Commercial Property Insurance in Seattle Explained
You can get insurance for your commercial property. Commercial property insurance protects your property from things like natural disasters, fire and theft.
There are many businesses such as retail stores and even some not-for-profit organizations that hold this insurance. And why shouldn’t they? The commercial property insurance safeguards their livelihood against uncalled perils.
In this section, you will learn everything you might want to know about commercial property insurance before buying one.
The Seattle commercial insurance experts
If you already have home insurance in Seattle Washington or know about it in detail, you may not find commercial property insurance much different. In the case of a house, it’s a property or business that you want to get insured against external factors.
However, many businesses see this insurance as a burden rather than a protection. The cost of this insurance is an expense that they can deduct from their revenue. Moreover, this insurance doesn’t provide any coverage for losses that might occur when a tenant uses a property.
Before you meet an insurer for your commercial property insurance, you should calculate the amount that you should be paying. This calculation should include the value of your assets, primarily your building.
As a business, you should evaluate the total inventory of your assets before determining the overall replacement value and the required coverage you should get for your property.
Another factor that you should consider before sealing a deal is the number of disasters that hit your area. If your property’s location has a high weather-related risk, you might have to pay a significant amount for your commercial property insurance.
So, for instance, if your property is close to the regions prone to wildfire, your annual premium might be higher than for the property located in a safe area with all the basic facilities.
Here is a summary of all the major factors that can help determine the amount of your insurance.
- If your property is located in an area with all the basic facilities such as fire protection, you might have to pay less for the insurance. However, if your building’s location is outside a city or even on an island, you might have to pay a high amount as premium on your commercial property insurance.
- The materials used for construction also affect the amount of premium. If the materials used are combustible, you will probably have to pay a high premium. However, if your building is made of components that are fire-resistant, the premium value will substantially decrease for you. You might increase the fire rating of your property by making small changes to the current structure of your building. You should discuss it with your insurer and add things like fire-resistant floors and doors to improve the rating and reduce the yearly premium by a great amount.
- In addition to construction, the current usage of your building can also have an impact on the overall fire rating. This means that an office building has a higher rating than a restaurant. Besides, some buildings have more than one tenant and even if one occupant is hazardous, the fire rating may reduce overall. And for a building with multiple hazardous occupants, the premium amount could be quite high.
- Another major factor that can affect the amount of premium is the availability of facilities in or near to your building. Does your property have a proper security system? Is it close to a fire station? Moreover, does it contain a sprinkler system and a fire alarm? If your answer to all these questions is a no, you might have to pay a high premium.
What things should you consider for this insurance?
Here is a list of places and things that you can get insured through your commercial property insurance:
- Your Building
- Office Equipment, including furniture and computer systems
- Essential documents and accounting records
- Processing or manufacturing equipment
- Inventory in stock
- Landscaping and fence
- Satellite dishes
How to buy commercial property insurance?
You will come across two different coverage varieties of this insurance, actual cash value and replacement cost.
1. Actual cash value
This coverage will help pay the current value of the damaged property. Moreover, the coverage also considers depreciation and so the claim amount won’t entirely cover the losses associated with any new items.
That said, this coverage helps reduce insurance bills every month.
2. Replacement cost
Unlike the above option, this coverage doesn’t take depreciation into account. Moreover, it helps to replace or rebuild your property utilizing materials of comparable or same values.
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What aspects does commercial property insurance not cover?
We have already discussed that this insurance protects your business and its assets against theft, natural disasters and vandalism.
But what are the things that it doesn’t cover?
Here are a few instances that commercial property insurance may fail to cover, and you might require extra coverage to get out of the situation.
- If you are driving in a company car for a delivery and meet an accident, a commercial auto insurance will cover you in that case.
- Suppose flooding has wreaked havoc in your office and caused huge damage. Since damage related to flood isn’t covered by commercial property insurance, you will have to purchase a flood insurance policy to protect your building against this natural disaster.
- If you are in a business meeting with a client and have accidentally damaged their property, a general liability insurance will help you cover this damage.
Is this insurance available for small home-based businesses?
The answer to this question might depend on the size and nature of your business. But most home-based businesses can easily get enough coverage from their Seattle home insurance.
However, when compared to commercial property insurance, the latter provides more coverage and also offers great protection against business assets. So, it is wise to connect with a Seattle home insurance company and discuss your business’ nature in detail.