In most cases, companies in their first year secure a Business Owners Insurance Policy for their general business liability and contents along with Workers Compensation Insurance if they have employees.

Depending on the nature of your business and insurance requirements, the estimated time to bind coverage could take anywhere from a few hours to several days.

Usually the entity or individual requesting the document will provide the verbiage and/or the details of whom to make the certificate out to. They will, in addition, indicate the designation they desire.

If your company has employees, generally, a workers compensation policy is mandatory. However, there are exceptions that pertain to statutory regulations and business structure. Consulting your accountant or trusted personal insurance agent is the recommended course of action.

New York Group Disability Insurance is a state insurance program designed to provide employees with income replacement in the event that an off-the-job accident results in a disability. It is mandatory to take this policy as per New York statutory regulation for businesses that have employees working in New York.

There are few ways you can place a claim:

By calling your Insurance Company’s claim department.

By calling a third party’s Insurance Company claim department.

By calling your personal insurance agent.

The next step would be getting your relevant claim documents over to your insurance agent: Police Reports, damage/loss explanations, bill(s) of repair of damage/loss, etc. For Ficke customers, please go to our Claims Tab for further information.

It depends on the state. Many states are covered under the same WC Policy, but payroll figures need to be reported in the states where you place your employees. It’s better to consult with your personal insurance agent before you place employees in states outside of your territory.

General Liability Coverage includes:

Bodily Injury Liability Coverage: helps to protect you in the event that injuries occur to other individuals as a result of your operations.

Bodily Injury Liability Coverage: helps to protect you in the event that injuries occur to other individuals as a result of your operations.

Property Damage Liability Coverage: Provides protection in case damage occurs to the property of others.

Personal Injury Liability Coverage: Helps provide you with protection for offenses such as false arrest, libel, slander and wrongful entry.

Advertising Injury Liability Coverage: Helps cover your legal liability for a variety of offenses arising out of the advertising of your business’s goods and services.

Unlike property insurance, there is no way to determine the potential amount of a liability loss. For this reason higher limits are always recommended. Increasing liability limits does not usually cost much and will tremendously increase the value of your policy. Additionally, many businesses are required to furnish proof of liability certificates which often have high minimum limits that must be met before they are accepted.

National carriers usually cover most of the continental U.S.A. However, there are certain states that require businesses to secure workers compensation directly through their own state run departments. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, and Wyoming, for example, are a few of the states that require Workers Compensation policies to be obtained through state funds.