you realize that part of a whole shipment is missing.
• One of your locations is held up and you've lost cash and valuable inventory.

These are all situations that are only protected by crime and/or burglary insurance. Your agent can recommend coverage that protects you from the specific risks you face.
 

Umbrella Insurance

Even small businesses are occasionally exposed to huge lawsuits or catastrophes. The news is filled with huge court settlements that are far beyond the limits of most business liability insurance. Umbrella insurance takes over when a lawsuit exceeds the limit of your other commercial coverage. This second layer of protection usually starts at limits of $1 million. Higher limits are available.

What if...

• One of your drivers backed into a pedestrian in a crosswalk leaving the person paralyzed from the waist down.
• A product you sell caused an accident that seriously injured several people.

In both cases you could be found liable and the damages could reach into the millions. Once the limit of your liability insurance is reached you could be personally liable for the difference.

Your GTPS Agent has experience helping businesses like yours protect themselves with this relatively inexpensive insurance that could someday save the business you worked so hard to build.