Business Insurance in Massachusetts

What is Business Insurance?

Businesses in Massachusetts are exposed to lots of different risks. While the exact risks that a business faces depends on what industry it’s in, how large it is, where it’s located, and other factors, almost all businesses face at least some risks. Business insurance helps protect businesses from many of the risks they’re exposed to.

Business insurance policies are often called “commercial insurance” policies. Both terms are used to distinguish the types of insurance policies that are written for businesses from those that are offered to individuals.

What Types of Commercial Insurance Policies Do Insurers Offer?

In order to meet the many different insurance needs that businesses in Massachusetts have, insurers offer a wide array of commercial insurance policies. There are policies that provide property coverages, policies that provide liability coverages, and those that afford both property and liability protections. Additionally, there are some policies that protect against common risks and are used in many different industries, and there are others that have narrowly defined protections and are used only in specific situations.

Some examples of common commercial policies that many businesses obtain are:

• General Liability Insurance, which provides coverage for a number of potential liability lawsuits and claims
• Commercial Property Insurance, which businesses that own buildings or other property frequently should have
• Commercial Auto Insurance, which Massachusetts businesses that own vehicles are typically required to carry
• Workers Compensation Insurance, which businesses in the state that have employees often need
• Cyber Liability Insurance, which is becoming more widely used as online threats proliferate 

A few more specialized commercial policies that are only used in certain situations include:

• Liquor Liability Insurance, which businesses that serve or sell alcohol often need
• Tank Leakage Insurance, which businesses that store liquids in tanks may use to insure their liquid inventory from leaks
• Pollution Liability Insurance, which businesses that use chemicals might use to protect against possible environmental contamination
• Farming or Ranching Loss Insurance, which agricultural businesses may use to safeguard against covered financial losses
• Contractors and Builders Risk Insurance, which contractors, remodelers, and homebuilders might use to protect against liability suits related to quality-of-work issues 

What Are Commercial Package Policies and Business Owners Policies?

Many insurance companies that provide commercial policies offer two different types of package policies for businesses: commercial package policies and business owners policies. Because businesses frequently need several types of commercial insurance, it often makes sense to get coverage through one of these package policies. Which one is best for a business depends on the business’ particular insurance needs.

Commercial package policies are highly flexible package policies that can contain many different commercial insurances within them. Because they’re so flexible, these policies are often used by businesses that need lots of different coverages or have highly specialized insurance needs.

Business owners policies are basic package policies. They typically offer commercial property insurance, general liability insurance and business interruption insurance. Some may have a few other coverages, such as commercial auto insurance or cyber liability insurance, available as optional protections.

Business owners policies’ basic protections are designed to meet the general insurance needs of most small businesses. They may be purchased by small businesses that don’t have specialized needs, or they might be purchased and supplemented with other standalone policies by small businesses that do have specialized needs.

How Can Businesses in Massachusetts Get Business Insurance?

For help deciding what business insurance to get, business owners should contact an independent insurance agent who’s licensed in Massachusetts. An independent agent who specializes in commercial insurance will have the expertise to make coverage recommendations, and they’ll be able to help a business find policies that provide the coverages it needs.