
Replacement cost is what you rebuild with. Actual cash value is what you argue about.
Commercial property covers your buildings, equipment, stock and improvements against fire, theft, weather and the other named perils on the form.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What commercial property actually covers.
Buildings
The structure you own, and permanently installed fixtures.
Without it — A fire is a rebuild funded entirely by you.
Business personal property
Equipment, stock, furniture and tools inside the premises.
Without it — Everything that makes the space usable is replaced at today’s prices, out of cash.
Tenant improvements and betterments
The fit-out you paid for in a space you do not own.
Without it — The landlord insures the shell, and the build-out you funded is not on their policy.
Personal property of others
Property belonging to customers or other people while it is in your care at your premises.
Without it — Your own property coverage does not extend to somebody else’s goods, and general liability excludes property in your care outright.
Business income
The income you lose while the building is being repaired, plus the payroll and rent that carry on regardless.
Without it — Property rebuilds the premises. Nothing on it replaces the months of trading you lose while that happens.
Extra expense
What it costs to keep going: a temporary location, rented equipment, overtime, expedited freight.
Without it — Extra expense starts the moment the loss happens, with no waiting period, and it is often the difference between a business reopening and not.
Equipment breakdown
Mechanical, electrical and pressure-system failure, and the stock spoiled when refrigeration stops.
Without it — A property policy excludes damage that starts inside the machine. The compressor that fails on its own is not a property claim.
Ordinance or law
The cost of rebuilding to today’s code rather than to what was there before, plus demolition and the value of the undamaged part you are forced to tear down.
Without it — On an older building this is frequently the largest uninsured number in the whole claim, and it grows every time the code is updated.
Glass
Storefront and plate glass, which is expensive, breaks often, and is sometimes carved out to a sublimit or a separate deductible.
Without it — A single storefront pane runs into thousands, and a retailer replacing one out of pocket every couple of years has bought the wrong deductible.
Where commercial property shows up.
- Landscaping & Grounds Maintenance
The yard, the shop and the equipment inside them still need replacing after a fire.
- Auto Services & Garages
Lifts, diagnostic equipment and the building itself have to be replaced at today’s prices out of cash.
- Restaurant
Kitchen fires are the most common total loss in this trade, and equipment replaces at today’s prices.
- Retail
Stock, fixtures and tenant improvements have to be replaced out of cash after a fire or a burst pipe.
- Medical & Dental Practices
Imaging, chairs and clinical equipment replace at today’s prices, not at book value.
- Directional Boring
The yard, the shop and everything stored in them still need replacing after a loss.
- Pet Services & Veterinary
Kennels, surgical and grooming equipment replace at today’s prices, and a boarding facility runs overnight without staff on site.
- Bar
The back bar, the coolers and the sound system replace at today’s prices, not at what you paid for them.
- Tavern
A tavern kitchen and a back bar are both replacement-cost problems, and both replace at today’s prices.
- Nightclub
Sound, lighting and bar equipment is the expensive half of a nightclub and replaces at today’s prices.
- Physical Therapy Practices
Tables, modalities and clinic fit-out are expensive to replace after a fire or a flood.
- Chiropractic Practices
Tables, imaging and clinic fit-out represent most of the practice’s capital.
- Glass Contractors & Glaziers
The shop, the racks and the stock still need replacing after a loss.
- Mobile Mechanics & Heavy Truck Repair
The shop, the lifts and the parts inventory still need replacing after a loss.
- Painting Contractors
Solvent-soaked rags and stored thinners are a recognized fire cause, and the shop and stock still need replacing.
- Moving & Storage Companies
The warehouse and everything of yours in it still needs replacing after a fire, and stored customer goods raise the values sharply.
- Flooring Contractors
Adhesives and finishes are flammable stock, and the warehouse holding them is the largest fixed asset most flooring contractors own.
- Welding & Fabrication
The shop holds gas, stock and plant, and it is the asset a fire takes first.
- Convenience Stores
The building, the fixtures, the coolers and the stock are the balance sheet, and fire or vehicle impact takes them together.
- Recording Studios
Consoles, monitors, outboard and acoustic treatment are the business, and a sprinkler head does not distinguish between them.
