Are you looking for an online business insurance quote?
If you’re thinking about opening a business and need insurance, are preparing for your insurance renewal, or are looking to improve your coverage, the first step is obtaining an online business insurance quote.
Before reaching out to your insurance broker, we advise preparing the information you’ll need to get an online business insurance quote. Not only will being prepared speed up the process, but it will also give your insurance broker a head-start on finding insurance tailored to your business.
At Krywolt Insurance, we understand that each of our clients has unique needs and requirements for their business insurance. That’s why we take time getting to know you and ascertaining your business’ needs before providing expert advice on your insurance policy options. We always ensure that you have all the knowledge you need to select the most appropriate business insurance coverage for you.
Continue reading to learn what you need to prepare to get an online business insurance quote from the expert brokers at Krywolt Insurance today:
Why Do I Need Business Insurance?
Before we dive into what information you need to have prepared for an online business insurance quote, it’s valuable to know why you need business insurance to begin with.
As a business owner, you need business insurance to protect yourself from having to pay out-of-pocket for property damage and liability claims. Without business insurance, costly damages and legal claims against your company could be financially devastating.
A few common types of commercial insurance that business owners should have include:
- Commercial General Liability Insurance
- Professional Liability Insurance
- Property Insurance
- Product Liability Insurance
- Business Interruption Insurance
At Krywolt Insurance, we research and compare the market to find the very best insurance coverage to meet our clients’ needs. We anticipate what you need without over-complicating things or pressuring you to get unnecessary coverage. We specialize in customer-tailored business insurance solutions and always put the needs of our clients first by offering exceptional customer service and competitive pricing.
What Do I Need to Get an Online Business Insurance Quote?
At Krywolt Insurance, our top priority is ensuring we present the best options for your business insurance policy so that you can make an informed decision about what coverage is best for you. To help us provide an accurate online business insurance quote, it’s important that you prepare the following information:
1. The Start Date of Your Business
How many years of previous experience does your business have? Your risk assessment will vary depending on how long your business has successfully been open.
Keep in mind that establishing a business start date is not always as straight-forward as it sounds. In a brick-and-mortar business your operations begin before opening your doors to the public as you will have already invested in start-up costs like purchasing inventory and renovations. Since the CRA considers a business to have commenced when the owner takes “positive and continuous steps to introduce his product to the market,” your business start date could be when you began looking for a space to open your business.
For a business that does not have a brick-and-mortar presence—for example a consultant or freelancer—your business doesn’t necessarily start when you get your first client but the day you commence significant activity that is a regular part of your business’ attempt to make profits. This could include cold calls, pitching ideas, and attending networking events.
2. Annual Gross Revenue
Informing your insurance broker of your estimated annual gross business revenue will help them establish the amount of product or service your business sells. Additionally, your gross annual business revenue is an indication of your business’ exposure in the marketplace. When your Krywolt Insurance broker contacts insurance providers, this information will help the insurance provider determine what limit of insurance is the best fit for your business as well as generate annual liability premium. Generally the more volume your business does produces the more risk there is that something could go wrong.
If you are a new business that has not been open for a full year and you do not know your exact or average annual gross income yet, you may provide your insurance broker your best estimate according to your business plan.
3. Details About Your Business Operations
Providing information about your business operations will help your Krywolt Insurance broker understand the specific risks your business faces. For example, a jewellery store will have different business operations compared to a tutoring company. Each unique business operation has unique risks that will help determine what insurance coverage is best to protect your business. These factors will inform your online business insurance quote.
Business operations refer to everything that happens within a company to keep it running and earning money. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Your business’ location/s; do you work from home, or do you own a business with multiple brick-and-mortar locations?
- Business processes and systems, such as onboarding new employees and workflow management.
- Equipment required to run your business. For example, a photographer would note how many cameras, lenses, lights, tripods, etc. he or she has for the business.
- How many people do you employ?
- Percentage of gross revenue derived from each of your company’s locations (if you have multiple locations).
4. Number of Employees
Whether you work on your own, employ a team of two, or have hundreds of employees in your care affects your insurance policy because this is directly related to your business’ risk assessment. Your revenue or number of employees directly affects the likelihood of a claim occurring because your business has a greater exposure to risk. It’s a matter of probability: the more employees you have, the more likely a mistake could be made resulting in a claim.
