Commercial Property Insurance: Protecting Your Business Assets (2025)
Guy I know runs a print shop. Last winter a pipe burst over the weekend and flooded the whole place. Ruined two industrial printers worth $45,000 each. Paper stock destroyed. Computers, design equipment, all of it. Total loss probably $150,000.
He had commercial property insurance. Claim got processed, he got a check, bought new equipment, back in business within two months. Sucked but wasn’t catastrophic.
His landlord’s insurance covered the building damage. But the landlord’s insurance doesn’t cover your stuff inside. That’s on you. Just like renters vs homeowners—the property owner covers the structure, you cover your stuff.
What commercial property insurance covers
Your business property. Equipment, inventory, furniture, computers, fixtures, supplies. The physical stuff you need to run your business.
If you own the building, it covers the building too. Structure, roof, walls, permanent fixtures.
Usually covers: fire, theft, vandalism, windstorm, hail, explosion, smoke damage, water damage from burst pipes or sprinklers. The standard perils.
Coverage typically includes business personal property at your location and sometimes at other locations or in transit depending on policy.
What it doesn’t cover
Floods—separate flood insurance needed.
Earthquakes—separate coverage or endorsement.
Employee theft—need separate crime coverage usually.
Equipment breakdown from mechanical failure—sometimes excluded, can add endorsement.
Wear and tear, gradual deterioration—maintenance issues aren’t covered.
Vehicles—need commercial auto.
Data and software—physical computers covered, the data on them gets complicated.
Read your policy carefully. Exclusions matter.
Replacement cost vs actual cash value
Same concept as homeowners. replacement cost pays to replace damaged property with new equivalent. Actual cash value pays depreciated value—what your stuff was worth at moment of loss.
That print shop guy had replacement cost coverage. His 3-year-old printers were covered at cost to buy new equivalent printers, not what 3-year-old printers are worth used.
Replacement cost coverage costs more but pays way better when you have a claim. Worth it for most businesses.
Business interruption coverage
Often included with commercial property or available as add-on. Covers lost income if you can’t operate due to covered property damage.
Print shop was closed two months for repairs. Business interruption coverage paid his ongoing expenses—rent, loan payments, key employee salaries—plus lost profits during closure.
Without this coverage he’d have been paying rent on a shop he couldn’t use while making zero revenue. Business interruption can be the difference between surviving a disaster and closing permanently.
How much coverage
Enough to replace everything. Do an inventory. What would it cost to buy all your equipment new? Replace all your inventory? Rebuild everything from scratch?
A lot of businesses are underinsured because they haven’t updated coverage as they’ve grown. You had $50,000 in equipment when you started, now you have $200,000 but never updated the policy. Bad situation if something happens.
Review coverage annually at minimum. After major equipment purchases, update immediately.
What it costs
Varies a lot based on location, building type, what you do, how much coverage. Rough ranges:
Small office: $500-1,500/year
Retail store: $1,000-3,000/year
Restaurant: $2,000-5,000/year
Manufacturing: $3,000-10,000+/year
Higher-value property and higher-risk businesses cost more. Location matters too—areas prone to natural disasters, high crime areas, older buildings all affect pricing.
Standalone vs business owners policy
Can buy commercial property insurance standalone or bundled in a Business Owner’s Policy with general liability. BOP usually cheaper if you qualify.
Standalone makes sense if you need more coverage than standard BOP limits, have unusual risks, or don’t qualify for BOP for some reason.
Get quotes both ways and compare.
Collision is asleep on top of the printer right now which seems fitting given the topic—but the point is your business stuff is valuable and vulnerable. Fire, theft, water damage, whatever. Commercial property insurance is how you make sure one bad event doesn’t wipe out everything you’ve built.
