A study done by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company concluded that 70 percent of small businesses are underinsured – this according to Rakesh Gupta, the COO at biBERK (https://www.biberk.com), a commercial insurance company that, in its experience, has seen this scenario confirmed in the landscaping/contractor industry.

"Most are buying only workers' compensation, which is required by law, and general liability," Gupta says. "It leaves them completely exposed to a whole slew of things that can happen to a landscaping company."

This includes damage to business property that is owned or leased, be it equipment or real estate. In addition, theft of equipment is also not covered. But these, and other misfortunes can be protected by a business owner's policy – supplemental insurance that picks up where general liability, which only shields a company from having to pay out-of-pocket when they are responsible for damage to someone else's person or property, leaves off.

Known as a BOP, the policy can be tailored to fit the needs of a company.

If advice to a customer leads to an unfavorable outcome, a professional can be sued. Receiving financial assistance if that should happen is another benefit that a business owner's policy can provide.

And that is not the only type of lawsuit that BOPs offer protection against.

"Coming into play more and more is data theft," informs Gupta. "It might be credit card info that someone has stolen. And a liability only policy will not cover (financial responsibilities) for loss of data."

He describes an additional purpose that BOPs serve: "Increasingly often, any kind of leasing you are doing, most of the owners of that property will make you buy insurance and they want to make sure that they are named as additionally insured. And a BOP would certainly facilitate that."

Another type of complementary insurance available, that his company sees a risky lack of in the landscape industry, is called an umbrella policy. It "sits on top" of a BOP and a general liability policy to provide coverage beyond the monetary limits of them.

"If your general liability policy covers you only up to $100,000 but the damage that you did to someone else's property is worth half a million, then you are paying out of your own pocket," Gupta says.

And according to him, double or even triple the coverage is provided at one tenth the cost of the original policies.

As Gupta relates, "It's really cheap to buy an umbrella policy, but most people don't do it because they don't know about it."

Protecting businesses against financial strains that might ultimately lead to ruin is surely near, or on, the top of the lists of concerns for business owners. BOPs and umbrella insurance policies are two more potential solutions to help address that concern.