You’ve got your business going quite well.

It’s just you and yourself, working from your home, but you’ve got some great clients and accounts. Maybe your business is a bit bigger and you’ve got a few employees and a nice office.

Here’s one thing you need to make sure you have, as well, no matter the size of your business – insurance.

Why do you need insurance if your business is small?

No matter the size of your business, if you are working with anyone, you should have insurance.

If a client comes to your home to meet with you (or your office for that matter) and trips on a loose carpet or an icy stair, you can be liable for paying all costs. If you don’t have insurance, you could be in big financial trouble.

Many customers want to know your insurance background, especially if you are doing work on their property.

For instance, if you are in construction and working in someone’s home, your customers will more than likely want to see you are insured before they’ll sign a contract with you because they don’t want to be responsible if you or your employees get hurt.

What kind of insurance is best?

Most professionals recommend general liability insurance, or commercial general liability insurance.  This protects a broad spectrum of claims, including negligence and injury.

With this, you’ll be covered in the case of a lawsuit, with court costs and reasonable expenses being covered through insurance. Your employees are also covered, even volunteers.

However, liability insurance does not cover if your employees get hurt and sue you. This would fall under workers compensation, which is another story.

Are these lawsuits common?

Unfortunately, yes.

Many slip and fall lawsuits are actually hoaxes by con-artists looking to make money, in fact, probably more are scams than not. However, people do legitimately get hurt and want compensation.

And, it’s not always a slip – as the article “Common Spills in Businesses” notes, these can include a trip, a stumble or anything that causes a fall.

Sure, it can be due to the client being careless, but it also can be your fault, maybe you have loose stones in your walkway or boxes were left in the way inhibiting safe stepping.

Even the legitimate cases are often quite hard to prove and the plaintiff needs a combination of documentation including photos of the scene, proof of injury and medical damage, and other evidence. However, the cost of the lawsuit itself can be detrimental to your business.

Bottom line, you need insurance to protect you and your business.

You don’t want something that could have been prevented or a dishonest person to be the downfall of your business.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of Praisaeng at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About the Author: Heather Legg is an independent writer who covers a variety of topics including small business, social media and education.