The lease has an insurance clause, and a deadline.
Landlords require general liability at stated limits, themselves named as additional insured, and evidence of coverage on the build-out you paid for.
- Commercial general liability$1M / $2M
- Landlord as additional insuredBy endorsement
- Business personal propertyReplacement cost of contents
- Leasehold improvementsCost of your build-out
- Business income12 months of operating expense
- Waiver of subrogationCommonly required by the lease
Ranges commonly seen. Your contracts and exposure decide the answer.
If any of these are true right now, this is the situation you're in.
- A landlord sent an insurance clause with the lease
- You paid for a build-out and nobody has valued it for insurance
- A venue or conference requires a certificate before you can exhibit
- You've shipped laptops and equipment to a distributed team
Your landlord sent an insurance requirement.
Commercial general liability is the foundational business policy — bodily injury, property damage, and personal and advertising injury caused to third parties. For a software company it is rarely the policy that pays a real claim, but it is the one every landlord, venue and customer requires evidence of, almost always at $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate.
Property is the piece companies underestimate. Leasehold improvements you paid for are yours to insure, not the landlord's, and they are the most commonly under-insured item on a technology company's schedule. Business income coverage replaces revenue when a physical loss makes the space unusable.
For most technology companies under roughly $10M in revenue, a Business Owner's Policy bundles general liability with property and business income at a lower combined cost than separate policies, and is simpler to administer.
The coverage this situation calls for
In priority order, with the reason each one is on the list.
Specifically, in this situation.
- Read the lease insurance clause and confirm the exact endorsements required
- Value leasehold improvements properly rather than by guess
- Issue the certificate with the landlord named, the day it is needed
- Add off-premises coverage for equipment with remote employees
- 01
Submission reviewed
Same business dayYou tell us about the business once. We read it the day it arrives and come back with anything still outstanding.
- 02
Coverage & requirements reviewed
Same business dayContracts, exposures, limits and requirements checked against what you actually need to carry — and what you don't.
- 03
Markets approached
Typically within 48 hoursWe approach carrier and wholesale markets suited to the risk, with a submission built to be read rather than skimmed.
- 04
Options compared
Typically 3–10 business daysCoverage, terms and pricing reviewed side by side — including the exclusions that decide whether a claim pays.
- 05
Bind & certificates
Promptly after approvalIssued promptly once you approve, with a plain-English summary of what you bought.
Answered.
Usually yes, because customer contracts require it. It is inexpensive and it removes a procurement blocker.
Only with an off-premises or scheduled equipment endorsement. It is inexpensive and routinely omitted.
For most technology companies under about $10M in revenue, yes — lower total cost and one renewal to manage.
Get covered without the runaround.
Tell us what changed. A broker reads it the same business day and comes back with what it means and what it costs.