You must insure your business as thoroughly as possible, and this includes insuring all property assets in your possession. This might include anything from your possessions to the structure that houses your primary business location. Additionally, you will need to insure all structures on your commercial property, not just your main operating space.

When insuring commercial property under a business owners policy (BOP), you cannot assume that every asset in your possession will have coverage automatically. However, it is possible to adequately cover your property as long as you know how to adequately leverage your BOP. Let’s take a closer look.

BOP Property Insurance

BOPs provide business owners with the advantage of getting several essential pieces of commercial insurance within one package. They usually offer general liability, business interruption and property insurance.

If you own the property from which your business operates, then your BOP will usually make ample accommodations to allow you to insure the structures that sit on it. If a covered event like a fire, severe weather or vandalism were to damage the building, then your BOP will help you pay to rebuild. Generally, your property insurance will cover both the primary structure and other features, such as:

• Permanently installed interior fixtures and machinery
• Permanently installed exterior features
• New construction on the property that is not complete
• Appliances used to maintain the building

However, while the primary business structure will be covered by your property insurance, it’s up to you to make sure that all other structures on the property have coverage too. By talking to your agent, you can take the appropriate steps to do so.

If there are other structures on your property, you might not have to do anything extra to insure all the buildings. Your BOP will often contain other structures coverage to address these risks. However, you must disclose to your insurer that these buildings are present on your property. They will need to know that the additional structures exist because they must accurately measure the risk markers associated with insuring these particular items.

Extending Your Property Coverage

Though your BOP will often provide base property insurance for detached building structures, you might need to buy additional coverage in order to fully insure your property. Certain structures are unique and therefore come with unique insurance risks. As a result, you might have to add specialty policy endorsements to your plan in order to optimize your benefits.

One primary area where you might need additional coverage is when you are insuring outdoor property and signage. These unique items might have relatively low levels of coverage under standard BOP limits. However, their values might necessitate additional coverage. Therefore, by adding additional benefits into your plan, you’ll be able to get the more expansive protection that can work to your advantage. Speak to your agent about how best to get this expanded coverage.

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