Most businesses have some form of physical location, regardless of what they do. However, the world is becoming more mobile. So how can businesses prepare when they (and their people) are on the move? Commercial property floater insurance was created to give business owners peace of mind regardless of where their equipment may need to travel. However, they may underestimate just how important it can be to a business. See just when it can be used, and how you may need more of it than you think.
Common Scenarios
For many businesses, the concept of taking their equipment from place to place is not a foreign concept. Construction businesses need to move their equipment around to different sites in order to do their jobs. While their expensive equipment is on a site, it may be at risk for damage from a number of different threats. Vandals could break into the construction site, or a weather event could cause thousands of dollars of damage. For the expensive property that simply can't be moved (e.g., bulldozers, etc.), there needs to be some type of protection for the damage. That's where commercial property floater can be of help.
There are certain businesses that don't even have a constant, physical location. A traveling show, circus, or carnival, for example, needs to take their property to the different towns they work in. Each place they visit has their own set of dangers that come with it. A small city in Kansas may be hit by a tornado during the summertime or a small town in California may have too many bored teenagers who want to cause a little trouble.
Whether it's a major act of God or a small act of vandalism, most property owners would prefer not to cover these costs on their own. Commercial property floater insurance can go a long way to getting the equipment either repaired or replaced without putting any extra stress on an owner.
Additional Considerations
Plenty of businesses have employees that venture off-site to do their jobs. Salespeople take company cars, phones, or laptops to their clients in order to conduct transactions with their clients. Businesses need commercial property insurance of course, but that may only cover damage that's done on the actual company premises. An insurance company cannot account for what happens to equipment when it leaves an office. They can't be certain that it's being taken to an area that's safe. If a company takes a laptop to a high-crime area and it's stolen, they may not get much help from their normal insurance.
Or if an employee takes a laptop home with them and their toddler spills milk all over it, they may not pay for the full cost of replacement. Instead, a floater may be able to take care of the expenses, so a company can get back to work. The floater covers the property regardless of where it goes, so a business can service more people without worrying about what will happen to their property.
Even if a company has commercial property floater insurance, they may not have enough. There are general rules and restrictions when it comes to how equipment is meant to be handled, where it should go, etc. If you're concerned about just how much would be covered should something happen to your equipment, you may want to speak to your insurance company to find out more about your current level of protection. Companies tend to amass a lot of property as they remain in business, and they may fail to update their insurance company about all of the new additions.