Before you cancel your existing small business insurance policy, it is important to know the repercussions of your actions. This warning goes out mainly to business owners who either have pending claims, or still have outstanding liability. Outstanding liability could be something as large as a job that is still in progress, or as small as a company still using a piece of software you developed 20 years ago.

Letting your policy lapse is essentially the same as cancelling. Any work that was done under the coverage of your prior policy will not be covered by your new policy if you let it lapse. Many small business owners are caught in unfortunate positions because they let their policies lapse. Don’t let this easy to avoid mistake happen to you.

Even if you have been operating a small business for 30 years, there are still insurance nuances that can take us all by surprise. It is important to stay educated about the insurance laws that change on a near daily basis – or you can discuss any questions with your business insurance agent. At the TechInsurance Small Business Center, you can read more about how cancelling your policy can affect your coverage.

As any small business owner knows, if the business isn’t coming to the office, you have to bring the office to them. Depending on the size of your sales force or service department, you might need to purchase or rent company vehicles. In any case, if you or employees are driving on the road for a business related venture, your company will be held responsible for any accidents or injuries that occur involving your company’s vehicle.

If an accident does occur, there are a number of accident insurance policies that could come into play. First and foremost, the driver of the vehicle’s personal insurance will kick in, covering physical damages and injuries. Secondly, if you are renting the car, the additional insurance purchased at the time of the rental will cover any additional physical injury or liability damages. Lastly, the Hired Auto Insurance will cover your company in the event that the other party involved in the accident wishes to sue your company for any reason.

Because there are so many places to point fingers after an auto accident, especially one involving a company vehicle, it is vitally important that your company is protected against lawsuit. Speak with your business insurance agent to receive a quote on hired or non-owned auto insurance coverage.

No matter how you feel about your clients, good or bad, it is a dreaded day when two business partners choose to go their separate ways. Sometimes this severance is accompanied by a potential lawsuit, depending on the nature of the split, which only makes matters worse. However, before a lawsuit ever sees the inside of a courtroom, there are alternative steps that can be taken to resolve the dispute.

Many times, this dispute resolution alternative must be built into the contracts beforehand, requiring both parties to try to settle things outside of court. Options for this resolution might include mediation or arbitration. Although slightly different, there are many advantages to each method. More about mediation and arbitration can be read here: Dispute-Resolution Alternatives

The long and short of it is this…do everything you can to keep the dispute out of court, make sure you have alternative dispute resolution ideas built into your contract, and more importantly, make sure you do all you can to maintain great relationships with clients and business partners.

For more tips on creating business contracts, please visit ContractEdge.com. Here you can find contract templates for independent contractors and subcontractors in a variety of technical business fields.

Running a consultancy is a big enough task without having to worry about clients changing schedules, deadlines, and requirements. By having an agreement in place before the project even starts, you can avoid any unnecessary back and forth or arguing over when pieces of the project are due. Less stress on your team means less stress on the company and you personally.

Another benefit of having contracts in place before a project kicks off is that it is easier to show the value of your consulting. By clearly labeling who is responsible for what aspects of the project, you can ensure that your suggestions and ideas get implemented, or you don’t get held responsible for the success of that particular segment.

For more tips on creating successful management agreements, visit the TechInsurance Small Business Center. Here you can also find more resources on running a successful management consultancy.

IT Project managers are in unique situations. Often times, you are brought in because the person in charge of managing the project was not doing a good job in the first place – otherwise, why hire you? This generally means that processes and tasks needed to make the project run smoothly are not in place. It is important that before you undertake managing an IT project, that you clearly define the project requirements. Having a contract that clearly states the details of the job will help you out in the long run. You won’t have to worry about the client making last second changes, moving deadlines, etc. because you have it all in writing!

IT Project Management is a tough role. For tips and tricks on running a successful IT Project Management firm or independent practice, visit the TechInsurance Small Business Center.

Architects are at risk for many different types of liability, the most obvious of which comes from any oversights they might have made in the drafting of blueprints. It is important that, as an architect, you are fully insured against any suits that might come your way. If you are an independent contractor, you will need to make sure that you are covered with errors and omissions insurance. If you are the owner of an architectural firm, you will need the same coverage as an independent contractor, but you should supplement that coverage with general liability insurance or employee dishonesty coverage in case anyone gets hurt while visiting your offices or if one of your employees has a dishonesty suit brought against them.

To read more about the importance of insurance coverage for architects, visit the TechInsurance Portal. Here you can find resources on running an efficient small business from small business insurance quotes, to best practices on drafting contracts and working with subcontractors.

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.

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.

• General liability coverage,
• errors and omissions insurance,
• Worker’s compensation insurance,
• Employment practices liability insurance,
• Umbrella liability insurance.

Coverage plans that include these types of insurance will more than likely provide full coverage to the employment agency, putting their mind at ease in the event of lawsuits.

With all of the problems in the economy right now, major financial institutions are in the news on a daily basis.  Insurance companies are facing difficulties as well, and are being pressured to overextend themselves in an unstable market. In an economy such as this one, you want to be confident that you and your money are safe. It is important to select your banks, lenders and insurers with care so that you don't end up in trouble later.

Safeguard Your Company and Your Employees

This is especially true for independent contractors or small businesses that don't necessarily have the reserves that a large corporation would. You depend on these institutions for your business and livelihood and should look for a bank or insurance company's ratings to guarantee that they are a safe, stable and secure place to take your business. If a time came when you needed your employer's liability insurance or workman's comp insurance to pay for a claim, and your lenders and insurance companies were going out of business, you would be stuck paying out of pocket.

Dont Compromise on Quality

Companies like TechInsurance are great because they do the digging for you, and only do business with A+ rated insurance companies. That way you can rest assured you won't be out of luck should something happen and you need to collect on your policy, such as if you have a small business insurance plan and there’s a problem on a consulting contract.