Commercial Property and Loss of Income Protection

Commercial Property coverage can be a source of great comfort at the time of a loss. However, to be sure you can sleep comfortably, you must have spent time working with a knowledgeable professional who can help you navigate the many coverage forms and policy limitations while tailoring a program that meets your specifications.

And this process of tailoring and evaluating should be ongoing. Many agents do a credible job of writing coverage initially. However, as time goes by, the property must be re-assessed based on a variety of valuation criteria. Has square footage been added since the original policy was placed? Does the automatic inflation guard feature actually keep pace with the rising costs of construction? Have you re-assessed the value of equipment, improvements and inventory? Have you scheduled all locations and written appropriate coverage limits for each? Do you have protection for inventory, equipment or cargo away from your premises?

These and many other questions should be asked each and every renewal or the agent has not met the Standard of Care when placing the coverage and booking commissions.

Failure to write adequate Loss of Income Protection can be just as devastating to the survival of a business.  Your insurance agent should spend time challenging you on your ongoing cash flow needs. His analysis should include writing protection for fixed costs, then adding coverage for the costs of operating from temporary facilities, for payroll costs and some load should be added for expected lost profits until you are operating at full capacity again. Granted such an analysis can be subjective, but if you and your agent are not going through this exercise periodically, then insurance becomes a matter of crossing your fingers.