Do You Need Commercial Property Insurance?

What is commercial property insurance, and do you need it? Commercial property insurance is insurance targeted towards commercial properties, including businesses, farms, and ranches.

Commercial property insurance is intended to help protect individuals who own such types of commercial properties from damage or loss. Commercial property owners can also include business operators, or those who may be leasing a property to another entity. Many of these people choose to purchase commercial property insurance policies in order to protect their building and its associated structures. Property owners may also purchase business insurance that can protect their machinery, furniture, and stored merchandise and other supplies.  

What are the different types of commercial property insurance policies? There are many different types of commercial property insurance policies that can cover different kinds of properties. There are also different policies that protect against specific risk factors for causes of loss and damage. Many of these risk factors are covered by commercial property insurance policies, including natural disasters.  

Most commercial property insurance policies will fall into three categories. The first category is the basic form of coverage. Basic commercial property insurance policies tend to provide protection against common perils like damage caused by fire, lightning, windstorm, vehicles, civil commotion, perils, riots, and aircraft damage.  

The second type of commercial property insurance policy category is known as broad form. The broad form commercial property insurance policies include coverage for many different basic perils, including water damage, collapse, glass breakage, snow, ice or sleet damage, sprinkler leakage or other forms of water damage.  

The third kind of special form commercial property insurance policy will protect business owners from all kinds of causes of loss except those that are excluded from the contract. With these causes, you will be covered by the special form commercial insurance policy. These policies tend to cover flood, war, earth movement, nuclear disaster, wear and tear, vermin and insects.  

There is additional coverage that you can buy. Consumers of commercial property insurance may choose to purchase liability insurance, business interruption, and extra expense insurance.

A liability policy of commercial property insurance will tend to protect you against the cost of a lawsuit and or judgment. Business interruption coverage can cover you against the threat of lost income.  If your business is interrupted because of loss or damage, your commercial property insurance will cover the payment  made by the policyholder. This is intended to help you resume business operations as fast as possible after a period of loss.