Business insurance for Michigan companies

What business insurance does a Michigan company need?

Most Michigan businesses need general liability, property coverage for their buildings, equipment and inventory, commercial auto for vehicles used in the business, and workers’ compensation once they have employees. Depending on the work, professional liability, cyber liability, a commercial umbrella and surety bonds may also belong in the program. The right mix depends on your operations, contracts, assets and growth plans, not on a one-size package.

The coverages we place for Michigan businesses:

• General Liability — the core of most programs: third-party bodily injury, property damage and personal and advertising injury claims.
• Commercial Property — buildings, business personal property and lost income after a covered loss.
• Business Owners Policy — property, liability and business income packaged together for smaller businesses.
• Professional Liability — claims that your advice or professional services caused a client a financial loss.
• Commercial Umbrella — an extra layer of liability limits above your general liability, auto and employers liability policies.
• Builders Risk — the structure and materials while a building is under construction or renovation.
• Commercial Auto — the vehicles you use to get the job done, and the liability that comes with driving them.
• Commercial Bonds — license, permit and contract bonds placed through several bond markets.
• Workers’ Compensation — medical care and wage-loss benefits for employees injured on the job.
• Cyber Liability — data breaches, ransomware and the liability that follows a cyber event.

Should a small business buy a business owners policy or a commercial package policy?

A business owners policy (BOP) bundles property, general liability and business income coverage into one pre-built policy, which keeps cost and paperwork down for smaller businesses with standard risks. A commercial package policy is assembled coverage by coverage, so limits, forms and endorsements can be tailored to more complex operations. Businesses outgrow a BOP when their size, industry, property values or contract requirements fall outside what the BOP program allows.

• A BOP often fits offices, retail shops, small service firms and other main-street businesses with modest property and predictable liability.
• A package often fits manufacturers, contractors, larger property schedules, multiple locations and businesses whose contracts dictate specific forms or limits.
• Neither includes workers’ compensation, commercial auto or professional liability — those are written separately.

Is workers’ compensation insurance required for Michigan businesses?

Michigan requires most employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. It pays medical care and wage-loss benefits to employees injured on the job, and its employers liability section protects the business if an injured employee’s claim leads to a lawsuit. Whether and when your business must carry it depends on your number of employees, how many hours they work, and how the workers you use are classified.

If you use subcontractors or 1099 workers, the classification question matters. An uninsured subcontractor’s injured worker can end up as a claim on your policy, so certificates of insurance should be collected and tracked.

How does an independent agency help with business insurance?

An independent agency works with multiple commercial insurance carriers rather than one company, so it can compare coverage forms, pricing and appetite across markets for your type of business. The agency’s job is to understand your operations, find the gaps between policies, and place each coverage where it fits best. When the business changes, the agency can move coverage between carriers instead of forcing you to start over.

We have worked with businesses across a wide range of industries. We treat clients as partners: we learn the business, explain each coverage decision, and stay involved after the policy is issued — at renewal, when contracts arrive, and when a claim happens.

When should a business review its insurance coverage?

A business should review its insurance at least once a year before renewal, and any time its operations change. New locations, new vehicles, hiring, new products or services, large contracts, equipment purchases and revenue growth can all change what a policy needs to cover. Reviewing at those moments prevents the most common problem we see: coverage that fit the business three years ago but not today.

• Signing a lease or a contract with insurance or indemnity requirements
• Adding employees, vehicles, locations or a new line of work
• Buying a building, major equipment or new inventory levels
• Starting to store or process customer data online
• Revenue or payroll growing well beyond what the policy was rated on