Funeral Home Insurance Coverages
Your business and the business down the street are not the same – even if the other business is also a funeral home. While you need a set of core funeral home insurance policies, each of these must be tailored to your unique business.
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance is a necessity for funeral homes and funeral directors. It provides coverage for costs related to third-party property damage or bodily injury that occurs on your premises or caused by you or one of your employees in the course of doing business. For example:
In these types of cases, your CGL policy will reimburse the injured party for medical expenses or the cost of the lost or damaged item. In addition, general liability insurance covers costs related to lawsuits, including court costs, attorney fees, and any settlements or judgments that you are required to pay. It also provides coverage for claims of advertising liability, slander and libel.
Funeral homes and funeral directors also need property insurance to protect the funeral home building as well as the contents of your building, including fixtures, furniture and office equipment. Commercial property insurance helps you replace or repair damaged or destroyed property in the event of a covered loss caused by an event such as a fire, weather event, theft or vandalism.
Funeral homes may be eligible for a special business insurance package called a business owners policy, or BOP. A BOP provides funeral home liability insurance, funeral home property insurance and business interruption insurance in one convenient, affordable package designed for low-risk, small businesses. What’s more, you can add endorsements, riders and additional coverage to a business owners policy to ensure that it is fully tailored to your needs.
Special Funeral Home and Funeral Director Liability Coverage
Funeral homes and funeral directors may need additional liability protection in the form of endorsements to your CGL policy or several standalone policies.
- Directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance protects specific decision-makers (e.g., a board of directors or advisory committee) from legal judgments and costs arising from certain behaviors or decisions that they make. Without this coverage, these individuals’ personal assets could be at stake if they are sued for any of these actions:
- Unlawful acts
- Erroneous investment decisions
- Failure to maintain property
- Releasing confidential information
- Hiring and firing decisions
- Conflicts of interest
- Gross negligence
- Professional Liability Insurance, or errors and omissions insurance, is important for funeral directors in situations where a family of a deceased person claims that you have caused them financial harm due to negligence, errors or omissions. Even if the lawsuit is unfounded, your professional liability policy will help cover the costs to prove your case.
Protect Your Hearses and Other Vehicles with Commercial Auto Insurance
Driving is a huge part of your business as a funeral home or funeral director. You may have a fleet of vehicles including everything from hearses to cargo vans, trucks and even passenger cars. All of these vehicles, as well as the drivers, need insurance protection.
