Business Insurance

[Renee Laliberte]

Hello! This is my first time posting but I've been reading posts for several weeks and I have found some invaluable information, so thanks!

I am opening a Coworking space in Markham (a suburb of Toronto) and I'm negotiating an offer to lease a space. I have some questions about business insurance...

1- What insurance companies have Coworking owners/operators used in Ontario for their business insurance? I am shopping and don't know where to start! What do I ask for? How much are people paying in premiums? Looking for a ballpark...

2- What should the landlord's insurance cover and what should my tenant's insurance cover when it comes to the space? I am looking at leasing a space in a commercial condo, one unit in a plaza of about a dozen or so commercial units. This is what the landlord has put in the offer to lease:

"10. INSURANCE: The Tenant shall provide the Landlord an insurance certificate with Landord as an additional insured party, and agree to insure the followings:
i. Property of every description owned and operated by the Tenant, including but not limited to stock in-trade, furniture, alteration and other improvements not less than 100% of the replacement thereof;
ii. Public liability coverage of 2 million dollars against personal injury, fire and other perils, contractual liability;
iii. Plate glass replacement;
iv. Broad form Boiler, machinery, air conditioning equipment and electrical apparatus;
v. Business interruption insurance in such amount will reimburse the Tenant for any direct or indirect loss of earning attributable to all perils."

I'm looking for opinions on iv. & v. mostly. Thanks for your help!

Cheers :)
Renée

[Alex Hillman]

Welcome to the list, Renee!

 

1- What insurance companies have Coworking owners/operators used in Ontario for their business insurance?  I am shopping and don't know where to start! What do I ask for? How much are people paying in premiums?  Looking for a ballpark...

This varies tremendously from region to region, so I highly recommend hitting up the Coworking Ontario group: http://coworkingontario.ca

 

2- What should the landlord's insurance cover and what should my tenant's insurance cover when it comes to the space? I am looking at leasing a space in a commercial condo, one unit in a plaza of about a dozen or so commercial units. This is what the landlord has put in the offer to lease:

"10. INSURANCE: The Tenant shall provide the Landlord an insurance certificate with Landord as an additional insured party, and agree to insure the followings:
i. Property of every description owned and operated by the Tenant, including but not limited to stock in-trade, furniture, alteration and other improvements not less than 100% of the replacement thereof;
ii. Public liability coverage of 2 million dollars against personal injury, fire and other perils, contractual liability;
iii. Plate glass replacement;
iv. Broad form Boiler, machinery, air conditioning equipment and electrical apparatus;
v. Business interruption insurance in such amount will reimburse the Tenant for any direct or indirect loss of earning attributable to all perils."

I think this is also a somewhat regional thing, but the only thing we're required to hold is 1 and 2. Insuring your own belongings is part of insuring a business, and public liability is pretty standard practice in leasing as far as I understand. 

But insuring their stuff? Plate glass? Building machinery? I'd personally push back on that unless local people say it's standard fare. 

My insurance agent Diane (who many US spaces have worked with) unfortunately only works with US underwriters. But she may be knowledgable of industry practices in other regions. Hit me up off list if you'd like an intro :)

-Alex

------------------

The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.

Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com

Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast

[Jamie Russo]

Renee,

I reached out to Kane Willmott who owns IQ Office Suites in Toronto (also board member of the Global Workspace Association). He advised using an insurance broker to help advise you on what is common and what is not (of course they'd be slightly biased towards wanting to cover you) - he provided the contact info for his broker:

Ross Keegan BPHE, CAIB

 

McKiee & Farrar Limited

28 Colborne Street N.,

Simcoe, ON

N3Y 3T9 

 

Phone:  519-426-2551

Fax:  519-426-1573

Email:  ro...@mckiee.com

Best,

Jamie

Executive Director Global Workspace Association

Founder, Enerspace Coworking

[Renee Laliberte]

Thanks Alex, you echo my feelings about the insurance coverage. I tried contacting Coworking Ontario first before posting here but didn't hear back. I appreciate your help :)

[Alex Hillman]

Rachel, Ashley and others from Coworking Ontario frequent this list so hopefully they'll see you here!

On Tuesday, February 16, 2016, Renee Laliberte <renee.l...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Alex, you echo my feelings about the insurance coverage. I tried contacting Coworking Ontario first before posting here but didn't hear back. I appreciate your help :)

--
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

[Renee Laliberte]

Hi Jamie, thanks for reaching out on my behalf. I really appreciate the contact info.

[Ashley Proctor]

Hi Renee,

Thanks for reaching out!

I'm seeing your question pop up in all of our channels, and you're not the only one asking this week.

Consider this a response from Coworking Ontario, Foundery and myself ;)

There isn't one company in Ontario that I would recommend - each one is unique, and there is likely a few that will meet your needs.

I would suggest using an insurance broker.

In my experience, this is a free (and fantastic) service.

They will shop around and do the comparison for you, bringing you the top options to review.

Each landlord requires different insurance terms - your broker can ensure those are covered for you.

The premiums vary across the province, and the rate will reflect the terms of your specific policy.

In Ontario I've had policies for $60 /month and policies for $300 /month and it varies depending on the coverage I choose, size of space, number of members, type of building and location.

You can combine 2 policies together (your business insurance policy and your business location insurance policy) but in some cases it may be in your interest to maintain 2 separate policies. 

The rate also changes if you are open to the general public, and if you offer additional products or services.

If you are hosting events, serving alcohol etc in your space, the rate tends to be much higher than if you are not.

If you want to adjust the policy price you can always play with your deductible, just as you can with auto insurance.

In addition to covering your own property and liability, you can play with the amount of coverage you have for the belongings of others - this should simply be articulated in your members agreement.

As for iv, this clause is standard and is easy to cover, just pass it on to your broker with the rest of the requests from the landlord.

Clause v is a bit tricky - especially in your first year of operations, as it is difficult to prove / agree upon an amount, regardless of your coverage.

It's very similar to the experience of insuring artwork - the perception of value can change dramatically between parties.

Ask your broker for some options and ask a lot of questions.

They can help you navigate the insurance requirements in your lease and ensure you have the right type of coverage for your specific business.

Good luck!

Ashley

Foundery
www.foundery.is

Creative Blueprint

www.creativeblueprint.ca

The Foundery Buildings
376 Bathurst Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

[Renee Laliberte]

Hi Ashley

Thank you so much for this information!  I wasn't sure which avenue was best for asking questions so I covered them all!  Thanks for you understanding. 

This helps me a lot. Do you have any brokers or brokerage companies that you would recommend?

Cheers

Renee

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Coworking" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/coworking/JD3QPowStUA/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to coworking+...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Sent from Gmail Mobile