Who this is for
Retailers, offices, restaurants, trades and professional firms with a physical location and under roughly fifty employees. Larger or higher-hazard operations usually need the coverages written separately.
What it typically covers
Commercial property. Your building if you own it, plus contents, stock, equipment and tenant improvements.
General liability. Third-party injury and property damage arising from your premises and operations.
Business interruption. Lost income and continuing expenses while you are closed after a covered loss.
Equipment breakdown. Mechanical and electrical failure of the systems the business depends on.
Extra expense. The cost of operating somewhere temporary while repairs happen.
What it usually doesn’t cover
Employee injuries, which belong on a workers’ compensation policy
Vehicles used for the business, which need commercial auto
Professional advice and errors, which need professional liability
Cyber incidents and data breach costs, unless a cyber endorsement is added
Flood and earthquake, and in coastal areas wind, which are often written separately
Where the number usually goes wrong
Business interruption is almost always the underinsured part, because it is the one figure that is not sitting on an invoice somewhere. Work out what a three-month closure would actually cost in lost margin, plus the rent, payroll and loan payments that do not stop. That is the limit to buy.
How we’d approach it
We start with a schedule of what you own and what a closure would cost, then present the business the way underwriters read it, because how a risk is described changes what it is priced at. Dennis writes most of these and came from a commercial underwriting desk, which is why they land well.