Pennsylvania Business Insurance

General liability insurance, also known as commercial general liability (CGL), protects your small business from another person or business’s claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs, and damage to property. Some examples of what may be covered are below.

• Bodily injury: A customer trips and falls when entering a hair salon and breaks their wrist. The client sues the hair salon owner for medical costs and lost wages. General liability insurance may cover the claim and related medical expenses.
• Personal injury: A personal trainer is overheard talking about one of his clients at lunch in a false and unflattering way. Word gets back to the client, who then sues for slander. The personal trainer’s general liability policy may cover defense costs.
• Damage to property: A photographer is contracted to take pictures for a marketing firm’s portfolio. During the shoot, she damages a valuable piece of artwork in the firm’s lobby. The photographer’s general liability insurance policy may cover the cost to replace the art.

Learn more about general liability insurance costs.

Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance (E&O insurance), covers certain claims against businesses that provide professional services. Here are some examples of what may be covered.

• Scope creep: A marketing consultant is contracted to create a major campaign for a client, but the client continues to change the scope of work. When the client asserts the consultant didn’t meet the shifting expectations, the client sues. A professional liability policy could protect the consultant, even if no mistake was made.
• Negligence: A human resources consultant is hired to update a company’s employment practices. Six months later, the client calls to say a part-time employee is suing the company because a key provision for the number of hours part-timers can work was omitted from the employee manual. The client makes a claim against the consultant, contending that they were responsible for the mistake. The consultant’s professional liability policy may protect them, including defense costs.

Learn more about professional liability insurance.

A business owner’s policy (BOP) is a combination of general liability and business property insurance. A BOP is often used to provide balanced coverage for small businesses who also want to protect their own business equipment.

Here are some examples of what a business owner’s policy could cover.

• Bodily injury: A marketing consultant’s client slips and falls in the consultant’s office, breaking their wrist. The consultant’s business owner’s policy may cover the client’s medical costs and lost wages.
• Property damage: An IT consultant’s office is flooded when the building’s sprinkler system goes off. Their equipment, and that of several clients, is damaged beyond repair. The consultant’s business owner’s policy may cover the cost to replace the equipment.

A business owner’s policy can be customized to include things like hired or non-owned autos, commercial crime coverage, office insurance for fire and business interruption, and more.

Learn more about business owner's insurance.

Cyber security insurance, sometimes called cyber liability insurance or cyber risk insurance, protects your business against computer- or technology-related losses. These can include phishing schemes, ransomware attacks, data breaches, and more.

Businesses that have a website, accept credit cards and other digital forms of payment, use email, or store customer data are vulnerable to a cyber attack – no matter what size the business is.

Here are some ways cyber security insurance can protect your business.

• Stolen data: A company laptop that contains sensitive customer data is stolen. It’s not clear if the data is compromised, but customers must be notified and offered credit monitoring, and the data must be restored. A cyber security insurance policy may cover these costs.
• Ransomware: An accountant’s assistant clicks on a link in an email that looks like it came from a vendor. The link is fraudulent, the accountant’s system becomes disabled, and a ransom is demanded. The accountant’s cyber security insurance policy can provide expert guidance on handling the demand as well as covering associated costs.

Learn more about cyber security insurance.