Musical Instruments Store Insurance
Whether you're a retailer or wholesaler of musical instruments or a service technician that works on musical instruments, you will need insurance to help protect your business. Recommended insurance policies for Musical Instrument Stores include:
General Liability Insurance
In addition to your assets of musical instruments and accessories for sale or rent, you might also be entrusted with musical instruments owned by individuals brought in for servicing, repair, or maintenance. You may be held accountable for the damage to the property of others in your care, custody, or control. If a tornado or fire damages your store, including the contents, you‘ll want to ensure you have coverage for items in your store that don’t belong to you. Insurance policies address coverage for insuring the property of others in different ways; be sure you get confirmation of coverage if you have instruments left for service, repair, or sale.
A customer or visitor can fall at your store or might hurt themselves in some other way. Ensure all precautions are taken to shield your company from legal liability when conducting business activities. If technicians travel to the client's residence to repair larger instruments such as pianos, there is a chance that they could damage the property of the customer while there.
Additionally, repair shops may be liable for faulty repair or damaging the instrument being repaired. You may manage this risk by having customers leaving instruments for repair sign a drop-off form advising that your business is not liable for damage to the instrument while in your care. You can try to limit your liability with a signed form, but have the insurance in place if unsuccessful.
Personal and Advertising insurance responds to your legal liability concerning personal injury violations, copyright infringement, or libel contained in the presentation of your promotional materials.
What does General Liability Insurance Cover?
General Liability coverage may be part of a Business Owners Policy (along with Property insurance) or other package policy, but it can also be purchased as a standalone policy. Occasionally Professional Liability can be combined with general liability, but usually, it is a separate policy.
There are multiple critical aspects of General Liability Insurance, beginning with the reality that it covers not only the business or organization but also its owners, directors, volunteers, employees, and officers. Generally, suppose the person involved (an employee, for example) or maybe caused an incident that injured someone or their property also gets sued. In that case, the general liability will defend the employee acting within the scope of his employment.
Workers’ Compensation
Workers' Compensation is insurance mandated by most state laws, depending on the number of employees working for a business. Employees' compensation rate for wage loss claims varies from state to state. These state mandates were explicitly designed to protect employers from the risk of employee civil lawsuits and provide prompt and appropriate reimbursement or compensation to workers who are injured on the job.
Workers' Compensation insurance covers expenses incurred from injuries on the job. Medical care expenses are covered for employees who are hurt while working under a workers’ compensation policy. This policy also covers an occupational diseases.
What does Workers' Compensation Insurance Cover?
Typically, workers’ compensation policies can be divided into two parts:
- Statutory Workers’ Compensation
- Employers’ Liability
Statutory Workers’ Compensation - State laws require that Workers' Compensation benefits be paid to injured employees who file claims. This no-fault policy pays losses without determining who was to blame for the injury or the occupational sickness.
A lost wages reimbursement claim would be paid, regardless of responsibility for the incident and who caused it.
The actual benefits received can depend on the state and the type of Worker's Compensation, which tend to have provisions covering the following expenses.
- Medical bills, including rehabilitation expenses
- Weekly lost wages
- Lump sum awards for permanent disabilities and disfigurements
- Death benefits to dependents
Loss wage claims are usually subject to a deduction (don’t start until work is missed for a certain number of days). Benefits are scheduled based on a percentage and average weekly wages during a preceding time frame. The benefits payable for income loss have a minimum and maximum payout determined at the state level.
Employers Liability - A lawsuit can be filed against the employer by the employee when there is gross negligence that contributed to or caused the injury by the employer. This coverage also responds to lawsuits from family members or other parties that suffered a loss because of the employee’s injury. For instance, family members can sue for loss of affection, economic loss of future wages, companionship, or consortium.
In several states, an injured staff member must file a claim under either Statutory Workers’ Compensation or Employers Liability but not both. Some states allow claims to be filed under both.
Lawsuits may be filed under the Employers Liability policy if the employer was negligent and contributed to or caused the injury.
