Having the right amount of commercial insurance is essential for any business. It can protect you from potential financial losses that accidents, lawsuits, or other unexpected events could cause. But how much coverage do you need?

The answer depends on various factors, such as the size and scope of your business operations, the types of risks associated with your industry, and even local laws and regulations. In this blog post, we at Elliott & Associates Insurance will discuss some key considerations to help you determine how much commercial insurance is right for your business in the Opelika, AL area.

First and foremost, you should consider the risks associated with your business. Insurance can help protect you from any potential losses due to accidents, liabilities, or other unexpected events. Depending on your industry and operations, this could include property damage caused by fire or natural disasters, customers’ medical bills in the case of an injury on your premises, legal liability for damages if a product or service is found to be defective, or financial losses sustained as a result of professional negligence.

When determining how much insurance coverage you need, it’s important to consider the cost of future repairs or replacements and the potential legal fees that might arise from a lawsuit. It would be best to consider your business’s current size and future growth plans. Start by covering the bare minimum of what is required by law, then work up depending on your needs and budget. Adjust your policy accordingly if you plan to expand or hire additional staff.

If you have any questions, call us at Elliott & Associates Insurance today. We proudly serve the Opelika, AL area.

What is a BOP and why would you want one?

 When you approach Elliott & Associates Insurance serving Opelika, AL about commercial insurance policies, you’ll hear about the most essential coverage first. Most businesses require four basic policies to start with and the insurance industry bundled those into a package called the business owners’ policy (BOP).

A BOP bundles the four most common types of business insurance – perils, liability, property damage, and business interruption – for a reduced premium cost. You can add to it, letting you create a custom commercial policy that uses the BOP as its foundation. This saves your business money.

You can add any type of coverage to your BOP, including commercial auto, boiler, errors and omissions, malpractice, etc. You can add any type of commercial insurance to a BOP. Because the BOP premium always costs less than purchasing the four foundation policies separately, even when you add the other policies, your commercial coverage costs less than it would have if you had bought the other four separately.

A BOP policy works for any type of business – retail, home, entrepreneur, solopreneur, manufacturing, etc. While some types of commercial policy like malpractice can only be purchased by a lawyer or doctor, every business needs perils, liability, property damage, and business interruption.

This might surprise you since home insurance provides liability coverage. It does not apply to doing regular business at your home though. When you begin storing products at home or holding meetings there regularly, you need commercial insurance to cover you.

The same is true of driving your personal vehicle. As soon as you begin using it with regularity for business purposes, such as delivering cakes or picking up items to emboss or engrave, you no longer can apply your personal auto insurance to an accident. Your vehicle needs a commercial auto policy. This, too, you can add to your BOP.

Contact Elliott & Associates Insurance serving Opelika, AL for more information on commercial insurance policies. Let us help you protect your business investment.

Life insurance is often seen as something that is only important when you have loved ones that rely on you to provide for them. However, the right life insurance is important at every stage of adult life. Elliott & Associates Insurance in Opelika, AL is here to help you with the right policy for every life stage. 

Young Single Adult

Why do you need life insurance? Even though you don’t have dependents, you likely have debt. If you have loans with a cosigner, the cosigner will be responsible for the debt if you pass. Loved ones may also have to cover funeral expenses. A term life insurance policy can cover burial experiences and any debt that you have. 

Married and/or Starting a Family

If you have a spouse or dependents, it’s important to be sure their financial needs will be met if you are no longer there. A whole life insurance policy provides protection for your loved ones and an investment that you can tap into later if needed. This policy will be valid for your entire lifetime as long as you continue to pay the premiums. Selecting this type of policy earlier in life may give you a lower premium. 

Empty Nesters

Your children have left home and are supporting themselves. Most of your bills are paid, so you don’t have a large financial responsibility. If you don’t already have an insurance policy, you should consider a guaranteed life insurance policy. A guaranteed policy will provide coverage regardless of your age or health status, and they don’t require a health exam.

Life Insurance at Elliott & Associates Insurance

Selecting a life insurance policy is an important decision. At Elliott & Associates Insurance in Opelika, AL, we provide our expertise to help you select the policy that best fits your needs, no matter what your current life stage. 

Types of Commercial Insurance

If an accident or incident was to occur to your business, you might think of all the business equipment to operate your business, the office furniture, or storefront space, but you need to think of your insurance first. At Elliott & Associates Insurance of Opelika, AL, we are not just saying that because we sell insurance. It is important that you know the difference between a business owner’s policy, commercial auto, commercial liability, etc. You need to choose the right policy so your business obtains the coverage it really needs.

An abundance of commercial insurance types are available. Your business type determines what you will need. A pizza delivery restaurant needs different policies than a manufacturing plant. While they both need liability insurance, that is pretty much where the similarities end. Your potential commercial insurance policies include:

• automobile insurance
• boiler and machinery policies
• business owner’s policy
• business interruption insurance
• builder’s risk insurance
• debris removal
• glass insurance
• inland marine insurance
• ordinance or law insurance
• tenant’s insurance
• crime insurance
• fidelity bonds
• errors and omissions insurance
• malpractice insurance
• directors’ and officers’ liability insurance

Elliott & Associates Insurance of Opelika, AL can help you determine which insurance policies you need. With so many diverse choices, it makes sense that you need to choose only what your business really needs. You need insurance, but you need the right insurance. That means sitting down with an expert to determine which policies you do need. That saves you money in two ways. You do not pay premiums on something you do not need and the right policy covers your repair or replacement costs when you do need to make a claim on your insurance.