Business Property and Liability Overview
What Is a Business Owner's Policy (BOP Insurance)?
If you own a small business, a Business Owner’s Policy, or BOP, protects you from liability claims and lawsuits; safeguards your buildings, equipment and inventory; and covers you financially if your business unexpectedly shuts down from a covered loss.
What Does a BOP Cover?
A business owner’s policy (BOP) combines two types of coverages to protect your small business against a variety of claims. Its coverage components include:
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Commercial property insurance, often including business income and extra expense (BIEE)
The general liability portion of a BOP safeguards your business in the event someone makes a claim against you or your business. General liability insurance provides protection from liability lawsuits resulting from things like a customer slipping on a wet floor, a defective product causing damage to a client’s property, or claims that the products or services you provided caused injury. It can also protect you from libel, slander and certain legal claims related to advertising.
The property portion of a BOP helps protect business property you own, lease or rent, including your buildings, equipment, furniture and inventory. It helps cover repair or replacement costs of stolen, damaged or destroyed property, including property that isn’t yours but was in your care. It can also cover loss of income and covered expenses like rent, payroll and other financial responsibilities while your property is being repaired or replaced after a fire or other covered loss.
A Travelers BOP builds in many specialized coverages that can be tailored to the unique risks facing your business. Plus, it offers a wide variety of optional coverages that can offer additional protection. For example:
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Hired and Non Owned Auto — covers your business on those occasions when you rent, lease or borrow a vehicle on a short term basis, or when your employees use their personal vehicles for company business.
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Cyber Liability, Including Data Breach — protects your business against the costs of data breaches and other cyber security issues.
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Crime — protects against the costs of theft of money and securities.
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Contractor’s Equipment — helps pay for repair or replacement of tools and equipment if they are lost, stolen, or damaged.
How Can a BOP Help Small
Businesses?
If you are a small business owner, a Travelers business owner’s policy offers valuable protection if you encounter scenarios like the following:
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A customer trips over a loose wire while visiting your business, falls and fractures their wrist. They sue you to cover their medical expenses.
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One of your contractors loses control of a piece of equipment, which damages the wall of a client’s home or accidentally breaks an item of value while performing their work.
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A pipe bursts and floods one of your workrooms, damaging business-critical equipment and some of your products.
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A fire destroys one of your buildings, leading you to temporarily shut down part of your business. Yet, despite being shut down, you still have to pay rent and your employees.
Business Property Insurance That Protects Against Exposures Today and Tomorrow
Having the right commercial property coverage could mean the difference between a minor disruption to operations and a major financial loss. As one of the largest commercial property writers in the United States, you can trust Travelers to have a deep understanding of your everyday challenges, as well as the expertise, resources and strength to help keep your operations running smoothly and your business resilient.
We offer commercial property protection for a wide variety of industries and businesses ranging from small to large to highly complex. We understand the evolving risks our customers face and offer solutions to address them. Our property insurance policies can be tailored to meet customers’ coverage needs by providing:
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Coverage confidence
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Built-in flexibility
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Services that matter
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National scale with local presence
What Is Business Property Insurance?
Business property insurance is coverage that can protect your company’s physical assets from unexpected events, including fires, windstorms, theft and vandalism. Physical assets covered by commercial property coverage could include the business property you own or rent, office equipment, furniture, fixtures, inventory and other items you count on to support your daily operations.
Through built-in loss prevention services, business property insurance can also deliver a competitive advantage by helping you identify and manage property-related risks specific to your company, allowing you to remain focused on your business. Travelers has expertise across many industries, helping companies identify and reduce property risks.
When an unexpected loss causes disruption or even temporarily shuts down your business, your ability to recover quickly is critical. Travelers commercial property insurance can provide the support and financial assistance needed to get your business back up and running.
Who Is Commercial Property Insurance Coverage Right For?
Commercial property insurance is for all businesses, especially those that have buildings, critical equipment and assets, or access to customers and suppliers. For more than 150 years, Travelers has been a commercial property and casualty insurance provider.
Read on to understand how our commercial property insurance can help your business stay resilient in times of loss and catastrophic events in our ever-changing world.
Commercial General Liability Insurance
Commercial General Liability Insurance can help safeguard your business against damages that can be caused during the course of normal business operations. It can provide protection from a variety of claims or lawsuits, ranging from a customer slipping on a wet floor, a defective product causing damage to a client's property, or other claims that the products or services you provided caused injury. It can also protect you from libel, slander and certain legal claims related to advertising.
Business Income and Extra Expense Insurance
Business Income and Extra Expense insurance provides coverage when your business shuts down temporarily due to a fire or other covered loss. It helps replace your income and covered expenses like rent, payroll and other financial responsibilities while your property is being repaired or replaced.