Protect your assets: the lowdown on property, liability, disability, auto, and office equipment policies - Special Guide to Insurance - includes related articles on how to find an agent, comparing insurance costs and organizations that rate insurance companies - Tutorial

Home Office Computing, March, 1994 by Linda Stern

Greg Marsh of Geico explains that some home-based businesspeople start driving their car less once they work at home. If your rates have been based on a commuting habit you no longer have, you may find them staying level or possibly even decreasing when you add business uses to your auto policy.

It's important to call your auto insurer to discuss the details regarding the amount and type of work-related driving you do with your car. Especially if you regularly make deliveries with your car, make sure you add business coverage.

Don't Stop Thinking About

Tomorrow Unfortunately, you can't just buy all your insurance tomorrow, throw your policies in a drawer, and forget about them. Your business will evolve and grow, your family will change and age, and the insurance marketplace will adapt and spin off new (and sometimes improved) products. Take particular care in selecting a permanent life policy; they cost too much up front to justify switching often. But review your property, casualty, professional liability, and auto insurance annually, if possible. Make sure that the payments and benefits involved keep up with your circumstances and that the companies that hold your policies remain strong and at the ready to help when trouble hits.

The Truth About Finding an Agent "Discuss that with your agent" are probably the five most popular words in insurance advice. But what if you don't have an agent? Experience tells us that you may not need an agent to sell you life insurance. No-commission products are cheaper, and most life insurance agents work on behalf of one primary company. To buy liability insurance, though, you ought to work with a broker. A broker is to property casualty what an agent is to life insurance. but the average property casualty broker represents more than one company's products and receives commissions of about 15 percent instead of the 50 percent or more that a life insurance salesperson gets.

Start by asking colleagues for recommendations, and ask these questions when checking out brokers.

* What do you know about my business?

* What do you know about home-based businesses in general?

* What commissions would you get if I bought this package that you're recommending? (Don't bite if quoted more than 15 percent.)

* Who, in a field that's related to mine, is already a customer of yours? Can I call him or her for a reference?

* What are your professional qualifications? (A person selling property casualty insurance should be a certified property casualty underwriter; one selling life insurance, a certified life underwriter.)

* Are you licensed in this state? (If not, stay away.)

* How long have you been in this business? Do you have any specialties? (It's good to look for someone with at least a five- year track record. It's even better to find if she specializes in clients like you.)

* How many companies do you represent? (In most cases, a broker is better able to serve you if he knows the products of at least three to five major insurers. But State Farm is the exception to this rule; its representatives tend to work for only that firm, yet it's still a good choice.)