Small Business Insurance Tennessee

Tennessee general liability coverage is one of the most frequently purchased types of business insurance in Tennessee. It can help protect your business if a non-employee claims that you caused an injury or damaged property.

Also known as commercial general liability, this kind of coverage can help cover medical expenses, bills to repair or replace damaged items and legal fees if you’re sued.

For instance a self-employed Memphis carpenter breaks a light fixture while making repairs at a client’s home. General liability insurance could help the carpenter pay to replace the damaged item.

Small businesses with employees in Tennessee almost always need to carry Tennessee workers’ compensation coverage. When workers are injured on the job, this type of insurance can help pay for medical bills and lost wages as the employee recovers.

Workers’ comp insurance would apply in a scenario like this:

An employee of a Chattanooga retail store falls from a stockroom ladder, breaks an arm and is temporarily unable to work. Workers’ compensation insurance could help the business pay for the injured employee’s medical bills and physical therapy costs. It could also cover a portion of the employee’s wages while they get better.

If your business involves driving, you’ll need commercial auto insurance as part of your insurance package. It’s critical because personal auto policies won’t pay for accidents or bodily injury caused when you’re behind the wheel on business.

Here’s a scenario where commercial auto coverage could help a small employer:

Two workers at a dry cleaning business in Murfreesboro hit a guardrail while returning from a delivery, resulting in major damages to a company-owned van. Commercial auto insurance could help pay to repair the van and for medical bills if the workers were injured.

Hired and non-owned auto coverage is an optional add-on to commercial auto coverage. It’s designed to cover damage from accidents that happen when employees drive their own cars or rent vehicles for business reasons.

Tennessee commercial property insurance, sometimes called business property insurance, can help pay for business property that’s damaged or destroyed after a covered event, such as water, fire or wind incidents.

For example, a kitchen fire at a Gatlinburg casual dining restaurant damages the cooking station. Commercial property coverage could help pay to repair the grill and replace cookware that was ruined.

It’s important to read your policy documents carefully to make sure there aren’t exclusions for your business. Many carriers don’t cover flood and hurricane damage.

No matter how carefully you run your business, there’s always a chance that a client could blame you for a mistake that resulted in financial losses. If this happened, professional liability coverage, also called E&O or errors and omissions insurance, could benefit your business.

This type of business insurance coverage can help pay damages and legal defense fees if you’re accused of professional negligence, which could include missed deadlines or incomplete jobs.

For example, a commercial office building developer claims that a Nashville architecture firm didn’t deliver a building plan on time, which caused several clients to pull out of the project. The developer sues the architect for damages.

Professional liability coverage could help the architect pay for legal costs and court fees and to help settle the case.