Utah was the nation’s fastest-growing state over the past decade,1 and small businesses are playing a big role in that prosperity. The state’s nearly 573,000 small businesses account for almost all businesses in Utah and employ nearly half of its workers.2
One thing that all small businesses based in the Beehive State have in common is the need to protect their investments with insurance.
Small business insurance in Utah helps pay for unforeseen events like:
NEXT Insurance helps more than 1,300 types of small businesses and self-employed workers quickly get the coverage they need online at the best price. We specialize in small business insurance, so we can easily help you find a custom insurance package that is right for you.
Continue reading to find out about the most important types of business insurance in Utah or start a free instant quote to review options for your business.
A small business insurance package in Utah might consist of a combination of the following:
General liability coverage is one of the most important types of small business insurance in Utah and is often required to lease commercial office space.
If someone says that your company caused an injury or damaged property, general liability insurance helps pay to address the claim. This coverage includes attorney fees, court costs and any damages if you are found responsible in the case of a lawsuit.
For instance, the owner of an office park in Salt Lake City says that employees of a landscaping firm accidentally killed several dozen shrubs by using the wrong type of fertilizer. General liability insurance helps the landscapers pay to replace the plants, including labor costs if the client chooses another vendor.
Owners of cleaning and construction companies should strongly consider adding tools and equipment coverage to business insurance packages in Utah. If important business items are damaged, stolen or lost, tools and equipment insurance helps pay to repair or replace them.
In Utah, all businesses with employees must carry workers’ compensation insurance to assist employees who get hurt at work.4
This type of coverage helps injured employees pay for medical expenses and physical rehabilitation. It also covers a portion of lost wages under Utah’s tiered system of temporary and permanently disabled workers.5
Here’s how workers’ compensation insurance in Utah could help protect your business:
A Park City-based concrete pourer suffers a hernia when removing bags of supplies from a truck and seeks medical care. The doctor recommends that the worker take a month off of work to recover from the injury.
Workers’ comp coverage helps the injured employee pay for medical bills, as well as some lost wages, depending on his or her disability status.
Utah law requires that all motorists carry auto insurance, including those who drive for business.3
Personal auto insurance usually won’t cover damages from accidents in company-owned vehicles, which is why some business insurance bundles in Utah should include commercial auto coverage.
For example, an excavation company in St. George is involved in a high-speed accident in a company-owned truck on Interstate 15, sending three workers and several other drivers to the hospital. Commercial auto insurance helps pay for medical expenses, up to the policy limits, along with vehicle damages.
Hired and non-owned insurance is a form of commercial auto coverage that pays for business-related accidents in vehicles not titled to a company. Businesses that sometimes ask employees to drive their own automobiles for work or rent them should ask about this add-on when requesting a quote.
Claims of work-related negligence that causes financial losses can leave a small business facing a sizable bill for damages.
In such cases, professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions (E&O) coverage, provides essential protection. This form of business insurance in Utah helps pay to resolve claims of professional negligence.
For example, a client accuses a self-employed IT consultant based in Provo of incorrectly configuring payment processing software, which leads to an e-commerce website outage and several days of lost revenue. The consultant’s E&O insurance helps the consultant reimburse the client for losses and would cover a portion of lawyer fees, court costs and additional damage in the event of a lawsuit.
Small businesses in Utah pay a median of $46 per month for insurance, across all industries that NEXT serves in the state.
Your individual business insurance costs in Utah will largely depend on criteria such as:
Your company’s day-to-day risks. Industries with higher risks of injury or property damage will pay more for coverage each month. In Utah, construction companies spend a median of nearly $63 per month since people at a building site have greater risks of injury than in other industries. Owners of fitness businesses based in the state spend a median of $15 for insurance.
The coverage and policy limits you choose. Purchasing the minimum required business insurance in Utah and lower policy limits will save your company some money each month. But if there’s an accident or other unexpected event, you’ll likely have to pay more out of pocket to resolve it.
How many people you employ or plan to hire. Your workers’ compensation insurance costs will depend on your company’s number of employees. Knowing your business’s exact headcount and how many people you plan to hire in the future will make getting a business insurance quote in Utah quick and easy.
Start a quote with NEXT Insurance today to explore coverage options for your business in just a few minutes.
We offer a quick and simple way for you to get business insurance quotes online, purchase coverage and share your certificate of insurance. The entire process typically takes just a few minutes.
Our team of licensed, U.S.-based advisors can help you if you have any questions.
Check out these links if you would like to learn more about starting a business in Utah:
Article sources:
2 U.S. Small Business Administration
Learn more about insurance options in the states where you work.