As a Dallas business owner, it is important for you to watch your bottom line. With today’s business climate, business owners can ill afford to overspend on things like insurance. Before you start cutting your insurance coverages, consider the impact of removing coverage from your policy. This article will discuss three different scenarios where the longterm cost to a business outweighs the short term savings gained from reducing the coverage on your business insurance policy. So watch out for the scenarios where saving money will cost your business time and money.
Scenario #1: Removing Physical Damage Coverage from a Truck insurance policy
Owner operator truck drivers use their trucks to make a living. Even though you’re a professional driver, what will you do about the car full of teenagers driving down the road? Imagine this, your truck is involved in an accident with an uninsured teenage driver. Shortly before your accident, you asked your insurance agent to remove collision and uninsured motorist coverage from your insurance policy. Now, you ‘re faced with trying to replace your commercial vehicle with a rental truck. Unfortunately for you, truck rental places charge a daily feel and a fee per mile.
The scenario I just described, happens all too frequently. Owner operator truck drivers want to save money; only to cost themselves thousands in avoidable fees and expenses at the time of the claim. In this case, the driver of the truck should have kept collision and fire and theft on the truck in case of a claim. Another alternative for this dallas texas business owner is to keep uninsured motorists protection on the policy. The more you think about it, the more you realize that if your truck is your primary means of income, you should insure it as much as possible.
Scenario #2: Purchasing a General Liability policy when a Business Owners Package is available.
For many small Dallas businesses, insurance can be a hassle. Many businesses only purchase general liability because they are required to purchase the policy in order to get a new contract. In cases like these, the business owner states that he only wants to get the general liability policy. In the insurance world, the general liability policy is only a part a comprehensive insurance package. In many cases, artisan contractors and small businesses can purchase much more robust policies that include commercial auto insurance, general liability, office (premises) liability; and even coverage for business property. For business insurance shoppers that fit into this category, the package is much more comprehensive but less expensive than the smaller policy. In this case, less expensive means saving money, and in my book; saving money on your business insurance policy is a good thing.
Scenario #3: Failing to disclose all information
For a business owner, it is cardinal sin to conceal information from your insurance agent. In the past, I’ve actually talked to Dallas business owners that attempted to hide drivers and vehicles from the insurance company. Recently, I had a case where a client explained that they would be making adjustments to their policy to increase their fleet. As a business owner, you are financially repsonsible for any damage caused by a vehicle or driver that you hire or own. The last thing you want to happen is to purchase a new vehicle and fail to notify your agent or insurance company. As I always say, the time of a claim is the wrong time to figure out if you have coverage. As a business owner , disclosing all information to your insurance gives you the best chance of ensuring adequate coverage at the time of a claim.
Reducing and exposure to catastrophic financial loss is the reason your business purchased insurance. Regardless of whether required or not, it is always wise to adequately cover your business against unforseen accidents and other occurences. For more Dallas business insurance tips or get an insurance quote, use the contact form below or contact TXINSURANCEPRO.COM at (214)717-4326.