Business for Profit

There are times when many of us question this concept.

All of us who do expect a profit by owning businesses have invested a lot of hard work, time, and money in developing our services or products. Few of us can afford a catastrophic loss. How do we deal with the risks we have taken (see: Risk Management)? One of the more pragmatic methods is to transfer this to an insurance company. That is where it takes some knowledge to do it right.

We believe we can help. We have over thirty years of experience is dealing with commercial accounts. We know there is more to insuring your business than just the physical property, and protecting you should there be a lawsuit. There are valuable papers and records, income lost because you cannot operate the business, and many other not so obvious things.

Non-Profit Organizations

I am sure that Whidbey Island has more non-profit organization that any where on the planet. We handle the insurance for a great number of them. There are some unique risks that many people are not aware of. An attorney and insurance broker who has experience with these operation should be consulted.

Any organization that is operated by volunteers are in this group. They are by the nature of their operations considered commercial risks even though they do not operate to make money. Perhaps I need to clarify that point. Whenever you do something that is personal, it is generally covered under the liability part of your Homeowners policy. When you have a business operation, your liabilities are only covered under a business policy. If you and your friends start a club, you might tend to think of this activity as personal, but it does not work that way. What you are doing is forming an entity. Since the entity may not have any assets, any litigation would be directed toward its members. Sometimes, there is coverage under the Homeowners policy, but generally it is not. Everything from garden tours, chambers of commerce, homeowners associations, charity groups, fishing clubs, volunteer preschool training, and farmer’s markets require commercial insurance to cover the liabilities of that group. If there is no insurance, then each member becomes responsible of the negligent acts of the organization.

Water Companies

One of the things that are unique to Whidbey Island and other rural areas is the distribution of domestic water. This often comes about when a parcel of land is subdivided and the lots are sold for building homes. Before homes can be built, there must be availability of water. After the well is operational and the lines are in, the developer forms an entity. These can be informal homeowners associations, non-profit corporations, or water districts. Sometimes, years go by without anyone thinking about liability issues, or the destruction of the property. Without insurance, each property owner is liable for injuries to persons or property resulting from contaminated water, or a broken water line. Complicating the matter is when the property where the well sits is owned jointly by the property owners.

Fortunately, the cost of liability insurance is reasonably low because the frequency of losses is very low. The property coverages are also low cost because the fire and theft factors are low. If your homeowners association or water company is not currently insured, it might be something that needs to be brought to the attention of the officers.

Volunteer Groups

Quite often, organization are formed by volunteers who have joined together to do good things for the community, or its members. Most of the time they do not incorporate. Sometimes, they do not even have an informal charter or by-laws. Manyt of them do not know that they have a need for liability insurance.