Liability:  Liability covers your company's legal liability for bodily injury and for damage to the property of a third party.  Injury to your company's employees is excluded but covered by Workers Compensation insurance.

Physical Damage:  Collision coverage insures damage to your vehicles from collision or overturning.  Comprehensive coverage responds to other types of damage such as fire, theft, or vandalism.

Uninsured Motorists:  Coverage to protect you if you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist.

Underinsured Motorists: This coverage provides protection from accidents with a motorist with insufficient liability insurance. When the responsible driver has the state's minimum requirements but not enough to cover a serious injury your policy will step in and bring the available coverage to the stated limit in your policy.

“No-fault”:  Many states have enacted no-fault laws to limit litigation by having each party to the accident collect from their own policy.  The protection afforded under no-fault benefits varies considerably from state to state.

Medical Payments Coverage:  Coverage allows for a nominal sum to pay medical bills for customers and others injured while passengers in your company’s car without having to prove liability. The limit can vary, but usually starts at $2,000 and can go higher.

1. A private company considered acquiring a smaller competitor.  After months of due diligence the firm decides not to go through with the purchase for a number of valid reasons.  Several months later the company officers are sued under the theory that the due diligence process was simply a ruse to gain competitive advantage.  The cost ultimately exceeded $900,000.
2. Two weeks after being hired away from a competitor, a new employee was fired by the Company President who decided he made a bad hiring decision.  The former employee filed suit alleging that during the hiring process the President misrepresented the position.  The jury took less than 3 hours to find the President personally liable.
3. The CEO of a privately held company gave stock bonuses to two senior managers that over time gave each manager 10% equity in the company.  Upon the death of the CEO, his spouse inherited the company and the relationship with the two managers deteriorated and they left the firm.  The firm then lost major clients and the two managers filed suits related to the devaluation of their stock.
4. The trustees of a trade association decided to expand their activities into areas that were not explicitly envisioned by the founders. Their state’s attorney general brought an action against them alleging misuse of funds and property for operating outside their charter, even though no third party had raised a complaint.
5. A local chamber of commerce published a quarterly newsletter. The newsletter included a tourism section, promoting places of interest, attractions, restaurants, etc. A new restaurant had recently approached the chamber with a request to advertise in the upcoming issue.  The chamber agreed and accepted a minimal advertising fee from the restaurant. Upon release of the next issue, it was discovered that the Executive Director never expedited the restaurant request and actually kept the money. The restaurant in turn sued the chamber for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and interference with economic interests.
6. A donor made a large contribution to a foundation to aid students in need of tuition. The board instead voted to expand their headquarters and commit a portion of the donation to the building fund. The donor filed suit, alleging misappropriation of funds. Damages included return of the full contribution plus interest. As some of the money was already spent, the foundation was financially unable to return the entire donation.

Hire the right people for the job. Workplace safety begins with safe hiring practices. Ensure potential candidates have the right experience and training for the position. Conduct background checks to validate a candidate's ability to perform job functions safely and effectively-investigate credit reports, criminal background, worker’s compensation claim history, drug and alcohol history, physical ability and more (subject to applicable laws and regulations).

Clearly define employee functions. Comprehensive documentation of the roles and responsibilities for each position helps you make better hiring decisions, utilize resources in the safest, most efficient way possible, and get injured workers back on the job quicker.

Create a culture of safety–starting at the top. Studies show that the more committed to workplace safety management is, the less injuries happen. Document policies and procedures for worker, security and fleet safety. Identify risks, and create strategies to mitigate them. Distribute policies to all employees, and ensure each are adequately trained on safe operational procedures.

Establish safety committees. No one better understands how to keep working conditions safe than the people on the job. Empower employees at all levels to get involved, providing easy ways to report safety concerns and provide input on how to make operating procedures safer.

Adapt ergonomic processes. Better workplace design can help minimize job-related injury or chronic illness. Whenever possible, engineer workstations, tools, machines and operational processes to fit the task to the worker.

Manage and analyze incidents, then adjust accordingly. Not all injuries can be avoided. Establishing procedures for reporting, responding to and documenting injuries when they do occur is key. Analyze the data. Remove identified hazards. Change processes found to commonly cause injuries. Revise strategies to improve incident response in the future.