In California, businesses with one or more employees – full-time or part-time – must carry workers’ compensation insurance which helps pay for the medical bills associated with workplace injuries and illnesses. Additionally, any vehicle owned by a company must be protected under a commercial auto insurance policy with the following minimum liability requirements:
- $5,000 property damage liability per accident
- $15,000 bodily injury liability per person
- $30,000 bodily injury liability per accident
Failure to carry both of these insurances can result in significant penalties. While it can be busy to look for ways to cut your spending, insurance for your small business should never be one that you neglect or fail to pay. Not only does commercial insurance protect your business from employee mishaps, but also most policies include a general liability clause that can protect your livelihood from third party claims such as a vendor slipping and falling on ice in front of your building or failure to take certain safety precautions. If you do not have adequate insurance, there are a myriad of consequences ranging from fines and jail time associated with failure to have workers’ compensation insurance, which is a felony in many states and lack of financial protection for your business if it is facing an emergency like a dissatisfied client. Other ramifications may include clients refusing to work with you, a landlord refusing to rent you a facility or storefront, significant loss of money, and the permanent shut down of your company.
At Bayshield Insurance in San Jose, CA, we don’t want any of these scenarios to happen to you so we take immense pride in working with our small business owner customers to ensure they have adequate commercial insurance. Give us a call today to learn more about our insurance offerings.
