Commercial Property Insurance FAQs

While commercial property insurance isn’t required by law, your landlord may require you to have it as a part of your rental or lease agreement. Commercial property insurance is also considered an essential type of small business insurance, so it’s a good idea to consider having it even if it’s not required by your landlord or lease agreement.

If you have a home-based business, you can benefit from having commercial property insurance to help protect your company’s physical assets. Commercial property insurance provides more extensive coverage than what you’d get with your typical homeowner’s insurance policy. Your standard homeowner’s policy doesn’t protect your business’ technology, equipment, files or inventory. Your home policy also can’t protect your business property if it’s stored in a different location.

If you work for yourself and own, rent or lease a physical location, commercial property insurance can help. Even if you work out of your home, you probably have business equipment or physical assets you’ll need to protect. In addition, if you own any important tools, equipment or inventory that are stored at your company’s location, commercial property insurance is one of the best ways to help protect your property from physical damage or theft.

Commercial property insurance typically only protects property at the business location listed on your policy. If you need to protect your property while it’s in transit, you can consider adding on inland marine insurance coverages, like motor truck cargo insurance. Motor truck cargo insurance helps protect your cargo while it’s in transit or in temporary storage. If you’re a small business who delivers perishable goods, like food or flowers, The Hartford offers coverage for perishable goods in transit too.

Commercial property insurance does not cover your vehicles used for business reasons. If your business owns, rents or leases any vehicles used for business reasons, you’ll need commercial auto insurance. If you use your personal vehicle for work-related driving, you’ll still want to have commercial auto insurance to help protect you if accidents occur while on the job. 

Yes, commercial property insurance from The Hartford includes business interruption insurance, also known as business income insurance. This coverage can help replace your lost income if you can’t operate your business because of a covered property damage. Business interruption insurance is also included in a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), along with general liability insurance and commercial property insurance.

The amount of coverage a small business owner needs will vary based on the type of building, cost of the building, location, occupancy and the level of fire and threat protection it has. It may also depend on the type of work you do and if you have any important equipment or tools stored at your company’s building. Our specialists can help walk you through the right coverages and limits for your business. Get a fast and free quote for commercial property insurance online or give us a call at 855-829-1683.

Commercial property insurance helps cover your company’s valuable papers and records and electronic data if they’re damaged, destroyed or stolen. Valuable papers and records coverage covers the loss or damage of important papers such as financial records, medical records, property deeds, blueprints or any other important documents. In addition, electronic data coverage will help pay for the cost to replace or restore your electronic data, or the electronic data of others in your care, custody or control, if it’s been destroyed or corrupted, or access to such data has been prevented.

Insurance companies use several factors to calculate your cost for commercial property insurance, including but not limited to your:

 

While costs can vary between different businesses and industries, there’s a few things you can do that may help reduce your business insurance premium, such as:

 

The age and condition of your commercial property can have an impact on your insurance costs. Older buildings may have structural differences that are not up to today’s ordinances or laws for commercial buildings. In addition, older properties may also have outdated electrical systems, fire alarms or sprinkler systems, and plumbing. Insurance companies may charge more to cover older buildings because it may have higher risks for property damage.

You can contact your agent or The Hartford directly to make changes to your commercial property insurance policy. Our specialists can help you adjust your coverage and help determine what coverages you may need to add to your policy to meet your specific needs.

You can cancel your commercial insurance policy at any time, but you’ll likely have to pay a fee if you’re canceling before your policy’s expiration date. Insurance companies also might charge you more for insurance if you’ve canceled a previous policy before its expiration date. Once your policy expiration date arrives, you can choose whether you’d like to renew or cancel your policy without a fee. Keep in mind that without commercial property insurance, your business is exposed to significant financial loss if something happens to your property while you’re uninsured.

You should plan to review and update your commercial property insurance policy once a year with your insurance company or agent. Depending on your industry, you may want to evaluate your current policy, coverages and risks monthly or quarterly. For most small businesses, it’s common to review and update your policy annually when it’s time for renewal. Typically, your insurer, agent or broker will reach out to you directly at renewal time.

If you rent or lease a commercial building, you’ll likely need commercial property insurance. Be sure to check your rental or lease agreement to find out if your landlord requires you to have certain types of commercial insurance.

If you own, lease or rent any building or property for your business, you’ll need commercial property insurance protection against unexpected events like fire, theft and vandalism. Although many types of businesses will benefit from having insurance, it’s common for these industries to have commercial property coverage: 

 

If your new business operates out of a property you own, rent or lease, you’ll likely want to have commercial property insurance to keep you protected. Most small business owners start with a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP), which combines commercial property insurance, general liability insurance and business income insurance into one policy.