If you own a small business in California, you’ll want to stay informed on any changes in state law regarding insurance requirements. Currently, California mandates that businesses have two types of insurance at all times – workers’ compensation and commercial auto insurance. The first type, workers’ compensation insurance, is required for businesses with any employees and helps pay for the medical bills and lost wages associated with a workplace injury or illness. The second type, commercial auto insurance, is needed for any business-owned vehicle. Additionally, if employees use personal vehicles for work, it is highly recommended that hired and non-owned policies be purchased because most personal auto policies exclude business use. 

While none of the following insurance is required for your business, they are highly recommended as they provide additional coverage should an incident requiring insurance occur. 

• Cyber Liability Insurance: If your business suffers a cyber-attack, this insurance can be used to cover the cost of notifying impacted customers, regulatory fines, extortion payments, and legal fees.
• Professional Liability Insurance: Covers the legal costs associated with a breach of contract, negligence, and other similar claims made by a customer.
• Crime Insurance: If your business is the victim of a theft or robbery, this coverage can help you recover from these losses.
• Business Income Insurance: Should your business be forced to close, this coverage contributes to paying rent and other bills.
• Commercial Umbrella Insurance: Provides excess liability coverage beyond your existing policy limits. 

Call Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. in San Francisco, CA for more information on insuring your business. Our friendly and knowledgeable team of insurance professionals are happy to answer all your questions and can help customize a commercial insurance policy that best protects your business. 

Cyber liability insurance protects businesses of all sizes from financial losses incurred by cyber threat actors, including theft, hacking, ransomware, denial of service, and data breaches. Cyber liability insurance is a must if you store sensitive information in the cloud or on a computer, such as social security numbers, health data, or bank account data. While it may be easy to think that small businesses aren’t going to be the target of cyberattacks, criminals seek opportunities. The reality is that the smaller the business, the more vulnerabilities that exist because many companies do not have the money to invest in robust cyber security defense technology. 

With the number of cyberattacks on the rise, having cyber liability insurance can be the difference between surviving or closing your business after an incident. Generally, most cyber liability insurance policies cover the following:

• Cost of notifying impacted customers
• Legal fees and expenses
• Regulatory fines
• Costs incurred during the recovery of the compromised data
• Ransom extortion payments. 

In addition to having cyber liability insurance, there are several low-cost steps a business can take to prepare for a cyber attack. Start by having a cyber attack response plan that outlines when customers will be notified and what teams will assist. Additionally, utilize data encryption technology and require robust security training for all employees that discuss their responsibility in preventing an attack. 

To learn more about cyber liability insurance and how it can help your business, give Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. in San Francisco, CA a call to learn more. We’re happy to schedule a no-obligation consultation with a team member to discuss how we can help protect your business from cyberattacks with a robust commercial insurance policy. 

Are you one of the entrepreneurs pondering a home-based business in San Francisco, CA? You are on the right track because a home-based offers minimal operating costs, flexibility, and freedom of commuting. But have you thought about business insurance from Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc.? Like any business, a home-based business needs commercial insurance for the reasons below:

Homeowners insurance doesn’t protect your home-based business optimally

Most home-based business owners make the mistake of assuming that home insurance covers their business. Unfortunately, typical home insurance excludes business-related risks. For instance, if a customer trips and injures their back when attending a business meeting, home insurance won’t cover the medical costs. Similarly, home insurance won’t cover claims arising from a detached garage business within your home.

To protect your business

Your home-based business may be operating on a small scale, but it has the same kind of risks as its large counterparts. Here are some of the perils covered by commercial insurance for your home-based business:

• Liability claims: While liability coverage isn’t compulsory in California, every business should invest in this coverage since liability claims are common and costly. Commercial insurance protects your business against claims of bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury. Plus, it saves you when sued.
• Assets protection: Commercial insurance protects business assets, such as computers, furniture, and other assets from risks listed in your policy.
• Workers protection: Whether you are the only worker in your business or have other employees, you must invest in worker’s comp insurance. This coverage protects your employees against work-related injuries and illnesses.

Are you ready to invest in commercial insurance for your San Francisco, CA business? Why don’t you get in touch with Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc.? We offer personalized commercial insurance policies that suit your specific needs.

You have opened your own business and could not be happier but the agents at Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. in San Francisco, CA want to help you protect your business from any adverse events that may occur in the future. You can protect your business by having the correct amount of commercial insurance coverage in place.

Worker’s Compensation

In the state of California, you must have worker’s compensation in place. This type of coverage will pay for the medical bills and lost wages of any employee who is injured on the job.

Commercial Auto Liability Insurance

If your business owns vehicles or personal vehicles are used for business purposes, you should have commercial auto liability insurance in place in case an accident occurs. This will protect you and your business if an auto accident does occur while the vehicle is in use for business purposes.

Liability Insurance

It is important to have a liability insurance policy in place that will protect customers or others that visit your business and could become injured at the physical location of your business or because of an incident that occurs involving your business.

Property Insurance

It is important to have business insurance that covers the building your business is located in and any merchandise and other equipment and items that are part of your business. This will help you if your business sustains damages due to a fire, natural disaster, vandalism, or burglary incident.

Other Commercial Insurance Options

You can also obtain other commercial insurance coverage options including cyber liability that will help you recover costs that are lost due to a breach in the security of your client’s personal information. You can also obtain insurance that will help protect you from slander and other legal issues that can arise involving your business.

To create the best commercial insurance policy for your business, call upon the commercial insurance specialists at Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. in San Francisco, CA today to get your policy started!

Renters insurance is the type of insurance that is designed to protect tenants that rent properties and their personal belongings. It covers unexpected events, including fire and theft, and injuries to guests and visitors. Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. serving San Francisco, CA and other surrounding towns prepared a brief guide containing the key information about renters insurance that you should know. 

What Are The Types of Renters Insurance?

It is made up of three types of insurance, including the following: 

• Personal property coverage. It covers personal belongings from destruction or loss. 
• Additional living expenses coverage. Provide finances for renting another housing if your rented home is damaged and temporarily is not inhabitable.
• Personal liability coverage. It covers the damages caused to other people and their properties. 

What Is Not Covered By Renters Insurance?

Renters insurance has its own limitations and does not cover everything. For example, it does not cover the following:

• Expensive and valuable belongings, such as jewelry, artifacts, pieces of art, etc. 
• Roommates, unless they are named on the policy.
• Medical bills. It does not cover your personal medical bills, even if you injure yourself at home. 
• Business inventory and equipment. If you want to run a home business, you should know that neither your business nor inventory and equipment are covered by renters insurance. 
• Floods. Renters insurance covers accidental water damage but not the damage caused by heavy rain or flooding. If you want to protect your property and belongings from a flood, you should buy a separate flooding insurance policy. 

Biddle-Shaw Insurance Services Inc. – An Insurance Brokerage Firm You Can Trust

If you are renting a home, you should definitely have renters insurance – it will protect you and your belongings from the unexpected. Our insurance firm serving clients in San Francisco, CA specializes in all kinds of insurance policies, including renters insurance. If you have any questions, or you want to discuss the options available, feel free to give us a call.