Reviewing Your Current Orange County Insurance Policies?

Ensure your Orange County business has the insurance it needs by reviewing your policies. Patrick O’Neill talks about things you may have overlooked.

Orange County, California

For any company today, reviewing various aspects of your business is an absolute must. Whether it is the services and/or products you sell to the public or distributors, vendors you use, or sub-contractors doing work for your company, reviewing is always an ongoing process. Staying with that train of thought, when was the last time you performed a complete review of all your California company’s insurance policies? If the answer is I can’t remember, then it is long overdue, and it would be in the best interest of your company to do a review as soon as you can.

The first step is to review your CA General Liability policy; check your insurance policy limits, then compare them to what your company sales are, especially if you are selling or producing a product and if you feel there is the slightest chance that a claim could severely cripple your company’s finances or possibly cause it to shut down. Your company should look at adding additional coverage through an OC umbrella policy. In reviewing your current General Liability policy, it would be wise to check that your policy includes completed operations/ products liability coverage. The reason we recommend this is because a recent potential client was talking with us concerning their existing coverage. This particular company makes a product that is classified as high risk. In reviewing their liability policy, we pointed out that on their current policy, product liability coverage was specifically excluded, which left this client with virtually no coverage at all.

Another area where a review is important is your company’s property coverage. Over the past year, has your business purchased or disposed of any equipment, tools, parts, inventory, or machinery, and most important, does your property coverage include theft? Now, I know that you are probably thinking that all California property insurance policies include theft coverage. The answer is no, not all property policies include theft coverage. A repair shop who specializes in cycle repair and is now our client discovered the hard way that their previous policy carried no theft coverage when they filed a claim after they were broken into, and almost $15,000 of items were taken. No doubt you would not like to find out about your company’s missing theft coverage after you file a claim with your carrier.

If your business is one that deals on the professional services side such as accounting, consulting, engineering, or one in a professional services field, then having Professional Liability Insurance coverage is essential to protecting your business. If you currently only have a General Liability policy, this coverage will not respond to a claim from the professional services you provided to a client should your firm be sued. If your business is in the field of providing professional services then acquiring a Professional Liability policy in Orange County will protect your business in the event that a client files a claim against your firm saying they were harmed by either a negligent act provided by your business or an error or omission that happened when your business was providing them with your professional services. Please be aware these types of claims tend to be expensive, and having this policy will help protect your business.

Another important area to review is your company’s auto policies. First thing, and this is very important, make sure your auto policy is a commercial policy and not a personal auto policy. Typically, personal auto policies carry no coverage when the vehicles are used for commercial use. Secondly, check that your commercial auto policy has hired auto and non-owned auto liability insurance coverage. Non-owned auto liability coverage included on your policy protects your business in the event that one of your employees is driving their vehicle on company business, and they have an accident. Because they were using their own vehicle on company business, your business could be sued, and non-owned auto liability coverage will protect your business should there be a lawsuit brought against your company. It is recommended that your auto liability policy carry liability limits of $1,000,000.

We realize that every company is unique and will need specific coverages to protect your business, and we suggest that it would be in your best interest to discuss your insurance coverage options with an experienced and professional insurance broker that will tailor an insurance plan to protect your company’s specific needs. If this is something you would like to do for your company, please call the brokers at PJO Insurance Brokerage in California to set an appointment to review your current insurance policies.

Written By:

Patrick O’Neill – Owner