Property Insurance
Property Insurance protects you in the event of loss or damage to an owned asset such as buildings, stock, equipment, improvements done by tenants, and contents of an office or other space for which you are legally liable. Simply put, property insurance puts you back to the position you were in before you experienced the loss.
Automobile Insurance
As an owner of a commercial vehicle, you have certain legal responsibilities for the drivers of that vehicle. These responsibilities are laid out in both provincial and case legislation. You are liable for any properly licensed person operating your vehicle with your consent and “vicariously liable” (liable by virtue of your relationship as an employer) for anyone driving a vehicle in the course of their employment.
Liability Insurance
Liability insurance protects you against risks of financial loss due to liability that may arise from your actions and/or work and/or product. In other words, it allows you to transfer the risk of financial loss in exchange for a premium.
Directors & Officers Liability
Often referred to as D & O, this involves liability insurance payable to the directors and officers of a company or to the organization(s) itself. It covers damages or defense costs in the event of a lawsuit for alleged wrongful acts, or arising out of criminal and regulatory investigations/trials. D&O has become closely associated with broader management liability insurance, which covers liabilities of the corporation as well as the personal liabilities for the directors and officers of the corporation.
Professional Liability Insurance
Generally referred to as Errors and Omissions insurance or E&O, this type of insurance protects professional practitioners against potential negligence claims made by their clients. Examples of business professionals at risk for this include architects, engineers, software developers, technology consultants, real estate brokers, appraisers and website developers, just to name a few.
Surety
A surety bond is an agreement between three parties, usually the surety company, the contractor or principal, and the project owner or obligee. (The project owner may be a private business or a public entity such as a government or a crown corporation.)
The way it works is that the surety provider assures the project owner that the contractor will perform a contract by completing specified work to a specified standard. Terms can also include assuring that the contractor adheres to specific regulations or will pay certain labourers, subcontractors, and suppliers associated with the project. If the contractor fails to perform the work as specified, the surety company is responsible for the completion of the project.
The surety provider offers this assurance based on an assessment of the contractor, combined with its expertise in both the financial and hands-on aspects of the construction industry. The contractor’s history, capacity, financial strength, character, credit history and a host of other factors are considered before a bond is awarded.
Surety bonding is a careful, rigorous, and highly professional process. The reason for this diligence is simple: if the contractor fails to meet his obligations, the surety provider must bear the cost of completing the contract. With major project budgets commonly in the tens of millions of dollars and more, the consequences of poorly-made decisions can be disastrous.