Cure for Insomnia-Read Your Insurance Policy..
Let’s face it, insurance policies are not riveting reading material! Do you really know what’s in there? Although you do not need to read through every page, you do need to understand what is covered and what is not covered. You, also, need to understand what you agreed to when you purchased your policy.
Let’s start with a run of the mill Business Owners policy. As a general rule, your policy includes building coverage, business personal property coverage, accounts receivable and business income coverage. You policy will not cover flood, pollution liability, professional liability or errors and omissions (you may be able to purchase these coverages under a separate policy).
You need to understand the provisions of your policy. For example: the co-insurance clause is included on most insurance policies but business owners often don’t understand what it means to them at a time of a claim. This clause states that you agree to cover your building or business personal property at a minimum of 80% of their replacement cost. If you don’t, you will be penalized at the time of a partial loss and only get a portion of the damages paid. Or, if your building burns down and you choose not to rebuild, your insurance policy will not pay replacement cost of the structure but instead they will give you the value of the building minus depreciation.
The bottom line is that an insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurance company. You need to understand what they expect from you and what you are paying for. Talk to your Trusted Choice Advisor and make sure you understand your policy and understand your exposures so that you can Be Ready For Anything!
