Commercial Insurance Comparisons

BOP bundles GL with property + business income — for shops, restaurants, offices. GL alone covers third-party claims only. Side-by-side comparison.

GL covers third-party injury and property damage. Pro Liability covers claims your work caused financial loss. Most service businesses need both.

An LLC limits personal liability but does not replace business insurance. Sole proprietors need more coverage, not less. Here's the trade-off.

Cyber covers data breaches, ransomware, outages. Pro Liability covers professional mistakes. Many service businesses need both, not either.

Occurrence covers incidents that HAPPENED in the policy period. Claims-Made covers claims FILED in the policy period. Different trigger, different gaps.

Hired Auto covers rentals your business pays for. Non-Owned Auto covers personal cars employees drive on business. Most need both — bundled as HNOA.

State funds (CA SCIF, NY SIF, etc.) compete with private WC carriers in most states. State funds often write hard-to-place; private may offer better service.

BOP is a prepackaged bundle for small businesses. CPP is customizable for mid-large operations. Eligibility caps + customization are the trade-off.

Additional Insured = limited liability for one party. Additional Named Insured = full policy rights. Contracts often confuse the two.

Excess sits over one policy and follows its form. Umbrella drops down across multiple GL/Auto/EL policies and may close gaps. They are not the same.

Per Occurrence is the max a GL policy pays for one claim. Aggregate is the policy-year cap across all claims. Both apply on every GL declaration page.

Personal auto excludes business use. Drive for work? You likely need commercial auto, hired auto, or non-owned auto. Personal alone leaves a gap.

Surety bonds guarantee performance to a third party. Fidelity bonds insure YOU against employee theft. They are different products, contracted vs covered.

Replacement Cost pays to rebuild new. Actual Cash Value pays depreciated value. ACV is cheaper upfront but 30-50% less at claim time for aged property.

Commercial Property covers buildings + contents at a fixed address. Inland Marine covers movable property in transit and on job sites.

Crime Insurance covers employee dishonesty + third-party crime. Fidelity Bonds are legacy, narrower coverage. Modern policies default to Crime.

Special Form is open-peril: covers everything not excluded. Basic and Broad Forms are named-peril, listing covered causes. Choice drives premium + risk.

EPLI covers employment claims (harassment, discrimination, wrongful term). D&O covers director/officer decisions. Different exposures, both often needed.

Bid bonds guarantee contract acceptance. Performance bonds guarantee completion. Payment bonds guarantee sub-payment. All three on most public jobs.

In monopolistic states (OH/WA/ND/WY) state-fund WC lacks Employer Liability. Stop-Gap Coverage fills the gap. Without it, employee lawsuits are uncovered.

Workers Comp is required in 49 states (Texas opt-in). Occupational Accident is private coverage for 1099 contractors, opt-outs, and gig workers. Compared.

BOP bundles GL + property + business income. Workers Comp pays employee injury benefits. Most small businesses with W-2 employees need BOTH, not one or the other.

Personal Umbrella sits on top of HOME + AUTO. Commercial Umbrella sits on top of BUSINESS policies (GL, Commercial Auto). They are NOT interchangeable — buying the wrong one leaves your business activities uncovered.

Garage Keepers covers customer vehicles in your storage yard. On-Hook covers a customer vehicle IN TRANSIT on your hook. Commercial Auto covers NEITHER. Side-by-side.

TNC (Uber/Lyft) operates on per-period coverage. Livery (limo/taxi/black car) operates on state PUC framework. Different insurance regimes despite both being for-hire transportation.

Monoline = buy each coverage standalone. Package = bundle multiple lines (BOP, CPP) at 10-25% discount with multi-line claims coordination. The default decision most operators make without realizing.

1099 contractors vs W-2 employees trigger different insurance requirements — Workers Comp, GL, HNOA all affected. Misclassification = state DOL audit + IRS penalties + denied claims.

CPL covers pollution from your OPERATIONS at customer sites. EIL covers pollution from YOUR OWN site + regulatory cleanup. Standard GL excludes BOTH. Side-by-side.

Mobile + booth-renting professionals are NOT covered by the salon's BOP — even if the salon owner says so. Standalone coverage required. Side-by-side breakdown.

LDW = broadest (includes theft + loss). CDW = collision damage only. SLI = third-party liability above state minimum. Three different rental-car waivers most consumers confuse.

Both are within Coverage A products-completed-operations hazard of the standard ISO CGL. Product Liability = defective product YOU made/sold. Completed Operations = finished work at a customer site after you've left. Different loss patterns, different exclusions, different named-insured pitfalls.

Additional Insured adds another party as a NAMED DEFENDANT under your LIABILITY policy. Loss Payee directs PROPERTY INSURANCE PROCEEDS to a lender/lessor with security interest in the asset. Different forms (CG 20 vs ISO Loss-Payable). Different policy types (Liability vs Property). Contractor certificates confuse them constantly — costs money at claim time.

Directors & Officers (D&O) covers personal liability of directors/officers for ALLEGED WRONGFUL ACTS in their corporate capacity. Fiduciary Liability covers personal liability of plan fiduciaries for ERISA breach of duty in administering EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS. Different exposures, different forms, different parties — companies routinely buy D&O thinking it covers ERISA. It doesn't.

When switching claims-made carriers OR retiring, two mechanisms bridge the gap. TAIL (Extended Reporting Period / ERP) is bought from the EXITING carrier — covers claims reported after policy ends for prior acts. PRIOR ACTS (Nose) is bought from the NEW carrier — extends retroactive date back to cover acts before new policy. NOT redundant. Get this wrong on retirement = uncovered tail claims. Get this wrong on carrier switch = double-paying or uncovered gap.

Within the ISO CGL, Medical Payments (Coverage C) is NO-FAULT, no-investigation, $1K-$5K typical limit — pays customer medical bills even when business is NOT legally liable. Bodily Injury Liability (Coverage A) is FAULT-BASED, full defense + indemnity, $1M-$2M typical, requires liability finding. Two completely different claim mechanisms most operators conflate.

Two distinct mechanisms that get conflated on contractor certificates. Waiver of Subrogation = your CARRIER surrenders its right to pursue the named party AFTER paying YOUR claim. Additional Insured = the named party becomes an INSURED, getting defense + indemnity for claims against them. Different forms, different mechanisms, different triggers — almost every commercial contract requires BOTH.