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What Is Business Owner’s Policy Insurance?
A Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. BOP insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft or other covered disasters. Business owner’s insurance also helps cover claims that could arise from your business operations. These include claims of bodily injury or property damage. They also include claims related to personal and advertising injury.
What Is a BOP Policy?
To run a successful business, you need business insurance to protect your business from property and liability claims. That’s why most business owners buy general liability insurance. The easiest way to get general liability is by purchasing a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP). It combines commercial property and business income with your general liability coverage.
General liability insurance helps protect you from claims that your business caused bodily injury or property damage. It can also protect you if someone sues you for advertising injury.
Commercial property insurance covers your business’ physical location and equipment, whether you own or lease it.
Business income insurance helps replace your lost income if you temporarily shut down due to damage from a fire, for example. Your business income coverage can also help cover extra expenses from employee absences.
Bundling coverages like these into one policy is convenient and easy for all small businesses. You can also add extra coverages to your BOP if you need to, such as:
- Professional liability to help protect you if someone sues you for errors in your professional services.
- Commercial auto coverage to help protect vehicles driven for your business.
- Data breach coverage, which helps protect you if private information is ever lost or stolen from your business.
- Workers’ compensation insurance to provide benefits to employees with a work-related injury or illness.
On top of the coverages you can add to your BOP, there are still certain policies you may need to buy separately. For instance, you can get inland marine coverage to help protect any of your business’ property that can be moved over land.
Commercial Package Policy vs. BOP
It’s important to understand the difference between a commercial package and your BOP. Commercial packages bundle coverages according to your specific needs. BOPs always bundle the same three general business coverages.
Find out what type of coverage you need by getting a small business quote today.
What Is General Liability Coverage?
Unlike commercial property coverage, general liability only provides coverage for damage and injuries your business causes to a third party. It does not cover damage to your business’ own property or injuries to your employees.
This type of business liability insurance covers claims alleging:
Bodily injury caused by your business operations. This includes paying your customers’ medical expenses if they’re injured on your property. If a customer sues you as a result of a bodily injury, general liability can help cover your defense costs.
Some examples of bodily injury claims covered by general liability include:
- A customer trips over a misplaced box in your store and sprains their ankle.
- Your waiter spills hot coffee on a customer and burns them.
Property damage caused by your business, including:
- An employee damaging a client’s computer while working on it at their home.
- An outdoor sign falling on your customer’s car.
- A lawnmower driven by your landscaper kicking up a rock that breaks a customer’s window.
Advertising injury from copyright violations in your business’ ads, or something you do that harms someone’s reputation. For instance, if your employee uses artwork in an advertisement without permission. Or if you say something negative about your competition in a newspaper interview.
Find out how general liability insurance and other common business insurance policies compare.
- General Liability vs. Product Liability Insurance
- General Liability vs. Errors & Omissions Insurance
- General Liability vs. Workers' Compensation Insurance
- Professional Liability vs. Errors and Omissions Insurance
Most types of businesses benefit from general liability insurance. Learn more about how it can protect your business by visiting our general liability insurance page.
Last Updated: December 20, 2024
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