5. Business Location
Where do you operate your business? Perhaps you work from home and have a dedicated office space. Or, maybe you have a brick-and-mortar business. It’s important to include the mailing address of your business in the information you provide an insurance broker when obtaining an online business insurance quote. If you have multiple locations, provide the address of your head office.
The reason your insurance broker needs to know about your business’ location is because there are factors attributing to that location that can affect your business’ risk assessment. Some of these factors include:
- Proximity to a hydrant or fire hall
- Potential for damage from natural disasters
- Crime-rate in the area
- Accessibility of your property
- Proximity to other high-risk businesses
6. Physical Details of Your Business
The physical details of your business are different from the details of your business operations, however there may be some crossover elements. Your Krywolt Insurance broker needs to know the details about your business’ physical structure in order to understand what physically needs to be protected in the event of a claim.
When providing your broker information about the physical details of your business for your online business insurance quote, you’ll need to share:
- The square-footage of each location your business occupies
- The type of building your business is located within, for instance, does your business operate out of a house, industrial building, or garage?
- The year the building was built
- Whether or not there have been any renovations or updates to the building
7. Value of Replacement Costs
If your business was lost in a fire or flood, what would be the cost to replace all the contents, stock, and equipment kept in each physical location? When calibrating the value of replacement costs for your business, be sure to include the value of your:
- Inventory
- Machinery
- Equipment
- Cash float
- Decorative items/display merchandisers
- Furniture
- Properties the business owns
- Additional assets
8. Value of All Mobile Property
If your business works out of a vehicle or goes to other locations to conduct business—such as a mobile pet groomer, plumber, HVAC technician or contractor—it’s important to let your Krywolt Insurance broker know the value of any assets that leave the physical headquarters of your business. Compiling a list of assets helps you keep a record of what you need to protect, which is helpful during the claims process. You can also use this list to create a loss-prevention plan.
The items of value for mobile property you might list when obtaining an online business insurance quote include, but are not limited to:
- Equipment
- Tools
- Inventory
- Parts
- Machinery
- Vehicles
9. Your Business’ Level of Experience
How experienced you are as a business owner and how long your business has been in operation is also important information to give your Krywolt Insurance broker. The less experience you have, it’s possible that you may experience more learning curves than someone who has been in business for more than 20 years. This means that as your business grows, you will learn more about proper risk management. Your experience is tied to your risk assessment.
10. History of Previous Claims
Especially if you have been in business for a few years, it’s very important to candidly share any previous claims with your insurance broker. Your insurance broker will want to know about previous claims to see how they were handled and if the same claim was made multiple times. For example, if you work as a plumber and a claim was made against you for damaging a property due to incorrectly repairing a broken pipe that led to flooding, it’s important to relay to your broker your side of the story and measures you’ve taken to prevent future claims related to property damage from happening again.
When notifying your Krywolt Insurance broker about past claims for your online business insurance quote, complete the following:
- List any claims that have occurred in the past six years
- Share the details of what happened
- Note when it happened
- Record how much was paid out
What If I Already Have Business Insurance?
If you already have business insurance but need to renew your policy or are looking to improve your coverage, we recommend reviewing your current business insurance policy at least 90 days from the renewal date. This will give you time to search for insurance and contact insurance providers for quotes.
Additionally, it’s important to let your insurance broker know if you already have business insurance. This is part of the risk assessment. At Krywolt Insurance, we will use this information to advise you if your business is over-insured or under-insured, if you might want to consider additional coverage, or if different types of coverage might benefit your business more than your current policy.
At Krywolt Insurance, we manage the process on your behalf. We’ll complete an assessment of your current coverage needs, contact insurance providers for you, and advise you on what our experts think is the best coverage option for your business. You can count on us to apply our knowledge and experience to make business insurance concepts easily understood. We will provide the most comprehensive business insurance available while respecting that you have unique requirements and that you know what is ultimately best for your business.
Call Us Today to Get Your Online Business Insurance Quote
At Krywolt Insurance, we’re not tied to any one insurance company. Since we’re independent of any specific insurance company, we prioritize the needs of our customers and provide advice that gives you the best coverage for your unique needs.
Are you ready to get your online business insurance quote with the help of the qualified professionals at Krywolt Insurance? We invite you to give our team a call today at 403-475-5434. We look forward to making your acquaintance and providing you excellent business insurance that is tailored to your custom needs.