A critical element to the success of any business is protecting it from legal liabilities, and this involves having the right insurance policies for your company. The following are three types of liabilities that can happen to your company, and the types of commercial insurance you need to protect yourself.

Property damage

This can take two forms. One is the building you are doing business in. You will need to have it insured for fire and other damage that can put you out of business. If you are leasing the building, you don't need to be concerned about this insurance; however, regardless of whether you own or lease a building, the property inside will not be covered. You need to have a separate policy for your business's personal property. This includes inventory and all of the company's operating equipment, including office equipment. A single fire or burglary can put a small company out of business quickly unless you are protected with an insurance policy.

A customer is injured on your company's property

This type of policy is sold under the category of general liability insurance, and is necessary for all businesses. It only takes a single claim against your company for an injury sustained on your property to put you out of business. The claim doesn't even need to be true. The expense you will incur when fighting a false claim can be enough to cripple a small or start-up operation. A general liability insurance policy should also cover actions by your employees. You are responsible for their actions, so if one of them was to hurt someone during the course of the work day, you can be sued. General liability insurance will protect you from these types of lawsuits.

Computer hacking

There are many ways that your business's computers can be compromised, but the result can be destructive to many people's lives. Even for a small business, with no customer data to protect, this can be an issue. Employee data can be a target for many computer hackers today. The first time this happens, you may find yourself with one or more lawsuits to deal with, and like any other lawsuit, the result is your business can be permanently shut down and liquidated to pay off a judgment. The solution is to have a data breach insurance policy. This type of insurance is fairly new in the business world, but is growing in popularity.

Whether your business is big or small, the three policies listed above are among the most important policies you can purchase to protect your company from legal judgments. Talk to an insurance agent, like Ratcliffe Insurance, for more information.