Business Owners Policy: BOP Insurance Quotes & Guide

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We’re sure that you want to get faultless protection for your business. That’s why when it comes to insurance, it’s important to know which options work best. One that never fails to satisfy the needs of many is a business owner’s policy.  Read this guide to know what it is, how much it costs, and the best companies. 

Also read:

• Public Liability Insurance for Business: 101, Cost & Cheap Quotes
  

What is A Business Owner’s Policy?

In a nutshell, a business owner’s policy is a coverage that bundles commercial property insurance and general liability insurance. 

However, the business owner’s policy from different carriers doesn’t only offer general liability and commercial property insurance but other business insurance policies too.

And so, another way of defining a business owner’s policy, is to say that it’s a combination of different insurance products. 

Why Get A Business Owner’s Policy?

Purchasing a business owner’s policy insurance is more cost effective than when you bought different types of insurance separately. But this isn’t the only reason. Get a BOP policy because:

• Accounts for all of the common business exposures 

• It functions well regardless of your business size, experience, and history

• Easy to monitor and manage

Eligibility for A Business Owner’s Policy

Insurance companies give all customers the freedom to purchase a business owner’s policy.  But note that there are insurance companies still following the ISO BOP policy requirements and only offer the coverage if your business has any of the following:

• Annual revenue not exceeding $6 million

• Owns or rents a physical location not more than 35,000 square feet in size

• If you’re a contractor; payroll must be $300,000 or less and no work done more than three stories high

• Office building, not more than 100,000 square feet

Components Of A Business Owner’s Policy

Depending on where you decide to get it, a BOP can only offer two insurance products or it may have five or more.  Nonetheless, the following are the most common inclusions in a business owner’s policy:

• General liability insurance

• Commercial property insurance

• Business interruption insurance

• Professional liability insurance

• Equipment breakdown insurance

• Cyber liability insurance

• Crime insurance

• Employment practices liability insurance

Proceed to the next sections for a discussion of the above policies included in a business owner’s policy. 

General Liability Insurance

All insurance companies include general liability insurance in their business owner’s policy. General liability insurance helps when your business is liable for the injuries or property damage of a customer, visitor, or any other third party. 

You can use general liability insurance if your business caused injuries or property damage because:

• Of an accident that happened within its premises

• An employee is negligent

• The premises of your business contributed to the occurrence of the accident 

• Your business didn’t employ the proper safety measures while operating

In connection, the following are the costs covered by general liability insurance if a third party files a claim for bodily injuries or property damage:

• The medical treatment of the claimant and compensation for pain, suffering, and punitive damages

• Refunds for the property of the claimant that got damaged

• Attorney fees, court fees, investigation costs, and other legal defense expenses  in case the claimant refuse to settle and take the matter to a court of law 

The general liability insurance included a business owner’s policy will also have the following optional coverages:

• Advertising injury coverage-Advertising injury coverage helps cover settlements and defense costs if your business committed slander, libel, or copyright infringement against a third party

• Rented premises liability coverage-Rented premises liability coverage refunds the landlord if a rented space is damaged by fire due to your business’s negligence 

Most business owner’s policies offer a BOP liability coverage with a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit.  However, it’s not impossible to find a carrier whose business owner’s policy has a general liability coverage with a $3 million per occurrence limit. 

Commercial Property Insurance 

Commercial property insurance never goes missing in every business owner’s policy. 

With commercial property insurance added, a business owner’s policy doesn’t only protect your business against its liability for the injuries or property damage of others but also against the damage or destruction of its important assets. 

Commercial property insurance helps you recover losses if your business’s building, equipment, and stocks become damage or lost due to:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Riot

• Civil commotion

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Hail

• Snow

• Storm

• Lightning

• Impact

• Vehicle

• Aircraft

• Sprinkler leakage

Commercial property insurance found in a BOP is underwritten as a replacement cost policy. This means that it reimburses losses based on the non-depreciated value of the covered property. 

Insurance companies leave it up to you to decide how much coverage commercial property insurance can provide. Usually, the minimum business property coverage is $10,000-$35,000 and the minimum business contents coverage is $15,000-$25,000.

Professional Liability Insurance 

If your business is in the professional services sector, then expect a business owner’s policy to offer professional liability insurance. 

Professional liability insurance protects you from claims filed because there’s an issue with regard to how you performed a service on behalf of a client. 

You use professional liability insurance to provide indemnification and cover defense costs after a client sued for economic or financial losses because your business committed:

• Negligence

• Misrepresentation

• Violation of good faith

• Violation of fair dealing

• Breach of confidentiality

• Missed deadlines

The professional liability insurance of most BOPs is underwritten as a claims-made policy. Also, it will have a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit. 

Business Interruption Insurance 

You might be forced to close business in order to relocate, renovate, or wait for an economic crisis to resolve. 

Suspending operations will result in a lot of losses if you don’t have the appropriate countermeasure in place. And to provide help, insurance companies allow you to avail business interruption insurance from a business owner’s policy. 

While your business is closed and not generating income in order to renovate, relocate, or wait for an economic crisis to pass, business interruption insurance provides the money for payroll, electric bills, loans, taxes, and other operational costs. 

