Business & Commercial Insurance

Commercial Auto

Peace of Mind for Businesses on the Road

As a business owner, you need the same kind of insurance coverages for a car used in your business as you do for a car used for personal travel — liability, collision, comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states) and coverage for uninsured motorists.

Many business people use the same vehicle for both business and pleasure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the “principal insured” rather than your name. This will avoid possible confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

The need to buy a business auto insurance policy will depend on the kind of driving you do. That includes how you use vehicles in your business, who will be driving them and whether employees, if you have them, are likely to be driving their own cars for your business.

While the major coverages are the same, a business auto policy differs from a personal auto policy in many technical respects. Ask your Norris insurance agent to explain all the differences and options.

Commercial Property

Protection for Your Business Itself

Every day you work hard to ensure that your business stays up and running, but accidents do happen, and those accidents could put your business out of commission.That’s why, it’s important to make sure your commercial property is protected with the right policy.

With a custom Property Insurance policy from Norris Insurance, you can ensure that the building and personal property of your business is protected from minor accidents or a major financial loss. Our insurance specialists can help you create a policy that keeps your small-to medium-size business insured from top to bottom, covering items such as:

• Your building
• All interior items (desks, furniture, etc.)
• Any outdoor signs on your property
• On-site equipment
• Your inventory

Other items typically found on a Property Insurance policy can include Builder’s Risk insurance, which protects any materials or equipment from damage or loss sustained during construction or remodeling. In addition to Equipment Breakdown coverage, which keeps any electrical, electronic, or pressurized equipment on your premises insured from breakdowns or loss.

Additional Business Protection

In some cases, your business can benefit from combining Property with Liability. To find out more about combining coverages, contact Norris Insurance today.

General Liability

Unfortunately for every business owner, the chances of getting sued have dramatically increased in the last decade. General Liability insurance can prevent a legal suit from turning into a financial disaster.

General Liability pays losses arising from real or alleged bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury on your business premises or arising from your operations.

Broad Range of General Liability Protection

• Bodily Injury, including cost of care, loss of services, and restitution for any death that results from injury.
• Property Damage coverage for damage to property of others or loss of use of that property.
• Products-Completed Operations provides liability protection (damages and legal expenses up to your policy’s limit) if an injury resulted from something your company made or a service your company provided.
• Products Liability is a more specialized product liability insurance that protects your company against lawsuits from product-related injury or accidents.
• Contractual Liability extends to any liability you may assume by entering into a variety of contracts.

Other coverage includes: Reasonable Use of Force; Borrowed Equipment; Liquor Liability; Non-Owned Vehicles (such as aircraft and watercraft); Fire, Lightning or Explosion Damage; Water Damage Liability Protection; Legal Defense Costs; Medical Payments; Personal Injury; Advertising Injury; and specialized liability protection for specific business types.

Workers Compensation

Do I need workers compensation insurance?

Employers have a legal responsibility to their employees to make the workplace safe. However, accidents happen even when every reasonable safety measure has been taken. To protect employers and employees from workplace accidents, almost every state requires businesses to buy workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance covers workers injured on the job, whether they’re hurt on the workplace premises or elsewhere, or in auto accidents while on business. It also covers work-related illnesses.

Workers compensation provides payments to injured workers, without regard to who was at fault in the accident, for time lost from work and for medical and rehabilitation services. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses and dependents.

Each state has different laws governing the amount and duration of lost income benefits, the provision of medical and rehabilitation services and how the system is administered.

Professional Liability

Mistakes happen, but you need to be prepared to protect the integrity of your company if an incident or mistake turns into a claim. A Professional Liability policy keeps your day-to-day operations protected should your business be held legally liable.

What Does Professional Liability Cover?

Professional Liability Insurance insures the people and/or entities of your business from negligent claims made by third parties, or even internal sources. From failure to render a service to malpractice suits, Professional Liability can provide a wide variety of options, such as:

Errors and Omissions Liability (E & O) – E & O covers any mistakes made by employees who work on behalf of your business. It can include coverage for errors such as failure to perform or violations of contract. Depending on your industry, your insurance needs will vary.

Directors and Officers Liability (D & O) – D & O protects your business from loss if your Directors or Officers are held liable for actions related to their corporate positions. This can include conflicts of interest, mismanagement of company assets, and violation of laws.

Fiduciary Liability – Fiduciary covers claims involving the violation of Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. Having the right coverage can protect your company if held liable in situations from imprudent investments to failure to enroll employees.

Employment Practices Liability – With Employment Practices, your business is protected if a worker claims that his or her rights have been violated. This can include violations from sexual harassment and discrimination to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), mismanagement of employee benefit plans, and wrongful termination.

Contact a representative with Norris Insurance today to prevent mistakes and errors from becoming major losses for your business.

Commercial Umbrella

Extra Protection that Keeps You in Business

A Commercial Umbrella policy will provide your business with additional coverage should a lawsuit or major accident exceed the limits of your existing, or underlying, General, Auto, or other business liability policy. It can also insure an incident that occurs outside of your coverage territory.

The following are examples of situations where Commercial Umbrella coverage can safeguard your business:

• Accidental falls or slips on your property
• A carbon monoxide leak in your building
• Libel, slander, or invasion of privacy
• If one of your products causes injury or illness
• If a fire in your building damages other property
• Violations of Employment Practices Liability
• If your business vehicle is involved in an accident

How Much Umbrella Coverage is Enough?

Since lawsuits can be expensive and accidents do happen, you can never be too careful with your coverage options. At Norris Insurance, our helpful insurance experts will work with the individual needs of your business to find a level of protection that keeps you and your operations secure and avoid major loss.

Bonds

Assurance for You and Your Business

Owning a business means taking risks. We offer a variety of bond and license services to ensure that your business is protected. Bonds can be issued for a wide range of circumstances, and choosing the right bond to suit your needs can be a difficult task.

The professional and knowledgeable bond specialists at Norris Insurance will work with you to develop a business solution to help meet all of your bonding goals. In addition to providing quality products, we also provide various licensing and permit services to ensure that your business runs to the letter of the law.

Our business solution services include:

• Performance Bonds
• Contractor’s Bonds
• ERISA Bonds
• Fiduciary Bonds
• Sub-Division Bonds
• Court Bonds
• Conservator Bonds
• Surety Bonds
• Fidelity Bonds
• Public Officials
• Liquor Licenses

If you need bond and license services in North Central Indiana, contact a bond specialist at Norris Insurance today who can help you find the surety products that keep your business covered.