Recently, I visited a business owner who operates a liquor store in the Fox Hill area to conduct an insurance survey in order to provide coverage on the building he owned and the content of his store. As I stood observing the outside of the building I heard voices in the distant that attracted my attention. As I looked around, there were two ladies standing on the outside of a clothing store talking about a burglary that had taken place just days earlier. The elder lady, who I found out later was the owner of the store lamented that no matter what precautions she took her store continued to be burglarized.
So, after my survey I decide to visit with the storeowner and survey her property. I observed that there were three doors protecting the entrance of the store, a glass plated door, a steel bar door and a steel gauge security screen door. After introducing myself to her, Mrs. Johnson (not here real name) begin telling her story all over again. She mentioned right away how surprise she was that someone was able to enter the store through the steel casing around her air conditioner, and how she had just closed in a back door with concrete to avoid break-ins.
Mrs. Johnson had certainly done all she thought necessary to minimize her losses but they continued to occur. This is why you need insurance because no matter how you attempt to minimize the occurrence of the events of crime they still occur.
Remember I said that Mrs. Johnson “had done all she thought;” well some of the advice that Mrs. Johnson had gotten was misleading. For instance the steel casing around her air condition unit had spaces that were far to wide and a small person could easily enter her premise.
Secondly, by closing in her back door she had unknowingly endangered the lives’ of herself and customers, as a building no matter its use should always have a secondary exit. This was further compounded by her not having a smoke detector, sprinkler or fire extinguisher.
Thirdly, the front doors although many, were not kept closed during business hours therefore exposing her to loss of money due to robbery.
From this simple business operation there are a number of exposures that must be considered when purchasing insurance:
- Loss of content due to fire, flooding or other natural perils
- Loss of content due to Burglary.
- Loss of money due to Robbery.
- Loss due to a lawsuit by a customer for injuries received while in or around the store.
- Loss due to a lawsuit by an employee for injuries received while in or around the store.
Therefore, it is important to realize that the first step in obtaining proper content insurance for your business is to find a reliable and competent insurance broker. Why do I say “competent,” well, I later learned that Mrs. Johnson did have her contents insured with a leading insurance brokerage in our community but the content was not insured against burglary. Your broker should always do a complete analysis or survey of your exposures, and then ask to review any present coverage’s. Unlike with Homeowners insurance there are very few Commercial Insurance policies that provide or combine the various type of coverage you need. With out this analysis you could perpetuate any errors, gaps or overlaps that may exist in your present program.
Glenn S. Ferguson, FLMI, HIA, founded Comprehensive Insurance Agents & Brokers & Comprehensive Consulting to assists both large, multi-national corporations, as well as smaller family owned businesses with their insurance decision-making. Glenn has been helping individuals and businesses in the Bahamas with their insurance needs for the last 18 years. He is a Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); Associate of The Health Insurance Association of America (HIA) and a licensed insurance broker.