Business interruption insurance can even supplement a portion of the income your business lost. 

Note that your business can’t receive money from business interruption insurance forever. The coverage it provides only lasts for 30 days. However, this can be extended for 1 year if you get an endorsement. 

Equipment Breakdown Insurance

You can use a business owner’s policy to cover out of pocket expenses in case business equipment goes haywire. This is because it has an equipment breakdown insurance policy.

Equipment breakdown insurance covers the cost of repair or replacement if your business’s equipment sustained damaged and became unusable due to:

• Electrical surge

• Electrical short

• Operator error

• Impact

• Water damage

The equipment breakdown insurance in most business owner’s policies provides $5,000-$15,000 coverage. However, the insurance company can give more upon your request. 

Cyber Liability Insurance 

Cyber liability insurance is offered in a business owner’s policy if your business stores and handles the data of customers or if it’s an:

• App development firm

• Website design firm

• Software development firm

• Online marketplace

• Video game development firm 

A business that relies on information and the internet to make money is highly vulnerable to data breach. This is why insurance companies sell cyber liability insurance that will take care of the resulting costs such as:

• Settlements for the economic losses sustained by third parties after the breach happened

• Defense costs

• Public relations

• Lost income (in case you need to stop business operations to contain the breach)

• Professional services needed to contain the breach

Crime Insurance

Some business owner’s policies offer crime insurance. You can use this to recover losses if third parties and employees commit any of the following against your business:

• Theft

• Destruction of money and other securities

• Fraud

• Embezzlement

• Social engineering

Employment Practices Liability Insurance 

A business owner’s policy can have employment practices liability insurance. Employment practices liability insurance will pay for settlements or lawsuits if an employee accuses your business of committing:

• Discrimination

• Sexual harassment

• Missed employment benefits

• Missed wages

• Wrongful termination

• Breach of employment contract

The minimum policy limit of employment practices liability insurance is $500,000-$1 million. However, if availed as an inclusion in business owner’s policy, it provides a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit. 

Optional Add-Ons To Business Owner’s Policy 

Workers Compensation Insurance

You can include workers compensation insurance to your BOP insurance coverage. But this depends on which carrier you choose. By adding workers compensation insurance to a BOP, your business can cover the lost wages, hospitalization, medication, retraining, and funeral of an employee who sustains a work-related injury or disease. 

Commercial Auto Insurance

Carriers will recommend you to get commercial auto insurance as an optional policy to BOP if your business owns a commercial vehicle. This functions to:

• Cover the medical treatment of persons your commercial vehicle injured in an accident

• Cover the losses of persons whose property got damaged by the accident your commercial vehicle caused

• Cover the hospitalization of the driver and passengers

• Protect your commercial vehicle against uninsured/underinsured motorists

Average Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) Insurance Cost And Affecting Factors 

No two customers pay the same price for a business insurance quote. Many factors are used to determine how much BOP insurance cost. Based on our research, the average BOP insurance cost is $101 per month or $1,212 per year. 

To get more idea about the business owner’s policy insurance cost, we suggest you take a look at this table showing the rates of the recommended companies. 

To find the best insurance for business owners, then you have to compare business owners insurance quotes. We encourage you to compare quotes by clicking the “Get Quotes” button on this page to find the best prices, policy deals, discounts, and coverage from the best and most reliable BOP insurance companies for any type of business.

Factors That Affect Business Owner Insurance Cost

The sections below quickly discuss the factors that affect business owner insurance costs. 

Nature of Business

The kind of business you run and its industry affects its BOP insurance rates. A good example is damage to a business that has equipment, supplies, and appliances that workers use is more significant and expensive to cover compared to simple IT or home based businesses of either freelancers or just office employees. The greater the risk involved with a business, the greater its BOP insurance cost. 

Claims History  

If your business has had no claims in the past and has a good history, it will be easier for it to get cheap BOP insurance quotes.

Coverage Restrictions  

The scope of the coverage you choose for your business significantly impacts your business owner’s policy cost. A simple office (or home office) with $3,000 maximum repair cost has a significantly lower risk (and cost) to insurers compared to a commercial facility that requires over $1M to renovate or repair its property damage. 

Additionally, your BOP insurance liability limits choices affect your BOP insurance cost. The typical liability limit for most BOP insurance policies is $1M. However, if you believe your business requires more than that, your insurer can provide more but it will affect the rates you pay for your BOP.

Carriers  

Carriers have different pricing for their business owner’s policy. That said, some carriers charge significantly less than others. This is why it’s very important to compare the offers of different companies before getting insured. 

Business Size  

Business Owner's Policy premium rates are determined based on business size as well. Your number of employees will affect some coverage sections of the business owners policy. Also, the more employees a business has, the more it is exposed to risk and potential lawsuits.

Deductibles  

A deductible is an amount a business pays out of its own pocket before the insurance policy kicks in to cover loss. The higher your deductibles are, the cheaper your business owners policy insurance quotes will be.

Insurance companies will lower your BOP insurance premium rates as you share more of their risk and carry a more significant proportion of your setback. 

Always remember that you will be required to actually pay this price before or after you are able to file a claim and activate your BOP insurance policy, so that the insurance carrier can reimburse your financial loss.