At some point in 2015 your insurance policy will renew.

What are you going to change about your commercial insurance policy? Maybe everything. Maybe Nothing. It all depends on your current and future needs.

Before your policy renews this year, here are some things to consider:

1.)  What is the value of your property including furnishings?

  • Have the values changed in the last year?

2.) Did you make any substantial changes to your property that could increase the amount of coverage needed?

  • An example of a substantial change would be constructing an addition to your building that would increase the total square footage. An increase in square footage would mean that higher building limits would be needed.

3.) Were there updates made to the electrical, plumbing, heating, or roof?

  • Updates could help you obtain a better insurance premium for your building, lowering your insurance costs.

4.) Is it time to consider making updates to your buildings?

  • As the age of your building increases so does the potential for a loss. Making updates to a buildings electrical, plumbing, heating, and roof not only decreases hazards, but also make it more attractive to insurance carriers.
  • When an older building is updated, it may make more insurance carriers available, that previously were not, and allow for better pricing.
  • Updates could allow you to obtain coverage’s that were not being previously offered.

5.) Is there an exposure to earthquake or flood?

  • Has coverage been considered to protect against these exposures?

6.) Does your policy contain ordinance or law coverage?

  • After a loss, rebuilt structures need comply with current building codes. Ordinance or law coverage is very important because it is what will assist a property owner in fully rebuilding after a covered loss. Standard policies provide very limited coverage, or may exclude ordinance or law coverage altogether. An endorsement is needed for a policy to provide higher limits.

7.) Are your liability limits adequate enough to protect your assets?

8.) Do your current deductibles make sense?

  • If you have kept your property deductible low for a period of time, consider increasing it to see if you can lower your costs.
  • A higher deductible will decrease your premium. However, at a certain point the savings may not be worth the risk you are assuming with a higher deductible.

Take the time to analyze the insurance of your real estate holdings and the coverage’s you currently have. Think about what changes, if any, you may be making at your properties and how you should adjust your current insurance program moving forward. Any changes in operations should be discussed and communicated with your agent and accounted for as best as possible.