Florida Insurance Network

Answer: A BOP.

That would not be BOP deluxe, for you fans of 70s progressive rock. Just BOP.

BOP stands for business owner’s policy, which is way less cool than progressive rock, unless you’re into saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars on commercial insurance. In that case, it’s still less cool than progressive rock.

BOPs are the El Caminos of small business insurance (another  70s thing, yes, but if you don’t know what an El Camino is … well, I feel sorry for you, man). It’s not a car. It’s not a pickup truck. It’s a little of both.

Insurance people refer to the “gestalt of El Camino” to explain BOPs. No they don’t. I’m probably the first. The point is that BOPs come from the insurance factory with a little bit of this and a little bit of that for businesses that don’t need a lot of either.

Sometimes, commercial insurance comes in packages. Insurance people refer to these as “package policies.” Seriously. They do. You can buy package policies a la cart to insure buildings, inventory, business liability, crime, commercial autos,  etc.

A commercial package policy lets you include forms of insurance that you need and exclude forms you don’t need. Package policies are the antithesis of El Camino because you can make them more car than truck to avoid wasting money on unnecessary forms of insurance.

For example, if your business is selling used mattresses out of a leased storage unit, then I definitely won’t be buying my next bed from you.

That’s a story for another day. But let’s say that is what you do and you want to insure your business liability, commercial auto and your inventory of used mattresses. You don’t need insurance for crime or valuable papers or business interruption. So, you could buy a package policy to insure only what you need to cover.

BOPs are similar in that they come packaged with different forms of insurance. The main difference is that they come packaged with certain kinds of coverage whether you want them or not. And the limits for all forms of coverage within a BOP are capped at relatively low numbers.

Now, you might ask, “Why the hell would I buy a business insurance policy that includes coverage I don’t need?” Because I get paid more commission, stupid.

No, just kidding. The real answer is because you probably will pay much less for a BOP that comes packaged with coverage you don’t need than you would pay for a package policy that has only what you do need. Why? Trust me. You don’t want to read that here but it’s a true fact.

And, by the way, I get paid a lot less commission on a BOP than I do for a more expensive package policy. That’s just how much I care.  I really do.

How do you know whether a BOP is right for your business? The answer boils  down to how much insurance do you need? If your business needs just a little bit of one kind of insurance and a little bit of another, a BOP might be right.

Just like an El Camino. Sometimes you need a car. Other times you need a truck. But you never need either one enough to spend the money for both. And so we have the gestalt of El Camino as it pertains to small business insurance.

Ok. I’ll say this right off the top so you don’t take me for a complete jackass. I know you won’t be shocked to learn that an anti-virus company sponsored a survey that shows heightened interest in data protection.

And, no, I’m not a paid shill for Symantec.

Having said that, I do think there are a few things worth noting here.

One is that small and medium-sized businesses are beginning to seriously think about protecting data, and contingency planning for data disasters.

I see you yawning over there, so let me try to make this a little more personal. What would you think and do, if your personal ID info was stolen from a careless business and used to ring up a few hundred thousand dollars worth of charges that showed up on your credit report?

You might have a few choice words for the owner of that business, no? And you might tell everyone you know what happened, right? You might even sue that business. One thing is dead certain, you wouldn’t want to be in that business owner’s shoes.

I can attest from personal observation that too many businesses have looked upon data security as a secondary priority. They would rather keep working on sales and service and pretend that in their case the risk isn’t that bad. It’s that other guy who really needs to watch out.

Well, I’m both pleased and appalled to say that enough businesses have been burned by now to seriously address (i.e. actually spend money on) data security.

If you own or manage a business and aren’t among the converted, I suggest you skim that Symantec report. I know it’s a little trumped up but even with water added it’s pretty strong.

Meantime, I’ll leave you with this analogy. If you have employees, chances are you take workplace safety seriously. Depending on what business you’re in, you might take it very seriously. Maybe you even invest dollars to reduce the risk of injury to your workers.

Does that eliminate the risk of workplace injury? Of course it does not. Human beings are error prone. And, sometimes, errors cause serious injuries. When injuries happen at work, the law makes the employer pay the costs. So, smart employers don’t hesitate to purchase workers compensation insurance knowing that without it one bad injury could lead to financial ruin.

Now, tell me how data safety is any different? If you don’t make efforts to protect your data, you increase your chances of breaching your own critical information, your employees’ and your clients’.

If you do make the effort, you’re much better off but you aren’t immune from data breach. And if it happens, sure as sunrise in the east you’re going to see a bunch of costs and even potential fines come your way.

I won’t list all the potential costs here  but I will tell you about a study I just read and I’ll give you the ultra short version. A company lost 10,000 electronic records. The final cost? $3.7 million. Suppose you lost 1,000 records or just 500. Are you ready to come out of pocket for $370,000 or $185,000 to clean up that mess?

No?

Do you need insurance?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Symantec Announces September 2010 MessageLabs Intelligence Report (marketwire.com)

Here’s one only a lawyer could love.

It goes something like this: A woman drives to work one morning. It’s cold outside. The roads are icy. She trundles into the office, goes to her workstation and turns on her computer.

Whew! Break time! So she heads back outside for a smoke.

Now, maybe you’re thinking to yourself “why didn’t she smoke before going inside to work?” Or why didn’t she just smoke a butt in the car, then go inside? You thoughtless, inconsiderate lout, you. Why should she smoke in her car when she can smoke and get paid?

Anyway, our worker lights out to light up at the smoker’s outpost, which her employer established as a convenience for his nicotine-dependent employees who would otherwise ruin everyone else’s air with second-hand smoke and probably get the employer sued by a disgruntled ex-employee.

She stands out there, smokes and freezes her tush, then heads back inside. On her way she slips and falls, hurting her left knee, side and back. She’s not just embarrassed all laid out on the floor like a walrus. This poor woman is injured; on the job. Get the picture? That’s right – workers-comp claim.

“Oh, no you don’t!”, says her employer. “You smoke on your own time. We call that a ‘personal  errand,’ which doesn’t qualify as a work-related injury. Don’t expect us to pay your medical bills. You’re on your own, girl.”

“Excuse me,” says the employee. “I don’t think so.” And she sues the company. Well, time goes by and wouldn’t you know it? She loses the lawsuit. The court sides with the employer. No argument there, right? Wrong. The civil appeals court reversed the lower court. Turns out the employer is responsible for her injuries.

Damn! I hope they had good insurance.

By the way, Florida requires employers to purchase workers compensation insurance when they employ four or more people. Some business owners with less than four employees think this law absolves them from paying for work-related injuries. It doesn’t. It just absolves them from buying workers compensation insurance.

If you’ve got employees and no workers comp insurance, you might want to speak to an agent. Those medical bills can get real expensive.

Good luck. I’m going out for a smoke.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Office Politics and The Smokers Clique (socyberty.com)