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Commercial Property Insurance for Businesses

Your business needs real-world protection for your physical assets, whether you’re a home-based operation, small business, or large enterprise. Paychex Insurance Agency offers top-tier commercial property insurance that covers tangible items like buildings, business inventory, and equipment against damage and loss stemming from major disruptions or even temporary shutdowns.

What Is Commercial Property Insurance?

Commercial property insurance is a policy that provides protection from most perils to a property owned by a business. It helps protect property that you own or lease, including physical assets that you use to conduct business. Insurance for commercial properties offers businesses protection for unexpected events such as fire, theft, and vandalism.

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What Does a Commercial Property Insurance Policy Cover?

Commercial property policies cover the cost to repair or replace physical assets you use to operate your business, like:

  • Buildings you rent or own
  • Equipment
  • Furnishings and fixtures 
  • Stock and inventory
  • Business record reproduction and temporary storage 
  • Lost income due to the inability to operate due to covered property damage

Examples of what would be covered under a business property insurance policy include:

  • A fire damages the workspace
  • A pipe in the office bursts and destroys work computers and office furniture
  • A windstorm damages outdoor signage
  • Someone breaks into your building and steals inventory

Protect Your Commercial Property

Our licensed insurance agents assess your needs to help you find the right commercial property coverage policy. We can help you keep the business operating, even in the event of a natural disaster or a calamity brought on by human error.

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Save Money While Protecting Your Business Assets

Commercial property insurance can benefit your business in ways you didn’t expect. Lenders often require it to qualify for a business loan, and with a commercial property policy in place you could be offered lower interest rates or higher lines of credit. Meanwhile, commercial property policies are tax-deductible as part of an overall business insurance plan.

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One Place for All Your Insurance Solutions

As a top 100 insurance agency*, we’re your single stop for commercial building insurance as well as property and casualty, health and benefits, and benefits administration. Find out more about what Paychex Insurance Agency can offer you, your business, and your employees.

Commercial Property Insurance FAQ

  • What Are the Types of Commercial Property Insurance?

    What Are the Types of Commercial Property Insurance?

    When considering commercial property insurance cost, note that commercial property coverage is divided into two primary categories:

    • Open perils: Provides coverage for anything that may happen unless it's specifically excluded in the policy
    • Named perils: Provides coverage only for specific perils listed or named in the policy

    Generally the more perils a policy covers, the more expensive your insurance premium will be.

  • Is Insurance Mandatory for Commercial Property?

    Is Insurance Mandatory for Commercial Property?

    While not legally required, you should have commercial property insurance if your business relies on any physical property to operate. A landlord or bank may even require you to carry this insurance. Additionally, unforeseen events can happen at any time, and you could be at risk for paying costs in full to fix or replace damaged business property that’s crucial for the business to operate.

  • Why Do I Need Commercial Property Insurance?

    Why Do I Need Commercial Property Insurance?

    Insurance for commercial properties is vital to protect your business property, and to cover the costs to replace or repair the physical assets of your business from losses arising from fire, theft, or most natural disasters.

  • Do I Need Commercial Property Insurance if I Don’t Own the Building?

    Do I Need Commercial Property Insurance if I Don’t Own the Building?

    Whether you need insurance for commercial buildings if you rent space depends on the terms of your lease. You may be responsible for carrying property insurance or continuing to pay rent even after damage occurs. Work with an insurance agent to review your lease terms to ensure you have sufficient coverage, and that your policy will adequately protect you in the event of property damage or loss.

  • How Much Commercial Property Insurance Do I Need?

    How Much Commercial Property Insurance Do I Need?

    Property insurance for businesses should give you enough coverage to generally match any claim you submit — helping you maintain financial continuity and protecting the value of your property. Also, remember that flood insurance is a separate policy from property insurance.

  • What Doesn’t Commercial Property Insurance Cover?

    What Doesn’t Commercial Property Insurance Cover?

    Some items that aren’t covered under commercial property insurance include:

    • Business vehicles
    • Intentional property damage
    • Damage due to acts of war
    • Damage due to floods or earthquakes (these are typically an add-on to an existing policy)
    • Normal wear and tear of building, assets, and equipment
    • Personal injuries incurred on business property

    Make sure to review the specific terms of the policy to understand what is and isn’t covered in your commercial insurance property coverage.

  • How Is Commercial Property Insurance Calculated?

    How Is Commercial Property Insurance Calculated?

    The size of your building, the value of your equipment and inventory, and factors like geographic location, age of the building, and age and type of equipment help to determine business property insurance cost.

  • How Much Does Commercial Property Insurance Cost?

    How Much Does Commercial Property Insurance Cost?

    Many factors will come into play when determining business property insurance costs, including:

    • Size of business premises
    • Age and condition of the building
    • Age and condition of equipment
    • Daily occupancy
    • Fire protection
    • Choice of coverage (open peril or named peril — see below)

    Accounting for these and many other factors, commercial property insurance premiums are set by multiplying the value of the covered items by a value that correlates to the business’s level of risk. Businesses with higher risks (e.g., operating in an old building or in an area with high crime rates) have higher property insurance rates, while those with lower risks (e.g., close proximity to a fire station or having safety features like a sprinkler system installed) cost less to insure.

    Business property insurance costs can vary greatly, although small businesses with relatively low risks can generally secure low monthly premiums in commercial property insurance coverage. Larger businesses with more risk generally pay more for commercial property insurance policies. Bundling insurance with payroll may provide even more competitive rates.

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