Business owner’s policy · For contractors and owners
Property and liability. In one policy.
A business owner’s policy (BOP) bundles property, general liability and business income into one policy, with one application and one renewal. It suits a smaller contractor with an office or shop, or the owner of one smaller building.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982
What a business owner’s policy covers.
Typically covered
- Your office or shop, or a building you own, and the equipment, furniture and stock inside
- General liability for injury or damage to others, from your premises or your work
- Business income: lost income and extra expenses while a covered loss is repaired
- Add-ons such as equipment breakdown, data breach or employee dishonesty, if you choose them
- Hired and non-owned auto liability, as an add-on on many BOPs (trucks you own need commercial auto)
Where another policy answers
- Injuries to your own employees: Workers’ comp
- The trucks you own: Commercial auto
- Tools and equipment off your premises, beyond a small limit: Tools & equipment
- Design errors, unless the policy adds them: Professional liability
- Claims above the policy’s limits: Umbrella
Usually not covered
- Trades the insurer excludes, like roofing or demolition
- Flood and earthquake
Who on the block needs it.
Smaller contractors with an office or shop
If you have a place of business, some equipment and a modest payroll, a BOP is often the simplest way to carry property and liability together.
Trades whose work fits
Eligibility depends on the trade, the size of the business and the work. Roofing, demolition, crane work and work at height often don’t fit a BOP; those trades usually carry general liability and property separately.
Owners of one smaller building
A smaller office, retail or mixed-use building you lease to tenants can often carry its property and liability on one BOP. Fewer insurers write apartment buildings on a BOP, and usually only small ones.
How the RFP asks for it
An RFP asks for general liability limits, not for a BOP by name. A BOP’s liability part can meet them (for example $1M / $2M) if its limits and endorsements match, including additional insured and waiver of subrogation.
- Additional insured
- The owner or GC is covered under your policy for claims that come from your work.
- Waiver of subrogation
- Your insurer gives up the right to recover what it paid from the owner or GC.
Insuring several buildings? That’s property insurance, placed building by building.
How we quote it.
Light RFP’s brokerage quotes a business owner’s policy alongside the rest of your program: you fill in the application, and our team takes it to market.
Tell us about the business
Your work or your building, each location and what is in it, and your claims history.
We take it to market
A Light RFP broker reads your application, contacts you about anything missing, and takes it to the insurers that write business owner’s policies for businesses like yours.
Compare the quotes
Limits, deductibles and exclusions side by side, matched to what your contracts, RFPs and lender require. Applying commits you to nothing; you choose whether to buy.
We place it
Our brokerage puts the policy you choose in force and issues the certificates your projects and lenders ask for.
Our application
5 sheets. Plan on 20 to 35 minutes for one location, with your current policy to hand.
- A contractor renting one office or shop
- about 85 answers, 71 required
- One building leased to tenants
- about 83 answers, 70 required
Follow-up questions appear only when an answer calls for them.
What it asks
Open a sheet for a few of its questions.
BOP-01Business
- Is the business a contractor, or does it own, lease out or manage a building?
- What are its revenue, payroll and headcount?
BOP-02Your work or your building
- Contractors: do you do any roofing, crane work, or work above three stories?
- Owners: do tenants occupy the space, and what do they do?
BOP-03Locations
- Where is each location, and how is the building built?
- Are the entrances and parking areas lit at night and watched by cameras?
BOP-04Coverage
- Which liability limits do your contracts or leases ask for?
- Which add-ons should we quote, such as equipment breakdown or data breach?
BOP-05Insurance and claims
- Do you have a business owner’s policy, or property or liability insurance, today?
- Any property or liability claims in the last five years?
Have these ready
- Your business basicsLegal name, FEIN, the year you started, revenue, headcount and payroll.
- Each locationThe address, square footage, stories, year built, construction, sprinklers and alarms. The form lists ten locations. With more, send the full list to insurance@lightrfp.com (a spreadsheet is fine).
- What to insure thereThe value of the equipment, furniture and stock at each location, and what it would cost to rebuild a building you own.
- A building you ownThe years its roof, wiring, heating and plumbing were last updated.
- Your current policyThe declarations page: limits, deductibles, premium and when it expires.
- Loss runs, if you have themFive years of claims history from your current insurer. You can send them after by replying to your confirmation email.
Business owner’s policy questions.
Is a BOP the same as general liability?
No. A BOP includes general liability, plus property and business income cover for your own business. If you have no office, shop or equipment to insure, GL on its own may fit better.
Can a BOP meet a GC’s insurance requirements?
Often, as long as the liability limits and the additional insured and waiver of subrogation wording match what the contract asks for. We check it against the spec before you bid.
Who doesn’t qualify?
It depends on the insurer and the trade. Larger contractors, and higher-risk work like roofing, demolition or work at height, are often placed on separate GL and property policies instead.
What affects the price?
Your kind of business and its revenue, the value of your property and where it is, the limits you choose and your claims history.
Get a business owner’s policy quote.
Getting a quote is free. Light RFP earns a commission from the carrier on all policies.
Light RFP Risk Management Services LLC · NY DFS License # PC-1978982