Business Interruption Insurance (BII) is an often overlooked insurance coverage that protects against exposures to loss every bit is vital as fire or litigation. If your business is forced to close your risk is not limited to temporary loss of income, which can be devastating in and of itself. You also run the risk of losing customers who turn elsewhere for their product or service needs. You may have difficulty paying key suppliers during an income interruption causing further long term loss as those suppliers sever their business relationship with your company.
Business Interruption Insurance is designed to protect businesses from these types of risk. BII is often part of packaged commercial insurance policies or is purchased in conjunction with business property insurance. One reason for this is that the perils, or causes of loss, are usually the same for property insurance as for Business Interruption Insurance. A variation in BII designed for those enterprises that depend heavily on outside suppliers is called Contingent Business Interruption Insurance. Loss in business income due to the inability of a supplier to provide goods or services can be insured against in many circumstances.
How much BII your business needs will depend on several factors such as how easily you could continue operations at temporary location and how long your business might be sidelined. You will also need to consider what income is being insured. It could be average daily, weekly or monthly; income, income for the most recent accounting period, peak income or some hybrid.
BII usually requires a 48 hour waiting period before kicking in and indemnity will be based on the financial records of your business. So it goes without saying that you will need to keep your records up to date and in a safe place.