Warehouse businesses provide storage and transportation facilities for the properties belonging to their customers. Some warehouse business owners provide storage for all kinds of property, such as personal property or inventory for retail business. Others provide specialized storage facilities for equipment, machinery, tools, or supplies that need to be carefully stored and protected.
Irrespective of the kind of storage facilities your warehouse business has provisions for, warehouse business insurance policies can protect your business as well as your customers.
Why do warehouse businesses need business insurance policies?
A warehouse business is responsible for protecting property belonging to a customer. Although customers pay for the storage space and transportation, ensuring that the property stored is undamaged is the prerogative of the warehouse business.
Warehouse business insurance policies are designed to protect both the business as well as the customers. Some nonprofit insurance policies protect the physical property of the warehouse business, and others provide coverage for the property stored within.
Getting the right combination of business insurance policies that protect both your business as well as your customers is wise. Your insurance policies will ensure that in case of unforeseen circumstances, both you and your customers are covered. It will also increase your warehouse business’ reputation and make customers feel safer about storing their properties with your business.
What kind of business insurance policies should warehouse owners consider?
There are various kinds of business insurance policies that you can consider as a warehouse business owner. However, there are five business insurance policies that provide protection that you may want to think about. These include:
1. Warehouse Legal Liability Insurance
This business insurance policy is designed for warehouse storage options. With Warehouse Legal Liability Insurance, your business is covered against the property your warehouses are storing. Since your business has the responsibility to protect your customers’ goods and properties, any damage to them can negatively impact your business.
A Warehouse Legal Liability Insurance provides protection against instances such as loss or damage of property for situations that are covered. Such situations can include storage, packaging, labeling, or other services that your warehouse business provides.
2. Property and Liability Insurance
Warehouse business owners should think about seeking protection for the physical location where goods and property are stored. If a fire breaks out at a storage facility, or if there’s storm or water damage, the property can be damaged.
When this happens, if your warehouse business doesn’t have insurance policies in place, your business assets could be affected. This happens as your business will have to pay for restoration from your pocket or by using your assets.
A Property and Liability insurance policy can protect the physical property of your warehouse storage facilities by providing financial protection and help against covered areas.
3. Carrier Logistics Insurance
A warehouse business provides transportation and logistics services for customers’ goods and property. Through these services, a warehouse business ensures that customers’ property is picked up and transported to the chosen storage facility.
A Carrier Logistics Insurance provides coverage should anything happen to these goods and property during transit or while they’re in storage.
4. Commercial Auto Insurance
Transportation services are commonly provided by warehouse businesses. While some warehouse businesses use railroads and even ships to transport cargo, many others use rented or owned vehicles for goods transportation. This business insurance policy applies to businesses that use vehicles and auto to transport goods and products.
With Commercial Auto Insurance, your vehicles are covered in case of an accident. This is especially useful for warehouse businesses that lease their vehicles. Neither you nor your employees will have to worry about paying for damage to vehicles using your business assets or funds.
5. Workers Compensation Insurance
A Workers Compensation Insurance policy protects your employees in case they encounter any accidents during work. For warehouse businesses, the possibility of accidents is high. Your employees could trip and fall at work, goods can fall on them, or they can face an accident while they are transporting their vehicles.
If this happens, your warehouse business could face claims for your employee. Workers Comp protects your business by providing coverage for your employees. Workers Cover includes disability compensation, and medical claims and even allows your employees to claim partial wages from the days they could not work.
You should also consider that many states in the US make it mandatory for business owners to have Workers Comp in place. Protect your employees with a Workers Compensation Insurance Policy.
Conclusion
Warehouse businesses deal with property that belongs to their customers. They’re responsible not just for storing and transporting goods and property but also for protecting them while they’re in storage. At the same time, warehouse businesses should also protect their employees to always ensure productivity and performance.
With these five business insurance policies, your business can find protection and coverage against the most common risk scenarios faced by warehouse business owners. If you want to learn more about business insurance for warehouse business owners, you can click here.
