Commercial Property Insurance

As a century-old, and wise, insurance agency, we wanted to share with you how basic the original concept of commercial property insurance was. In fact, the whole idea for this type of insurance was initiated by sensible, smart business people, just like you, who simply wanted a way to protect their most important investments from a variety of risks, including an accident or natural disaster.

Early on, these valuable business assets would most likely have been merchant ships, funded by European financiers, who hoped the vessels and their crew would find new opportunities for profit in recently discovered lands. As you can imagine, these were extremely dangerous voyages involving multiple perils. Primary among them would have been piracy, but there was also significant exposure to fires and weather-related catastrophes. Like intelligent business people today, these long-ago investors desired peace of mind that if something were to happen to their property and/or its contents, they would not lose everything they had worked so hard to accomplish.

Thus, the business property insurance market was born and for very straight forward reasons – unexpected things could happen to investments and every business person wanted protection in the event of a loss. Not so different from today, is it?

Commercial property insurance is still the easiest way for you to manage the potential risk

Whether you have a company-owned building, lease office space, or work from a home office, a carefully planned business property insurance policy can include coverage for situations such as:

1. You receive reports that a tropical storm is coming your way that could cause major flooding and damage. There is nowhere safe in your workplace to store your big-ticket inventory so you will need to move it to a safer location. Your business property policy may still provide coverage for this inventory while it is being transported as well as protection for up to 10 days after it is moved to an alternative location.
2. Due to a water main break, your town shuts down Main Street – where your hair salon business is located – for several days. Neither you, your employees, nor your customers can access your storefront. If you have property insurance, you can be reimbursed for your lost income as well as for any extra expenses you incurred due to this unfortunate circumstance.
3. Now you’ve done it; you opened that fishy email and a computer virus has infected your computer and the company network it’s connected to. It’s one of your most dreaded scenarios, but thankfully your property insurance policy likely has coverage for any electronic data that is destroyed or damaged as a result and your insurer could pay the cost to replace or restore it.

Surprised by some of the coverage options under Commercial Property Insurance? You’re not alone; a lot of business owners not only don’t think about all the ways their business property could be damaged or destroyed, but also don’t understand how a thoroughly customized insurance policy can provide the particular coverage your business requires.

Even with all the changes that have taken place in our business world today, it’s incredible that one thing has stood the test of time; commercial property insurance was, and will always be, one of the most critical business insurance policies for any sized business.

Contact BayCoast Insurance today for a complimentary review of your current business property insurance policy, endorsements, and coverage extensions, or to get a free quote on a new policy. We will first take the time to review all your potential risks and provide you with a thorough assessment. Then, based on this evaluation, we will be able to identify a wide range of business property insurance coverage and pricing options for you to consider. The BayCoast Insurance team looks forward to helping you make the best insurance decisions for your business.

Find out from the experienced team at BayCoast Insurance what items and situations a customized Commercial Property Insurance Policy may cover, including:

• Building contents, such as furniture, machinery, computers, raw materials
• Permanently installed outdoor fixtures
• Items you use to maintain or service the building, such as appliances
• Property of others that is in your care, custody and control
• Property losses resulting from fire, lightning, most explosions, windstorm or hail, smoke from accidental fire, riot or civil commotion, vandalism, automatic sprinkler leakage, sinkhole collapse, building collapse, and certain types of damage from water or other liquids
• Bogus money orders and counterfeit money should your business make the good faith mistake of accepting either of these
• Debris removal when a building is destroyed or damaged by fire, wind or other covered peril
• Fire extinguishers system recharge expense if your fire extinguishing system is discharged (other than during installation or testing)
• Losses resulting directly from forgery or alteration of any check, draft, promissory note or similar promise of payment in money that you or your agent issued or that someone impersonating you or your agent issued
• Window glass breakage expense which covers putting up temporary boards if repair or replacement of damaged glass is delayed
• Fungi, rot, and bacteria when the underlying cause of the damage is a specified cause of loss and only if you used all reasonable means to save and preserve the property from further damage at the time of and after that occurrence

While this may seem like a comprehensive list of coverages, there are still many others that business property insurance provides as well as optional coverages, coverage extensions and endorsements that you may want to consider. You can count on an BayCoast Insurance professional to give you straight forward answers and advice on the property insurance solutions that will be best for your specific situation.