Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance is an essential tool for protecting your investment in both commercial buildings and residential buildings. Whether your property deals strictly with commercial buildings, residential buildings, or some combination of the two, getting the right coverage and protection is essential for keeping your investment safe.

What Commercial Property Insurance Covers

Every policy is somewhat different from the next in terms of coverage. Commercial property insurance is no different. That’s good news because it allows you to tailor your coverage to meet the unique and specific needs of your business. Just as all businesses are different, so should all insurance policies that protect them be different too.

While some people mistakenly believe that commercial property insurance is only about covering the building where your business is located, that is hardly the case. Your commercial property protection also covers the following:

Movable property your business owns
Product inventory
Office equipment and supplies
Furniture
Fixtures
Signage
Landscaping
Storage systems
Shelving and displays

It may even cover the costs of recreating documents lost in covered events. As you can see, there are plenty of different types of property that fall beneath the banner of commercial property protection.

Things Commercial Property Insurance Does Not Cover

You also need to understand the things that are expressly excluded from coverage when it comes to commercial property insurance. For most commercial property insurance, the things that top the list of exclusions include:

Floods
Earthquakes
Sinkholes

That doesn’t mean you can’t get insurance protection for these “risks” or “events.” It simply means that damage resulting from these events is not covered by your standard commercial property insurance, and you will need to purchase the additional protection if you desire that type of coverage for your business.

You should also discuss with your insurance agency if there are other types of perils specifically excluded from your insurance protection you may wish to purchase in the future.

Who Needs to Purchase Commercial Property Insurance?

Any business that:

Manufactures products
Manages inventory
Maintains the property of others
Leases or owns office space
Leases equipment

The following businesses are just a few examples of the types of companies that require commercial property insurance to operate:

Commercial Buildings

Warehouses. These are buildings where inventory is managed, often on behalf of other businesses. You’re going to want to invest in mechanical equipment protection for your forklifts and other equipment as well as umbrella liability insurance to protect your property.
Retail stores. Stores where you make commercial transactions by selling goods to consumers. May require shopping center insurance, computer, and other office equipment insurance to protect cash registers, and umbrella liability insurance to go above and beyond the coverage of your commercial general liability protection.
Restaurants. Businesses that feed others for income. You might also be interested in mechanical equipment insurance as well as computer and other office equipment insurance to protect your proprietary point of sale devices.
Office buildings. Buildings others lease to conduct business. You will certainly want a variety of coverages, including vacant property insurance to cover unleased office spaces, computer and other office equipment insurance, and mechanical equipment insurance to provide a layer of protection from irresponsible tenants.
Processing plants. Places where items are processed or manufactured. Another instance where mechanical equipment protection is essential as well umbrella liability insurance and computer and office equipment protection.

Residential (Habitational) Building

Finding the right commercial building insurance for your residential or habitational buildings is just as important as getting the right types of protection for your other commercial properties. These types of coverages will help protect your assets and investments in residential real estate.

Apartment buildings. Offers protection for apartment owners from the damage tenants do, their pets do, or nameless vandals do in addition to protecting your properties from natural disasters and other named hazards.
Condominium Associations. Because individual condo owners are responsible for insuring their own properties, condo association insurance provides insurance protection for public spaces, mechanical issues associated with the condo, and office spaces designated for condo use.
Garden Apartments. Offers protection for the structure of the property and liability protection for you, as the property owner.
Landlord Insurance. Provides protection for the structure of your building, personal property you own stored on the property, and liability protection, too.
Mixed-Use Buildings. Protection for buildings that have both commercial and residential tenants. Such as a storefront on the bottom and an apartment on the top.
Multi-Family Dwelling. Robust insurance protection for the specialized needs you experience when investing in a multi-family dwelling, including appliances and mechanicals for multiple units, liability protection, and coverage to protect liability in public walkways, parking lots, and more.
EPL Tenant Discrimination Coverage. If tenants file lawsuits claiming discrimination, this coverage offers financial protection for the legal aspect of the case as well as the financial matters involved.
Vacant Property. Vacant residential rentals are prime targets for arson, vandalism, and unobserved disasters (pipes bursting, mold, and more). Vacant property insurance provides specific protection against these types of accidents.

Contact Insurance Center of North Jersey for Your Commercial Property Insurance Needs

It isn’t always easy to know what kind of insurance product to buy, or who to trust when purchasing. Insurance Center of North Jersey has long served North Jersey and beyond, offering sound insurance advice and outstanding service to our friends, neighbors, and communities.

At the Insurance Center of North Jersey, we know and understand the challenges you face when choosing the right insurance products to protect your investment.

With more than 90 years of experience helping clients choose the appropriate policies, we can assist you in selecting the right commercial property or building insurance to meet your needs.