Insurance for Halifax Transportation and Logistics Companies
Halifax transportation and logistics companies face daily risks like liability claims, accidents, damaged cargo, and business interruption. Transportation insurance covers the challenges you face when moving goods daily.
You can customize the business insurance that you need to financially protect your Halifax transportation and logistics company against lawsuits and other legal issues.
A Western Financial Group business insurance broker will get you commercial coverage that uniquely protects your Halifax transportation company.
Western is a trusted, national insurance brokerage that has partnered with Canada’s top insurance companies to provide commercial insurance. We work with our insurance partners to find the best coverage for your business insurance needs.
We make the process easy by getting insurance quotes for you and giving you policy coverage options that you can choose for your Halifax transportation business’s specific needs.
Halifax’s transportation sector
The Halifax Gateway is a strategic location for moving goods in and out of North America by air, ocean, rail, and road. Halifax is the transload hub for imports going to the U.S. Midwest and central Canada.
Why do Halifax transportation and logistics companies need customized insurance?
Customized commercial insurance is needed to address the risks involved in moving goods.
Essential insurance coverages to protect your Halifax transportation company:
Cargo insurance
Cargo insurance provides financial support for the products you ship to customers whether they are in transit or held in storage at a freight provider’s location. This type of insurance typically provides coverage for damage or loss resulting from a natural disaster, fire, flood, theft, damage, vandalism, customs rejections, vehicle-related accidents, and piracy.
Cargo liability insurance
Cargo liability insurance protects Halifax transportation carriers by covering their financial responsibility for lost or damaged cargo. This type of insurance typically covers carriers from the time they take possession of the goods until they reach their final destination.
Freight forwarder insurance
This type of insurance protects Halifax freight forwarders that coordinate the movement of goods across various carriers. It protects them from liability for cargo loss or damage that may occur while the goods are in the custody of third-party carriers.
Marine insurance
This type of specialized logistics insurance covers goods that are transported by sea. Marine insurance protects against a wide range of maritime perils, including shipwrecks, piracy, jettisons, and cargo damage due to storms, rough seas, or container losses.
Fleet insurance
Fleet insurance provides coverage for Halifax transportation companies with 5 or more vehicles, including trucks, vans, and cars used in daily operations. Depending on the size of your fleet, you could save a substantial amount on your fleet insurance premium.
Liability insurance is an essential part of your customized insurance for transportation and logistics companies. Here are the liability coverages that you need to protect your Halifax transportation company from lawsuits.
Warehouse legal liability insurance
It’s a type of insurance that protects your Halifax transportation and logistics business from a variety of risks if you store goods in warehouses. Warehouse legal liability insurance helps cover claims arising from damage to goods while in your care, custody, and control and safeguards against losses due to fire, theft, water damage, among other hazards.
Professional liability insurance
Professional liability insurance helps protect Halifax transportation companies against claims of negligence or failure to perform services as promised. It’s also called errors and omissions insurance.
For example, your Halifax transportation company doesn’t deliver a shipment of goods on time and you get sued by your client. E & O insurance can help cover the legal fees and other related costs.
Commercial general liability insurance
This is necessary liability insurance for Halifax transportation companies. Without commercial general liability insurance, you will pay costs related to third-party (customer/supplier/member of public) injuries or damage to their property out of your own pocket.
If you were sued, commercial general liability insurance would cover the legal costs to defend the claim against your Halifax transportation company in court, as well as costs to cover damages to compensate third parties whether you win or lose your case.
What kind of risks does commercial general liability insurance cover?
- Injury to a third party (client/supplier) who is not your employee
- Damage to someone’s property
- Damage to rented property
- Medical bills if someone is injured
- Legal costs and settlement costs of liability lawsuits filed against you
- Liability lawsuits related to slander and libel
Cyber liability insurance
You keep sensitive data and financial information about your Halifax transportation and logistics company and about your clients, which could be hacked by cyberthieves. You also need to protect your transportation business against data and information leaks.
Cyber liability insurance will help protect your transportation company should there be a cyber-attack or a breach and it can be tailored to your needs. Depending on the size of the data breach and the information that was taken, the clients who are affected can hold you liable and sue you for damages.
Commercial umbrella insurance
You may want to consider commercial umbrella insurance for your Halifax transportation business. Commercial umbrella insurance addresses liability coverage gaps. It’s used when the primary liability coverage, for example on your commercial general liability insurance, has reached its coverage limit.
The protection that umbrella insurance provides applies only to expenses related to liability such as legal fees, court fees, and legal settlements.
What other types of insurance do Halifax transportation companies need?
Cross border insurance
Do you do business south of the border? Cross border insurance for your Halifax transportation and logistics business must meet all applicable U.S. state insurance laws and regulations.
Western’s commercial insurance experts will work with you to meet your business needs for liability coverage and any U.S. workers' compensation requirements when you do business in the United States.
Admitted insurance
Admitted insurance is coverage offered by insurance providers who are licensed to operate by state insurance departments. Many jurisdictions require companies to have locally admitted policies in place if they have physical assets, such as buildings and stock, in that jurisdiction including most of the U.S.
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance provides financial support to replace or cover repairs to your Halifax transportation company’s headquarters and its equipment if it is damaged by a flood, fire, or severe weather. It also covers vandalism and theft.
Commercial property insurance protects contents such as computers, furniture, tools, equipment, and inventory. Commercial property coverage also extends to protect belonging to others that is under your care.
Business interruption insurance
This type of insurance supports you when your Halifax transportation company can’t operate due to a covered loss.
Some examples are:
- Damage to your equipment from fire or vandalism
- A major reduction in revenue due to a client/supplier facing losses of their own
- A disruption in your supply chain
Business interruption insurance can help with these expenses:
- Payroll
- Rent
- Utilities
- Property taxes
- Alarm monitoring
- Relocation of your business
Commercial auto insurance
If you are using your car for your job in Halifax’s transportation industry, it won’t be covered by your personal car insurance policy. You will need commercial coverage as part of your insurance package.
How much does transportation insurance cost?
There isn’t a set price for transportation companies. It depends on what your Halifax transportation and logistics company does. What is its area of specialty?
The following factors are usually considered when determining the cost of your business insurance:
- Location(s)
- Services provided
- Number of employees
- Years of experience
- Annual revenue
- Any past claims
What do I do if I have a claim against my Halifax transportation business?
- Contact your broker immediately after any business-related mishap. Waiting to file a claim can confuse insurers about the severity of the damages to your business.
- Know your policy so that when you contact your broker you are familiar with what will be covered or not.
- Document the damage. Take photos right away and write down what happened.
- Do not throw away damaged goods after taking photos. Keep the physical evidence so that your adjustor can see it.
- Do not invite lawsuits. Don’t say anything that could be used against you, especially if you aren’t sure what happened.
- Be honest about what your damaged property is worth. Damaged commercial property is generally valued according to its actual cash value or replacement value.
Here’s an insurance checklist:
- Do you have the best business insurance rate that suits your industry?
- Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for you?
- Are you or your employees using personal vehicles for work?
Western Financial Group has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get the right insurance coverage for your Halifax transportation and logistics company. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the business insurance journey to protect your Halifax business.