Inside the Numbers: Business Risks in Ontario
Protecting your business. For Ontario business owners, it’s the name of the game. Thinking about getting a Business Owners Policy in Ontario? Read on.
According to the latest Stats Canada numbers for the last recorded year, there were over 12,000 lawsuits filed in Ontario alone claiming malpractice, defamation, negligence or other torts.
And according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada:
- In 2018, Canadian insurers paid out $6.5 billion in commercial property insurance claims
- Also in 2018, insurers in Canada paid out $3.7 billion in commercial liability insurance claims
The risks are clear. As a business owner in Ontario, you need a comprehensive Business Owners Policy tailored to your business by professionals who specialize in business insurance products. At ALIGNED, business insurance is what we do. We’ve put together this article to give you some basic information on Business Owners Policies in Ontario.
Why You Need a Business Owners Policy in Ontario
You’ve worked for years, held off on buying your dream home, didn’t go on vacation and poured your life savings into work you can finally call your own. You work 12-hour days, 7 days a week, taking time away from your family to get your business off the ground and running smoothly. And one small mistake or a bad weather incident can take it all away.
Business owners from the Golden Horseshoe to Sudbury to Windsor face similar risks and have the same need to protect their most important investment.
How an Ontario Business Owners Policy Covers You
A Business Owners Policy is designed specifically for your business. Different coverages are put together based on your line of work, business practices and the risks that are specific to each. If you want to know exactly which coverages are best for your business, contact us.
There are basic coverages every business needs to protect itself from unforeseen disasters and lawsuits. In this article, we’ve listed a few of the most common.
3 Common Coverages in Ontario Business Owners Policies
1. Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL)
We’ve all heard the horror stories: someone winds up in a hospital bed after eating at a restaurant, an employee forgets to put oil back in a motor and the engine seizes up or a customer slips and falls on the ice outside a business… personal injury and property damage claims against businesses is a multi-million-dollar-a-year industry in Ontario.
Commercial general liability insurance helps you rest a little easier knowing that if you’re hit with a massive lawsuit out of the blue, you won’t have to declare bankruptcy. A CGL policy can protect your business from the following:
- Expensive legal costs
- Settlements
- Judgements against your company
With any of your products, services or business practices fair game for legal liability, commercial general liability policies are pretty much a standard part of any Ontario Business Owners Policy.
2. Commercial Property Insurance
Fires, floods, burst water pipes, sewage backups, gas explosions. What would you do if you came to work one day and found your windows shattered and your business ransacked? Or if you got a call in the middle of the night from the fire department telling you your business is in flames? Would you be able to start over from nothing? What about all that equipment and inventory you haven’t paid off yet?
With these scenarios playing out every day, Commercial Property Insurance is another coverage you can expect as part of your Business Owners Policy in Ontario.
Commercial property insurance covers the costs to repair your business and is often the only way businesses survive catastrophic events.
3. Business Interruption Insurance
While commercial property insurance coverage protects your business property, what will you do for money while your business is being repaired?
An Ontario Business Owners Policy usually includes business interruption insurance to help businesses manage their expenses if they’ve been forced to shut down. Business interruption coverage can help your business pay its:
- Rent / Lease
- Taxes
- Payroll
- Utilities
- Other operating costs
Clearly, commercial property insurance, while absolutely necessary, isn’t enough. Business interruption insurance is essential for keeping you from drowning in debt until your business is back on its feet.
These are the basic coverages almost every Ontario Business Owners Policy will include but they aren’t the only ones. Most likely, your business will have other insurance coverage requirements.
Other Essential Business Owners Policy Coverages in Ontario
Does your business rely on computers or digital devices, even if it’s just for record-keeping? Are you a service provider that businesses rely on for advice or legal compliance? If either or both of these descriptions can apply to your business, you have other coverage requirements for your Ontario Business Owners Policy.
Cyber Liability Insurance
Let’s face it, every business these days uses technology on a daily basis. Which means that every business faces the risk of cyberattack. Think it can’t happen to you?
Last year, 60% of businesses that fell victim to cybercrime were small- and medium-sized businesses.
Malware, ransomware and sensitive data exposures are on the rise – and so are the costs to recover from them. Cyber Liability Insurance helps businesses recover data, restore systems and notify customers of data breaches when necessary.
If you’re looking for an Ontario Business Owners Policy, be prepared to have cyber coverage a part of that policy – these days, it’s no longer choice.
Professional Liability Insurance, Errors and Omissions Insurance
Service providers across the spectrum are exposed to the risk of unhappy clients claiming inadequate service or negligence. Wedding planners, contractors, programmers, if you have clients, you face risk.
As for lawyers, financial advisors, marketing firms, etc., your mistakes could be devastating for you and your clients – with your clients potentially facing stiff regulatory fines, lawsuits or even imprisonment.
Professional liability insurance helps protect your business from legal fees and lawsuits stemming from a mistake or deficiency in your service. If you’re in the service industry, look for professional liability or E&O insurance to be a part of your Business Owners Policy in Ontario.
Looking for a Business Owners Policy to Protect Your Business in Ontario? ALIGNED’s Got You Covered
We know the in-and-outs of protecting businesses in Ontario no matter what the industry. And ALIGNED Advocates are experts in making sure your business is covered at the best possible rates. Contact us today and safeguard your life’s work by making sure your business has the protection it needs.
