5 Money-Saving Tips for Choosing Small Business Insurance

Small business insurance can be expensive. The bigger your operation is, the more it will cost. There is not much that you can do about it because some of it is required of you when you open your business, and others are ones that you should have to cover yourself. If you do not know what types of policies are available, you may want to check them out before you make any decisions. After you read how to save money on your contract, of course. 

1. Increase Your Insurance Deductible: One of the absolute simplest ways to decrease your small business insurance is by increasing the amount of the deductible that you are willing to pay. The higher your deductible is, the lower your premiums will be, which saves you a substantial amount of money. That is, until something happens, and you must file a claim. Then all that money that you saved will have to go out to pay your part of the claim before your insurance company will pay out anything on it. As an example, let us say that a customer fell in your store, and they demand that you file a claim. The insurance company will cover medical bills and such, but only after you pay the amount of the deductible that you have set. The point is that you need to be careful when you play with numbers this way, because it could come back and bite you in the end. 
2. Remove any Unnecessary Insurance Coverage: Before committing to any policy, you want to read the entire contract, front to back and side to side. This is not only a great way to see if there are any hidden fees or increases, and it will allow you to find any coverage that is built into the contract that you will never need. You need to realize that most policies are based off a basic outline, meaning that you get the exact same policy as someone else in your position, regardless of their industry. Therefore, you need to read through everything, and if you see anything that you are being charged for that you do not need, have it removed. 
3. Compare Various Small Business Insurance Companies: One of the biggest steps that you must take is to compare companies. Never assume that the first one you check into is the best. No insurance company is the same, and the policies are never built with you in mind. Insurance companies are in business to make money, just like you are. As you can guess this may be a time-consuming process, and time is money in business. The easiest way to find good small business insurance is to use an online comparison site that does all the work for you. They will take some information from you and match you with one of their partners that will offer you a plan. You will actually get various offers that you can follow up on to make sure they are right for you. 
4. Ask About Discounts: There are many ways to get discounts. Some of the companies will give you better deals if you go through them for your personal needs. You may also qualify for industry specific discounts, ones that will only be offered if you ask about them. This means that if you are in the agriculture business, an insurance agent based in the middle of farm areas may give you a break on your premiums. There is always a possibility that the insurance carrier is a big fan of rally racing, so if you cater to that genre, you may get a special discount based on that. The only way that you will find out is if you ask. If they get a good laugh at the question, you can either laugh with them or move on to the next offer. Your call.
5. Combine Your Business Insurance Policies: You can also get some costs reduced if you bundle more than one business policy. You probably already realize that you will need more than type of policy, so if you get them all combined into one larger group you will get a small discount on the overall cost. What this means is that if you need building insurance and vehicle insurance for your business, get them through the same carrier and have them combine the two separate policies into one bigger policy.

It may seem like a lot of things to deal with, but if you use the online platform linked above it will save you time, frustrations, and money. But always keep one thing in mind; you never want to skimp on the amounts of coverage that you have. You may not need it for months, or years, but almost all companies file a claim at least once while they are in business. As the old saying goes, “It is better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.”