Business Insurance Now, an online provider of small business insurance, recently conducted a survey to determine what exactly business insurance buyers were looking for and what kind of service they required. In the interest of providing the best services possible to clients (services they actually want as opposed to settle for), Business Insurance Now was able to construct two distinct buyer personas from the data. Most of their clients fell into one of these two categories. The information was distilled into two sample buyer personas, “David” and “Kathy”. Both are high level executives and business owners, yet they have two different approaches to business insurance and their needs. David requires business insurance in order to be in contractual compliance with clients and would like coverage that is tailored specifically to him and his business needs, without many extra additions. Kathy, however, isn’t completely sure what type of business insurance business insurance she needs and wants to know that she has full coverage in the interest of peace of mind. She doesn’t want to be taken advantage of and has yet to find a policy that works for her because she can’t get clear, well-articulated answers from insurance representatives. Business Insurance Now is excited about the results of their survey and is looking forward to implementing the knowledge gained by creating new services and providing the type of information clients are looking for in a format they will be most comfortable with.

Hired and non-owned auto coverage is often added as an endorsement on a general liability insurance policy.   This is typically inexpensive coverage and should always be purchased when available.

A supplemental coverage option, Hired Auto coverage provides liability coverage for the company of an employee driving a vehicle rented in the company name while on company business. It does not cover physical damage to the vehicle, nor does it cover any injury to the employee. Unless your company rents vehicles with a credit card that includes vehicle physical damage coverage, you should always purchase that coverage when offered by the rental company. 

Non-owned Auto liability coverage protects the company should it be sued if an employee gets in an accident while driving their personal vehicle on company business. This type of insurance only responds when the employee’s personal insurance is inadequate to pay the claim and the company is sued.  The employee still has primary liability responsibility and this coverage will not directly protect the employee at all. 

Companies that have employees who rent vehicles on company business should establish clear procedures regarding which rental companies are used and which coverages and amounts of coverage employees should purchase from the rental company.  When company employees drive their personal vehicles on company business, the company should require that they carry at least $100,000 in personal auto liability coverage.    It is also important that companies obtain annual driving record reports from the state for all employees who drive on company business and restrict drivers with poor driving records.

To learn more about hired and non-owned auto coverage legalities and general liability insurance, please visit TechInsurance.com.

If you own a consulting or services company that has access to client accounts or infrastructure, your business will require a special type of insurance; Fidelity Bond Insurance Fidelity Bond Insurance. This will cover your business in the event that one of your employees illegally accesses your clients’ accounts. Fidelity Bond Insurance is actually an extension of property insurance that covers claims of your employee’s “theft” of their company property. When a client initially decides to do business with your company, many times they will want to ensure that you have this policy in place to mitigate any losses they might incur as a result of dishonesty on the part of your employees. Having this policy in place will not only protect your company from any dishonesty by your employees, but will also instill client confidence in your company and allow them to comfortably conduct business with you. So while not only protecting you as a business owner, Fidelity Bond Insurance can be an integral part of your negotiations with new clients. Performing background checks on potential new hires will help reduce the possibility of employee dishonesty claims as will consistent business process checks and balances to ensure that access to client accounts is properly monitored.