- Equipment Rental Companies
The warehouse, the prep bays and everything not out on hire still burn.
- Auto Body & Collision Shops
The building, the downdraft booth, the frame machine and the paint mixing room. The booth and solvent storage drive the fire rate.
- Auto Detailing, Ceramic Coating & Tint
For a fixed studio: the building, the lift and the stock of coatings and film.
- Tire Shops
The building, the lifts, the balancers and alignment rack, and a tire inventory that is heavy fire load.
- Heavy Truck & Diesel Repair Shops
Tall bays, heavy lifts and a parts inventory that is expensive and slow to replace.
- Camera Equipment
The edit suite, the storage shelves and the gear while it is home, at the address and nowhere else.
- Sports Facilities & Venues
The building, the surface, the equipment and the fit-out are the business.
- Motorsports
Grandstands, barriers, timing, workshops and the circuit itself.
- Family Entertainment Centers
The building, the attractions and the fit-out, which is most of the invested capital.
- Trampoline Parks
The courts, the foam, the structures and the building holding them.
- Bowling Centers
Lanes, pinsetters and the building, which are expensive and specialized to replace.
- Water Parks
Slides, filtration, pumps and structures exposed to water and weather all year.
- Amusement & Theme Parks
Rides are the capital of the business and are outdoors in all weather.
- Zip Lines & Ropes Courses
Towers, platforms, cable and hardware, outdoors and load-bearing.
- Zoos & Aquariums
Enclosures, habitats, tanks and the plant that keeps them alive.
- Distilleries
A standard commercial form is not priced or worded for it, and insurers are selective.
- Wineries & Vineyards
A vintage set at production cost is underinsured by multiples after three years.
- Commercial Landlords
A limit set on market value is a partial claim paid in part.
- Apartment Buildings
Tenant contents are theirs; everything else is yours.
- Short-Term Rentals
A homeowners policy assumes you live there. A dwelling fire form assumes a tenant with a lease. Neither assumed a new guest every three nights, and the adjuster reads the exclusions before the loss.
- Airbnb Hosts
AirCover does not insure your house. Nothing on the platform does; that was always your homeowners policy’s job, and your homeowners policy excludes the business.
- Vacation Rentals
A limit set on what you paid, or on what it would sell for, is a partial claim paid in part.
- HOAs & Condo Associations
Which one you have decides what every owner must insure themselves.
- Self Storage
Wind and hail on a large low building is the frequent property loss.
- Vacant Property
Vandalism, theft, water and glass are the first coverages a vacancy clause removes.
- Warehouses
Racking is often omitted and is a substantial replacement cost.
- Mixed-Use Property
Splitting a building across two policies creates the argument at the boundary.
- Mobile Home Parks
Buried utilities are the asset owners forget to schedule.
- Real Estate Investors
Twelve renewal dates is how a property ends up uninsured.
- Salons & Barbershops
A salon fit-out is expensive and is usually a tenant improvement.
- Gyms & Fitness Studios
The equipment is the capital, and it is expensive to replace at once.
- Florists
The walk-in cooler is the most expensive thing in the building.
- Farms & Ranches
A homeowners policy excludes the farming, and a commercial policy excludes the home.
- Marinas & Boat Dealers
Docks are frequently excluded or heavily sublimited on a standard form.
- Franchisees
A franchise build-out is specified by the brand and expensive to replace.
- Hotels, Motels & B&Bs
Guest rooms are a large replacement cost, refurbished on a cycle.
- Cannabis
The electrical and humidity load in a grow is not a standard property risk.
- Dispensaries
Inventory value per square foot is high and it is portable.
- Smoke, Vape & CBD Shops
Small, valuable, easily resold inventory is a burglary target.
- Summer Camps
A residential camp is a small village that earns its whole year in ten weeks.
- Group Homes
A homeowners policy will not cover a building operated as a licensed facility, whatever the mortgage company was told.
- Adult Day Care
Funding follows attendance; a closed center earns nothing while it still pays staff.
- Vocational & Technical Schools
The equipment is the school; a fire in a teaching kitchen closes the program until it is replaced.
