Liability insurance is something every American is familiar with, at least those living in states such as Texas which mandate that every driver carry a “minimum liability insurance” policy on themselves and every underage driver in their household. We are also familiar with the concepts behind it, that I, as a driver, am insured against any action I take as a driver that injures another person (assuming that I am at fault). The concept is similar in business; I, as a business owner, need to have a business liability insurance policy in place to provide for any injury I cause through the operation of my business. The propensity for this to happen, that my business would actually injure someone, is not as apparent as it might seem. Something as simple as a lawnmower can cause serious damage to body and property, resulting in huge exposures for a business, an occurrence that is mitigated by the proper general liability policy.
Perhaps the greatest nightmare for business owners, is that there is so much of their business over which they have no direct control. As a former business owner, I can tell you that there are few frustrations as great as walking into the office at the end of a long day, only to be greeted by one of your foremen explaining how one of your guys did not secure a trailer properly, resulting in cargo, or worse, the whole trailer, flying off and doing some damage to someone’s vehicle or property. You literally stand there, listening in terror, just hoping that no harm came to any people or animals; that you don’t have to live with having harmed a child or something else as reprehensible as that. While damaging someone’s property may be unavoidable (eventually, somebody is going to bump into somebody out there), being unprotected from the natural civil outcomes from such injuries is not.
Take the necessary steps to insure your business properly, and do it today. This is not the place to skip steps, because this is the business that will pay for college for your children or your retirement. Don’t place something that precious at the mercy of the shortest route to insurance.
High Quality is the name of the game!
