Basic risks, which require insurance
Owning or managing a business, either large or small, there is an essential need of insurance policy to protect the company against the various risks and potential multitude of claims that the business will face. Commercial insurance generally known as Business insurance is a complicated area of underwriting and because all businesses are different, and face diverse risks depending upon the nature of the company, various packages and combined policy covers have been introduced by insurance companies and commercial broker schemes, to make the process easier.
The largest menace that a business countenances is from liability to others and the latent costs and damages a company could face if a claim was made against it. All companies are obligated by law to have in place liability cover, which is called Employers liability insurance or EL, to protect their staff against all potential risks and accidents while in the workplace. Business liability insurance is typically sold as a package and will always include Public Liability, often just known as PL, which defends the company against claims from the public whilst on the business premises.
An additional type of liability insurance called Product liability is also obtainable to companies under a commercial liability policy, which protects the company against claims made for design or manufacturing faults in the product. Company directors can also protect themselves against legal responsibilities with Directors and Officers insurance (D&O) cover. Most business large and small will have premises that need guard against buildings perils such as fire and flood and commercial property insurance is available to cover all buildings insurance danger. Likewise commercial contents insurance for business premises is available which covers office and business equipment including files and data processing against the common perils. For companies carrying stock, this type of business contents insurance can be extended to cover risk such as deterioration and damage.