Most business owners understand the importance of having the right general liability (GL) insurance. What they may not know is that their GL policy isn’t all-inclusive and doesn’t provide protection for losses associated with business personal property as well as other critical coverages. A business owner’s policy (BOP) is an effective option for businesses that need both liability and property insurance including self-storage risks.
Compared with stand-alone coverages or a larger commercial package policy (CPP), BOPs are often the ideal choice for smaller operations. Factor in the unique exposures and class-specific risks of niche businesses such as self-storage operations, and it’s clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to insurance won’t cut it. This is where a specialty self-storage BOP, like that offered by MiniCo, becomes vital. BOPs are tailor-made, comprehensive insurance packages that combine multiple types of coverage into a single policy. With MiniCo’s specialized BOPs, savvy agents open up a new avenue of bespoke coverage for their self-storage clients.
In this blog, we’ll delve into the features and benefits of specialty self-storage BOPs and discuss the coverages self-storage business owners may need but won’t find in a standard commercial package policy.
Comprehensive Coverage Meets Financial Efficiency
A BOP is an ideal solution for businesses that need both liability and property insurance because it simplifies and streamlines the insurance process into a customizable yet cost-effective policy.
With a BOP, self-storage business owners can:
- Bundle coverage at a lower cost. BOPs combine property and liability insurance into a single policy. This bundling typically offers a cost advantage over purchasing separate policies for each type of coverage. By consolidating these coverages, self-storage businesses can often secure a more attractive overall premium rate since they won’t be paying for coverage they may not need.
- Customize the policy. While BOPs are standardized to some extent, they offer significant options for customization. Business owners can choose to add endorsements or riders to their policy to cover unique risks relevant to their particular business operations, such as Cyber Liability, which adds protection against risks associated with digital data breaches. In the event of a cyberattack, data ransom event, or data theft, specialized Cyber coverage addresses the costs of customer notification, credit monitoring services, and legal fees. In the self-storage industry, coverage specifically to address exposures related to cybercrime – whether built into the BOP or offered as a monoline policy – allows for a high level of flexibility and customization, ensuring that businesses have the necessary coverage to fit their specific circumstances and needs.
- Simplify administration processes. Managing a single BOP can be simpler and more efficient than handling multiple insurance policies. For both insurance agents and policyholders, the streamlined nature of a BOP can save time and reduce administrative costs. In addition, in the event of a claim, dealing with one policy and one insurance carrier can streamline the claims process and potentially lead to a faster resolution.
Coverage Customization Options for Self-Storage Risks
MiniCo’s specialty self-storage BOP is designed to adapt to the nuanced and individualized risks that self-storage facility operators face. Customization options in coverage, limits, and deductibles for a BOP — particularly for specialized industries like self-storage — play a crucial role in providing adequate protection tailored to specific business needs.
- Property Coverage: Property coverage provides protection for property a business owns, leases, or rents including buildings, equipment, inventory, furniture, and fixtures as well as coverage for loss of accounts receivable and valuable papers and records. Most BOPs also cover business-owned items and items owned by a third party but kept temporarily in the care, custody, or control of the business or business owner. MiniCo’s specialty self-storage BOP offers broad coverage for buildings and structures, fences and gates, landscaping, including course of construction.
- General Liability: General liability covers a business’s legal responsibility for the harm it may cause to others (bodily injury and property damage) as a result of the company’s negligence. This includes costs related to litigation and court judgments if a customer or other third party files suit against a business or its employees. GL coverage under the MIniCo BOP includes hired and non-owned auto, medical expenses, personal injury, and advertising injury.
- Business Income: Business income (also called business interruption) coverage helps to replace lost net income a business normally would have earned should a covered event cause a temporary shutdown of operations. Given the unique exposures of a self-storage facility, MiniCo’s specialty BOP offers a wide range of deductible options as well as the option to extend coverage up to 180 days beyond the date of repair or replacement.
- Specialty Coverages: These coverages are designed to address unique self-storage industry risks, supplementing the standard inclusions of property, liability, and business interruption insurance. With 50 years of experience insuring self-storage operations, MiniCo has been a leading innovator in creating coverages for this class of business. These three self-storage specialty coverages were first introduced by MiniCo and have been adopted by other providers across the country. (Click here for a detailed discussion of the specialty coverages).
Customer Goods Legal Liability coverage provides financial compensation for the costs associated with damage to or loss of a renter’s property when the facility owner is found to be negligent.
Sale and Disposal Liability provides coverage for claims against the insured for negligent acts arising from the lockout, sale, removal, or disposal of customers’ property when reclaiming rented space for which rental or other charges are delinquent or unpaid.
Limited Pollutant Removal pays for costs to remove pollutants from a storage unit as required by the appropriate statutory authority.
The MiniCo Advantage
All self-storage business — from smaller local operations to large national chains — require two key elements: insurance experts who understand the unique risks facing these facilities, and insurance solutions that provide superior protection for their valuable investment. MiniCo is the leading provider of specialty insurance coverage for self-storage risks with 50 years of class-specific experience. Our exclusive Commercial Self-Storage program offers a specialized BOP as well as monoline supporting solutions for self-storage risks. Contact MiniCo today for coverage details or get a quote on our agent portal.
