As your business changes, your business insurance needs to change alongside it. While a cookie-cutter business owner’s policy might work for a static business, as the company grows in both terms of size and services, you can leave open large gaps in both required insurance and liabilities to your business. In this blog, we’re going to go over the three most common scenarios a business might undergo that could require changes to existing policies or the addition of whole new insurance types.

You Gain Employees

Generally, the biggest change to a company is its people. Staff growth is often a product – and a cause – of company growth, and changes to the company itself are a reflection of changes and additions to your leadership team. Two insurance keystones are:

• Your First Employees: As we talked about in our last business blog, in MA you are required to have workers compensation insurance when you have employees, regardless of the number of hours they work.
• Expanding Your Officers: When you add to your C-suite team of executives and grow your company, you also increase liability to them. Policies like directors & officers insurance (D&O) can help protect them and your company.

Gaining New Assets and Property

Another pretty straightforward change is when you increase the property – in terms of physical assets like machinery and furnishings and leased or owned commercial space – you need commercial property insurance to match. Whenever you’re looking at big purchases like these, consult your insurance provider and make sure to update your insurance inventory list with any specialty assets.

Changing Services and Products

Changing services and products is probably the biggest change in your liabilities, which we talk about in detail in our Understanding Insurance and Risk blog. Depending on the services you’re adding – such as professional services that entail you giving advice or performing certain duties – you may need professional liability insurance (also known as errors and omissions insurance) to shield you from liability. Likewise, if you start selling products you’ve made, you’ll need product liability insurance against claims of bodily or property damage due to them.

Of course, the best way to know what types of insurance you need for your current or growing business is to talk to an insurance professional! At Safeside Insurance, we’ve been helping small businesses of all sizes in Worcester County and the greater Massachusetts area for over 30 years. We’ll tailor policies to fit your unique situation from a broad array of providers to make sure you get the right insurance at the right price. Contact us today to talk to an agent or jump right to getting a quote!