When you’re buying small business insurance, your coverage decisions depend on your business’s type and size. Common types of small business insurance include general liability, commercial property and workers compensation insurance. .

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers your business against liability claims, such as bodily injury and property damage to others. It also includes coverage for damage to reputation, such as slander, libel and copyright infringement.

General liability additionally covers legal costs, such as hiring an attorney and any judgments and settlements against your company.

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers the physical property of your small business for problems, such as fire damage or theft. It covers business items, including computers and workstations, desks and chairs, business records, business inventory and supplies. It can also cover your office and business building.

Commercial property insurance is also called business property insurance.

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers compensation insurance covers your employees if they become ill or injured because of their job. This includes medical care, physical therapy and compensation for lost wages. Death benefits for an employee’s family are available if an employee passes away from a work-related illness or injury.

Workers compensation insurance is required in most states, even if you have only one employee.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance covers the vehicles you use for business purposes, such as cars, trucks and vans.

A personal auto insurance policy generally doesn’t extend to business use of a vehicle. If you don’t get commercial auto insurance for work vehicles, any claims you make could be denied and you would have to pay out of pocket for any accident or damage, which could get very expensive.

Errors & Omissions Insurance

Errors & omissions insurance (E&O) will pay for liability costs if a customer or client accuses you of making a mistake in your professional services.

E&O is also called professional liability insurance.

Inland Marine Insurance

Inland marine insurance covers business property that’s being transported over land, such as equipment, materials, products and tools. This coverage is different from marine insurance, which covers your business property while it’s being transported over water.

Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber liability insurance can pay for recovery costs if your computer system and data gets hacked. It also helps pay for expenses, such as notifying customers who have been impacted by a data breach and credit monitoring.

Short-Term Liability Insurance

Short-term liability insurance is designed for short projects, such as an hour, day, week or month. It covers accidental property damage and bodily injuries caused to others. It also covers your legal costs, judgments and settlements if you’re sued because of an accident.

Short-term liability insurance can be a good option for:

• Businesses that are seasonal or limited in duration.
• A project that requires you to give advice to clients.
• A project that requires a specific type of amount of insurance.

Short-term liability insurance is also commonly known as other names, such as:

• Construction project insurance
• Project insurance
• One-day business insurance
• One-day general liability insurance
• Temporary business insurance
• Temporary commercial insurance
• Temporary liability insurance

Medical Malpractice

Also known as medical professional errors and omission insurance, medical malpractice insurance covers the costs of claims that result in a patient’s injury or death. It also covers problems, such as medication errors, premature discharge from a clinic and unnecessary surgery. Medical malpractice insurance covers your legal costs, judgments and settlements if you are sued because of a problem covered by your policy.

If your small business deals with medical equipment, provides care to patients or monitors patient care, you might want to consider a medical malpractice policy. Examples of professions that could benefit from this coverage include:

• Acupuncturists
• Counselors
• Dentists
• Licensed practical nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Nursing students
• Optometrists
• Personal trainers
• Physical therapists
• Physicians
• Physician assistants
• Therapists
• Yoga instructors