- Charter Schools
Most charters lease, and the lease shifts the property risk onto the tenant in ways a district-owned school never sees.
- Respite Care Providers
A homeowners policy generally excludes business activity, so an injury to a respite guest in your living room may have no coverage at all.
- Sober Living Homes
A homeowners policy is written for a family in its own home. A house run as a business on that form is a claim waiting to be declined.
- Museums and Cultural Institutions
2 CFR 200.310 requires grant-funded property to be insured like your own, and an uninsured loss cannot be charged back to the award.
- Land Trusts and Conservation Organizations
Property is one of the three coverages Practice 6E2 names, and land trust structures are often remote and unprotected.
- Mental Health Clinics and Facilities
Grant-funded equipment must be insured at least as well as your own, and an uninsured loss cannot be charged back to the grant.
- Domestic Violence Shelters
A fire empties the shelter the same night, and grant rules require grant-funded property to be insured.
- Homeless Shelters and Transitional Housing
Grant-funded property must be insured at least as well as your own, and an uninsured loss cannot be charged back to the grant.
- Affordable and Low-Income Housing
A lender can force-place coverage at a much higher price, and an investor treats a lapse as a default.
- Community Action Agencies, Head Start and Weatherization
Grant-funded property must be insured at least as well as your own, and an uninsured loss cannot be charged to the grant.
- Youth Centers, Clubs and Y’s
Grant-funded equipment must be insured at least as well as your own, and an uninsured loss cannot be charged back to the grant.
- Private Colleges and Universities
Grant-funded equipment must be insured at least as well as your own property.
- Medical Spas
A device failing from an internal cause is excluded by property, and it is the most valuable thing you own.
- Estheticians
A salon’s policy covers the salon’s property, not the equipment you brought and own.
- Permanent Makeup & Microblading
A studio’s policy covers the studio’s property, not the kit you brought.
- Mesa Underwriters
Two policies from two markets is two renewal dates and an argument about which one responds.
- Auto Repair Shops
The building, the lifts, the alignment rack and the diagnostic equipment the shop cannot open without.
What clients with commercial property ask us.
Basic, broad or special, which form am I on?
It is the most important line on your policy and the one nobody reads. There are three, and they are not price variations of the same thing.
Replacement cost or actual cash value?
Replacement cost pays to replace with new; actual cash value deducts depreciation and pays what the item was worth on the day. On a ten-year-old commercial kitchen the difference is not marginal, it is most of the claim. Actual cash value is cheaper and is the right answer far less often than it is sold.
What is coinsurance and why did my claim get reduced?
Coinsurance is a clause requiring you to insure at a stated percentage of full value, typically 80% or 90%. Insure for less and the insurer reduces every claim proportionally, including partial ones, which is how a business with a $40,000 loss and an underinsured building receives $25,000. It penalises understating values, which is precisely the temptation when premiums are quoted.
Guides on commercial property.
- The California FAIR PlanCalifornia’s insurer of last resort: what it covers, the current commercial limits, and why it needs a DIC policy beside it.
- Wildfire Mitigation CreditsThe mitigation actions California requires insurers to discount, and why the cheap ones matter most. A five-foot ember zone, and mesh over the vents.
- Insuring to ValueMarket value is not replacement cost, how insurers calculate the rebuild figure, and why getting it wrong costs you on small claims as well as big ones.
- CoinsuranceThe clause that quietly reduces partial claims, the arithmetic behind it, and the endorsement that switches it off. Usually an 80 percent requirement.
- Causes of Loss FormsNamed peril versus open peril, what each form actually lists, and why the burden of proof is the real difference. Special form is the one you want.
- Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash ValueReplacement cost and actual cash value are two ways a policy decides what your damaged property was worth. The choice between them changes the size of a claim payment far more than most limit decisions do.
- Does Insurance Cover MoldMold is one of the most heavily limited items in commercial property insurance, and it is generally covered only as a consequence of a sudden covered loss. The cause and the speed of your response decide whether a claim pays at all.
- Statement of valuesThe statement of values is the property policy's inventory. Each line is a location and its worth; the total is what the carrier insures and what it charges for. A stale line is paid stale.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.