Does My Business Need Delaware Commercial Property Insurance?
Any business owner that has physical assets that are vital for earning revenue should have Delaware commercial property insurance. It is extremely important because it ensures that your business will not suffer large out-of-pocket costs as a result of any damages that may occur from no fault of their own.
What Does Delaware Commercial Property Insurance Cover?
Delaware commercial property insurance is an insurance policy that covers the business property that you lease or own from any damage caused by most natural disasters, fire, theft or vandalism. It also covers your personal property, such as any tools, equipment, inventory, furniture and any other items that you may have within the property. Moreover, this type of insurance policy covers assets, such as accounts receivable and lost income.
There are several things that DE commercial property insurance can cover. Some of the items that are protected under this type of policy include:
- The structure or building
- Your business inventory
- Other peoples’ property
- Any furniture and other equipment within the building
- Fencing
- Landscaping
- Exterior signs
Business owners can adjust their coverage so that suits their individual needs. For example, they can choose a basic policy, or they can add extra protections to ensure that almost all of the property of their business is protected.
What Delaware Commercial Property Insurance Doesn’t Cover
CDelaware commercial property insurance typically does not cover:
- DE commercial vehicles.
- Property damage resulting from employee errors.
- Property that was not purchased for business use
- Personal belongings that may be used by the business.
- Amounts beyond the policy limits and property value.
- Intentionally damage caused by the business owner or employees
Types Of DE Business Property Insurance Coverage
When it comes to Delaware commercial property insurance, people who own a business have several options to choose from and can adjust their polices to their needs. However, there are three basic categories of coverage:
- Basic Coverage. A basic commercial insurance policy insures a business against fires, storms, smoke, explosions, and vandalism.
- Broad Coverage. This type of insurance covers everything that basic coverage does, but it also includes damage to glass, water damage, and any damage that is caused by fallen objects.
- All-risk Coverage. This covers everything that basic and broad coverage offer, and it also includes theft, as well as any other direct physical losses.
There are also specific types of Delaware commercial property insurance coverage. Some examples include:
- Ordinance coverage. This will provide you with money for any additional costs that are associated with repairing or rebuilding your structure after it has been damaged in order to ensure that it meets building codes.
- Valuable papers. This offers limited coverage for any valuable papers that your business may record, such as receipts and other documents.
- Extra expenses. With this coverage, you will receive additional money to return your business back to the condition it was in before it was damaged.
- Personal property coverage for employees. If your employees have any personal property on the premises of your business, this coverage will provide money to replace or repair those items if they become damaged.
- Crime coverage. With this coverage, you will be protected from various types of crimes, such as robbery, forgery and theft.
How Much Does Delaware Commercial Property Insurance Cost?
How much does Delaware commercial property insurance cost? The premiums vary depending on the amount of risk exposure, and it depends on the endorsements and deductible selected. The cost of commercial property insurance varies. Following are some of the main factors that go into the price of a policy:
- Construction: How the building was built and its condition. Masonry or brick buildings don’t burn as fast as wooden frame.
- Occupancy: Who occupies the building influences the rates. Companies with higher fire risk (like pizza ovens, kilns etc.) can pay more.
- Risk: The insurer will determine an overall risk for the business and building before issuing a rate.
- Location: Insurers look at the location of the business. If it is located in a high-crime neighborhood, then the rates are higher.
- Protection: Things like alarms and sprinkler systems can reduce rates. Proximity to a fire station or fire hydrant also can help reduce costs.
Further Reading On Business Property Insurance
DE Commercial Property Insurance Quotes
Request a Delaware Commercial Property Insurance quote in Arden, Ardencroft, Ardentown, Bellefonte, Bethany Beach, Blades, Bowers, Bridgeville, Camden, Cheswold, Clayton, Dagsboro, Delaware City, Delmar, Dewey Beach, Dover, Ellendale, Elsmere, Felton, Fenwick Island, Frankford, Frederica, Georgetown, Greenwood, Harrington, Houston, Kenton, Laurel, Lewes, Little Creek, Magnolia, Middletown, Milford, Millsboro, Millville, Milton, New Castle, Newark, Newport, Ocean View, Odessa, Rehoboth Beach, Seaford, Selbyville, Slaughter Beach, Smyrna, South Bethany, Townsend, Wilmington, Wyoming and all other cities in DE.
Delaware Insurance Regulations
In the state of Delaware, there are certain regulations that are applicable to both personal and commercial insurance. There are actually tens of thousands of individual regulations, governing everything from the amount of assets or cash an insurance company must have per policy to how insurance companies can advertise, but the list of regulations that you need to know about is thankfully a lot smaller.
DE Commercial Insurance
Commercial insurance, also known as general liability insurance, protects a business and their customers in a variety of ways. One form of general liability coverage is bodily insurance which is physical damage to anyone on your premises other than employees.
Employees are covered under another type of insurance called Worker's Compensation. In addition, general liability can cover properly damage, protect you from personal injury suits, advertising injuries and provide legal defense and payment for judgments.
Delaware is not one of the states where commercial insurance is required to operate a business. Delaware is a modified comparative fault state with a 51% negligence standard. There are no caps on awards for personal injury suits in Delaware and the statute of limitations for filing after something happens is two years.
As for how much insurance you should carry in Delaware, there is no clear answer. The best thing to do is to research the type of business you have and what kinds of lawsuits are possible, as well as what the payouts for those lawsuits usually turns out to be, so that you can see how much liability coverage you should carry.
Delaware Personal Insurance
There are a few different types of personal insurance available for consumers, but the only one that has any sort of regulation that you need to know about is auto insurance. There are laws in place governing how much liability insurance you are required to carry in Delaware. However, there are no regulations that consumers need to be aware of when it comes to life insurance, flood insurance or various other types of available insurance.
As for the auto insurance regulations, the state of Delaware requires you to carry auto insurance that pays as a result of an accident that was your fault. The limits are known as 15 000 USD /30 000 USD /10 000 USD. That means that you are required to have 15 000 USD per person or 30 000 USD per accident in your auto insurance coverage. You will also need to have an additional 10 000 USD for property damage.