Business Owner’s Policy vs. General Liability Insurance (2024)

What Is Business Owner’s Policy Insurance?

A Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into onebusiness insurance policy. BOP insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft or other covered disasters. Business owner’s insurance also helps cover claims that could arise from your business operations. These include claims of bodily injury or property damage. They also include claims related to personal and advertising injury.

What Is a BOP Policy?

To run a successful business, you needbusiness insurance to protect your business from property and liability claims.That’s why most business owners buy general liability insurance. The easiest way to get general liability is by purchasing a Business Owner’s Policy(BOP). It combines commercial property and business income with your general liability coverage.

General liability insurancehelps protect you from claims that your business caused bodily injury or property damage. It can also protect you if someone sues you for advertising injury.

Commercial property insurancecovers your business’ physical location and equipment, whether you own or lease it.

Business income insurancehelps replace your lost income if you temporarily shut down due to damage from a fire, for example. Your business income coverage can also help cover extra expenses from employee absences.

Bundling coverages like these into one policy is convenient and easy for all small businesses. You can also add extra coverages to your BOP if you need to, such as:

  • Professional liabilityto help protect you if someone sues you for errors in your professional services.
  • Commercial autocoverage to help protect vehicles driven for your business.
  • Data breachcoverage, which helps protect you if private information is ever lost or stolen from your business.
  • Workers’ compensationto provide benefits to employees with a work-related injury or illness.

On top of the coverages you can add to your BOP, there are still certain policies you may need to buy separately. For instance, you can get inland marine coverage to help protect any of your business’ property that can be moved over land.

Commercial Package Policy vs. BOP

It’s important to understand the difference between a commercial package and your BOP. Commercial packages bundle coverages according to your specific needs. BOPs always bundle the same three general business coverages.

Find out what type of coverage you need by getting a small business quotetoday.

What Is General Liability Coverage?

Unlike commercial property coverage, general liability only provides coverage for damage and injuries your business causes to a third party. It does not cover damage to your business’ own property or injuries to your employees.

This type of business liability insurance covers claims alleging:

Bodily injury caused by your business operations. This includes paying your customers’ medical expenses if they’re injured on your property. If a customer sues you as a result of a bodily injury, general liability can help cover your defense costs.

Some examples of bodily injury claims covered by general liability include:

  • A customer trips over a misplaced box in your store and sprains their ankle.
  • Your waiter spills hot coffee on a customer and burns them.

Property damage caused by your business, including:

  • An employee damaging a client’s computer while working on it at their home.
  • An outdoor sign falling on your customer’s car.
  • A lawnmower driven by your landscaper kicking up a rock that breaks a customer’s window.

Advertising injury from copyright violations in your business’ ads, or something you do that harms someone’s reputation. For instance, if your employee uses artwork in an advertisem*nt without permission. Or if you say something negative about your competition in a newspaper interview.

Find out how general liability insurance and other common business insurance policies compare.

Most types of businesses benefit from general liability insurance. Learn more about how it can protect your business by visiting our general liability insurance page.

Last Updated: March 12, 2024

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Business Owner’s Policy vs. General Liability Insurance (2024)

FAQs

What type of insurance is not covered by a business owners policy? ›

BOPs do NOT cover professional liability, auto insurance, worker's compensation or health and disability insurance. You'll need separate insurance policies to cover professional services, vehicles and your employees.

What is the difference between personal liability and business liability insurance? ›

The main difference, however, is that personal liability insurance covers for injuries or damages that the insured is personally held responsible for while general liability policy, which is also called commercial general liability insurance, pays for the costs incurred from bodily and property harm associated with a ...

What is the difference between a CPP and a BOP? ›

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOP (BUSINESSOWNERS POLICY) AND CPP (COMMERCIAL PACKAGE POLICY)? A BOP is a bundled package of coverages designed for the average small- to medium- sized risk. A CPP is more of a cafeteria style policy where each coverage is tailored to the specific risk and needs of the business.

What type of insurance should a business owner have? ›

The quick answer is yes. Most businesses need liability insurance for small business. But there are several different types of liability coverage to choose from. The most common are general liability and professional liability.

What does a business owner policy cover? ›

If you own a small business, a business owner's policy (BOP) protects you from liability claims and lawsuits; safeguards your buildings, equipment and inventory; and helps cover you financially if your business unexpectedly shuts down from a covered loss.

What is covered by the businessowners property coverage form? ›

Both businessowners forms provide the following two major coverages: Coverage A—Building(s), and • Coverage B—Business Personal Property. A limit of insurance must be shown in the declarations for each type of property covered. For example, an insured business that is a tenant would not require the building coverage.

What is personal liability for business owners? ›

Personal liability for business debts and obligations can arise where a business loses a lawsuit or incurs a debt obligation and the creditor then goes after the personal assets and property of the business owners or members.

What are the legal liabilities of a business? ›

Legal liability describes a situation in which a small business is held legally responsible for injuring or financially harming another party, This judgment can result in fines, penalties, or other payments.

What does a BOP not cover? ›

A BOP doesn't include coverages like workers' compensation, professional liability insurance, commercial auto insurance and data breach insurance. You can add these coverages on to your BOP as additional protection.

Is BOP the same as business ownership policy? ›

A Business Owner's Policy (BOP) combines business property and business liability insurance into one business insurance policy. BOP insurance helps cover your business from claims resulting from things like fire, theft or other covered disasters.

Does BOP cover loss of income? ›

Policies also reimburse owners for lost revenue that would have otherwise been earned if the business remained open. Business interruption policies are typically bundled within a larger businessowner's policy (BOP) that includes business property and liability coverages.

What is the most common type of business insurance? ›

Commercial Automobile, Commercial General Liability, Commercial Umbrella, and Workers Compensation are the most common business casualty insurance lines.

What are the top 3 types of insurance? ›

We begin with an overview of the types of insurance, from both a consumer and a business perspective. Then we examine in greater detail the three most important types of insurance: property, liability, and life.

What is an example of a business risk that Cannot be covered by insurance? ›

An uninsurable risk could include a situation in which insurance is against the law, such as coverage for criminal penalties. An uninsurable risk can be an event that's too likely to occur, such as a hurricane or flood, in an area where those disasters are frequent.

Which of the following is not a feature of a typical business owners policy? ›

Final answer: A Business Owners Policy (BOP) is a type of insurance policy that combines several coverages into one package for small businesses. The feature that is NOT typically included in a BOP is usually actual cost valuation.

Does a business owners policy cover general liability? ›

A Business Owner's Policy, or BOP for short, is the Swiss Army knife of business insurance. It combines the most necessary policies—general liability, business property, and business interruption insurance—into one convenient package. A Business Owner's Policy covers: Third-party lawsuits.

Which of the following would not be covered under a businessowners policy unless specifically activated on the declarations page? ›

Explanation: In a Businessowners Policy (BOP), certain coverages may not be automatically included and must be specifically activated on the Declarations page for coverage to apply. The coverage that would not be covered unless activated on the Declarations page is Employee dishonesty.

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