Bangor Business Insurance

From large distribution centers to small family-run businesses, companies in Bangor, Maine are thriving. You can ensure that your Bangor business stays profitable and avoids unnecessary financial losses by protecting it with a solid business insurance policy package.

Building a comprehensive business insurance policy package can be complicated, but it doesn’t need to be. Independent insurance agents in Bangor can help you find appropriate and affordable policies that are customized to meet your company’s specific coverage needs. Talk to an insurance agent near you to learn more.

Why Is Liability Insurance Important for Businesses in Bangor?

A liability lawsuit against your company can be costly enough to send your business into bankruptcy if it is not properly insured. That is why liability insurance is an essential part of every business insurance policy package. This insurance is designed to cover the various expenses related to liability lawsuits, including court costs, legal fees, and financial damages.

It is crucial that you carry the right insurance products to cover against each of your company’s potential liability risks. The following are just a few of the many commercial liability products that may be a good fit for your business:

• Premises liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries and property damage caused by accidents that occur on your business property for which your company can be deemed responsible. 
• Product liability insurance: This covers third-party injuries, illnesses, and property damage caused by design flaws or defects in the products your company produces, sells, or promotes.
• Cyber liability insurance: This covers financial losses, liabilities, and restitution to affected individuals if cybercriminals break into your company’s computer system and steal sensitive information like your customers’ financial or personal data. It can also cover the damage if someone successfully installs skimmers on your credit card readers and harvests your customers’ credit card information.
• Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): This covers your business if a current, former, or potential employee accuses your company of illegal employment practices such as discrimination, harassment, or wrongful termination.
• Liquor liability insurance: This covers liability risks for businesses that sell or serve alcohol. Maine’s dram shop laws state that these businesses can be held liable for negligently or recklessly providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 or to an intoxicated person of any age if the person served the beverages goes on to cause property damage or injure another.
• Professional liability insurance: This covers individuals in professional positions if they make an error in judgment or another professional mistake that leads to financial losses, injuries, or other damage to their clients. These policies can cover professionals ranging from medical doctors to real estate agents.

You can learn more about these and many other commercial liability coverage options by consulting a local independent insurance agent.

Does Bangor Business Insurance Cover All Your Business Assets?

Commercial property insurance is designed to cover loss or damage to your business property including things like merchandise, inventory, office furniture, supplies, computers, tools, and outdoor signs as long as the damage is caused by a covered event.

In Bangor, businesses may experience property loss or damage due to hazards such as theft, fire, tropical storms, windstorms, electrical storms, hail, heavy snows, ice accumulation, freezing temperatures, and, on occasion, hurricanes. Fortunately, each of these hazards is covered by commercial property insurance.

Some businesses may benefit from supplementing their commercial property insurance with additional policies. Depending on what your business does, how it operates, and where it is located, your local independent agent may recommend any of the following.

• Commercial flood insurance: Flood damage is not covered by commercial property insurance. Unfortunately, many businesses in Bangor, particularly those located near waterways like the Penobscot River and Kenduskeag Stream are at risk. A local independent agent can help you secure up to $500,000 in both structural and contents coverage with an affordable commercial flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• Inland marine insurance: This covers your company’s portable property whenever it is being transported to or from another location and when it is being stored away from your place of business, such as in a warehouse or at a job site.
• Boiler & machinery insurance: This covers the cost to repair your essential business equipment and machinery if it breaks down. It can also compensate your business for losses sustained due to the machinery malfunction.
• Bailees insurance: This covers your customer’s valuable property whenever it is in your business’s custody, care, or control. This may be crucial if your company provides repair, alteration, or maintenance services on expensive items.

A local independent insurance agent can help you be sure that all of your company’s assets are suitably covered and that your coverage limits are high enough to enable your business to rebuild, repair, or replace lost or damaged property as needed.

How Can Business Interruption Insurance Help Bangor Businesses?

It is important to be prepared for the possibility of a major disaster.

Disasters in Maine

• Number of federally declared disasters in ME since 1953: 62
• Most common reasons for declared disasters: Severe storms, floods, and heavy snows
• Number of hurricanes that have a direct impact on ME: 5
• Amount paid out in business insurance claims in ME in 2019: $1,217,021,000

Hurricanes do not happen frequently in Maine, but when they do, they can be quite destructive. Bangor has been impacted by five hurricanes over the years:

• Hurricane Carol in August of 1954
• Hurricane Edna in September of 1954
• Hurricane Donna in August of 1960
• Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985
• Hurricane Bob in September of 1991

Hurricanes and tropical storms can lead to uprooted trees, power outages, flooding, and significant damage to buildings and property. For instance, Hurricane Bob, which resulted in a presidential disaster declaration, caused more than $5.5 million in damage throughout Maine.

Major disasters like hurricanes and structure fires can do more than just damage your commercial property. They also have the potential to force your business to remain closed for an extended time while repairs are made.

A forced long-term closure can be financially devastating, especially for small businesses that don’t have a lot to fall back on. Business interruption insurance provides a solution to this problem.

This insurance delivers a continuation of income during the times that a covered event leads to a necessary extended closure. That way, your company will have the funds it needs to continue paying regular expenses like loan payments, rent, bills, and employee salaries until you can resume normal operations.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent to learn more about business interruption insurance and for help determining whether it is a good fit for your Bangor business.

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Do Bangor Businesses Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Even with sufficient safety protocols in place, workers sometimes get hurt on the job. That is why, in the state of Maine, nearly all employers are required to cover their employees with workers’ compensation insurance.

Employers in Bangor must purchase this insurance if they have at least one employee. Exceptions are made for:

• Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members
• Employers of domestic servants
• Employers of casual or seasonal agricultural laborers
• Agricultural employers with fewer than seven employees

Workers’ compensation policies are designed to cover the cost of hospital stays, medical treatments, prescription medications, follow-up care, disability pay, and other expenses related to workplace injuries and occupational illnesses.

Premiums for workers’ compensation are based mainly on the types of jobs your employees do. The higher the risk that your workers will suffer serious injuries on the job, the more it will cost for you to cover them. For instance, a trauma nurse at Eastern Maine Medical Center would cost more to insure than a professor at Husson University.

Independent insurance agents can obtain customized quotes from a variety of workers’ compensation insurance companies that specialize in covering businesses in your industry. That way, you can be certain you are not paying more than you need to for this mandatory coverage.

What about Insurance Products for Employee Benefits Packages?

Human resource professionals have repeatedly demonstrated that when businesses offer attractive employee benefits like life insurance, health insurance, paid vacation time, and employer-matched 401(k) plans, they are better able to attract and retain highly qualified workers.

If you are shopping for policies to include in an employee benefits package, you have probably noticed that there are many different health and life insurance products available for you to choose from.

For instance, health insurance plans can be PPOs, HMOs, or managed care plans. They also come with a variety of copays, deductibles, and prescription plans. This can make it difficult to decide which policies make the best choices for your workers while still being affordable for your company.

An independent insurance agent can explain the pros and cons of each of your options and can help you compare rates from competing providers. That way, you will be able to make an informed decision about which policies are the best to purchase.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent in Bangor, ME?

Every business has its own specific risks, and these can vary significantly from one company to the next. That is why insurance companies make it possible for business owners to fully customize their company’s insurance coverage.

When you are shopping for the right commercial insurance products for your Bangor business, an independent agent can help. Your agent can offer guidance and advice and can shop around to find the best and most affordable coverage. Set up a one-on-one consultation with an independent insurance agent in Bangor to get started.