Business

This coverage can be critical to the financial health of your company should you have a serious loss. Although this insurance is often not required by lenders, it covers the ongoing bills and extra expenses you will face and helps retain customers in the event of a catastrophe. It is included under some insurance programs and can be purchased as an endorsement with others. To estimate how much a catastrophe could cost your business, consider:

• Would you rent another facility if yours was unusable?
• Would you retain employees on payroll or risk letting them go?
• How long would it take to replace or repair machinery and what would you do in the meantime?
• How would you keep your customers and what would that cost?

A TRTW program aims to return employees to work in a safe and timely manner after an injury or illness by providing temporary, modified jobs that take into account their physical limitations. It also helps injured employees feel better about themselves and heal more quickly, boosts businesses' productivity and employee morale, and lowers the potential for litigation. Contact your independent agent for more information on how to create a successful TRTW plan.

Employees typically commit workers' compensation fraud by making up or inflating the extent of their injuries. They may also work with dishonest doctors and attorneys to support their false claims, especially ones that can be difficult to disprove, such as headaches, whiplash, strained muscles or soft tissue injuries. To prevent this type of fraud and control work-related injury claims, institute a safety program and establish a zero-tolerance policy for fraud.

QBE and other commercial insurance companies offer policies that combine protection from major property and liability risks in one package. The package is created for small- and medium-sized businesses. QBE's BOP includes:

• Property insurance, which protects buildings and contents owned by your company
• Liability insurance, which covers your business'' legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others
• Loss of business income coverage, or business interruption, which covers lost income and extra expenses incurred after a loss for a limited time.