If the first rule of insurance is to make certain that your property is adequately covered, the second rule should be to ensure that the property of others is properly protected. It’s obvious that companies like UPS, FedEx, and PODS would need insurance for the damage of customers’ goods, but you may be unaware of just how much customer-owned property you are actually holding during a normal day.
From parking garages to auto repair shops, from dry cleaners to computer repair centers, many businesses face exposure for property they don’t actually own. If a customer’s property was damaged while in your care, most service businesses would want to provide full reimbursement to retain customer goodwill. However, general liability coverage and business owners’ policies specifically exclude coverage for property in the policyholder’s “care, custody and control.” Even when an insured cause, such as a fire, damages or destroys your customer’s property, standard commercial property policies typically provide only minimal coverage.