Typical limits for coverage of this section of the policy are as follows:
- Bodily Injury by Accident: $100,000 Bodily
- Injury by Disease: $500,000 total, $100,000 per employee.
You can pay an additional premium to purchase increased limits, typically up to $2,000,000 across the board.
Commercial Auto Insurance
A commercial auto coverage policy (also known as business auto insurance) provides coverage for all vehicles a business or organization uses, including vehicles owned, borrowed, leased, or hired. This is not standard, though; you must specifically ask for coverage on any vehicles used that are not owned. The policy covers liability for property damage or injury caused by an auto accident when your driver is at fault.
Vehicles covered by a business auto policy are classified into one of these types:
Owned - Vehicles that an organization or company has purchased or leased on a long-term contract. The corporate name would be on the title and registration for these particular vehicles.
Non-owned - Automobiles that are individually owned (usually by employees) and used for the business. Examples are employees picking up mail at the post office or running to an office supply store. These are typically covered only for the liability resulting from business use.
Hired - Rented, leased, or borrowed vehicles are considered “hired” vehicles for commercial auto policies.
Auto insurance provides companies with coverage that is necessary for financial security. Most states have a minimum limit required for auto liability that applies to all autos, whether owned personally or by a business entity.
When the dangers of auto accidents are assessed and their severity considered, the limits carried for personal injuries in no-fault states are insufficient in the event of a severe injury.
In most states, three entities are legally responsible for automobile accident damages:
- The main perpetrator of the accident (the driver)
- The owner of the car at fault
- The company or organization for which the vehicle was being used.
For this reason, it's apparent why a commercial automobile policy is essential coverage for an organization to have. In addition to any owned vehicles covered by the policy, the organization is also guarded against the liability arising from using non-owned, borrowed, leased, or hired automobiles if suitable Non-Owned and Hired insurance coverage is included.
Commercial Property Insurance
Musical instrument stores may have an owned building, office equipment, furniture, inventory, computer equipment, and data. The expenses can accumulate quickly when the business suffers property damage or burglary. Commercial Property Insurance will protect you from unexpected loss from fire, wind, hail, theft, vandalism, auto or aircraft collision, and other insured perils.
Just like your homeowner insurance on your house, the commercial property covers the direct costs associated with the loss of property owned by an organization.
What features should I look for in my commercial property insurance policy?
Risk assessment is crucial for a business’ property insurance protection strategy. A Special Form Property Insurance Policy is the most extensive coverage form because it will cover “all risks” except those types of loss excluded in the policy. There are also “Broad Form” and “Basic Form” property peril forms which are more limited in the perils they cover.
Another kind of property coverage you should consider is Flood Insurance. Flood insurance is typically a separate policy, it’s not a covered peril on a commercial property policy. Before you think, “But I’m not in a Flood Zone!” know that there is strong evidence that flood damage often occurs outside the “once in 100-year flood zones,” which is considered a “Special Flood Hazard Area.” These are the areas where banks and lenders will require flood insurance before a property is purchased.
Electronic Data Processing. This coverage is a type of inland marine coverage, even though your computer and data stored on and processed by computers and the software controlling may not be covered on a property policy for power surges or brownouts (when your lights dim but power remains on). There is an exclusion for loss by artificially generated electrical power sources. If you have this insurance, you will be covered for damage caused by electrical power sources.
Another type of Inland Marine insurance coverage would be for your instruments when they are not at the store. If an instrument is loaned out or used off-premises, there would be no coverage without inland marine coverage on that instrument. An Inland Marine insurance plan follows the instrument or equipment to all destinations and protects it against damage or loss.
Crime Insurance for Musical Instrument Stores
Theft by your store employees and embezzlement are covered by business crime insurance. Forgery, check alteration, and this insurance covers fraudulent money transfers perpetrated by employees. It can also be called Employee Dishonesty, but Crime can cover much more than just employee theft. It can also cover cash while in transit to the bank for deposit if stolen.