Most business owners have basic insurance on their facility as required by their landlord, but fewer realize there are other important types of business insurance out there, according to a Santa Clarita insurance agent.

The most common type of business insurance is liability coverage in the case that someone slips or falls and decides to sue, and Farmers Insurance is one of the few companies that can build on this policy themselves.

“Farmers has what they call a business owner’s package, and that includes almost every coverage you could possibly need for a new business,” explained Gregg Goodman, a Farmers Insurance agent in Santa Clarita.

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This package adds on employment practices insurance, which covers employers against sexual harassment, wrongful termination and third-party lawsuits.

“A lot of business owners don’t understand that concept,” Goodman said. “It does happen a lot — there are a lot of lawsuits out there, and a lot of (agents) don’t advise them to get that type of coverage.”

Rather than force policyholders to go through an outside company for this type of added coverage, Goodman noted Farmers is “one of the very very few companies that endorse it under their own current policy.”

The No.1 issue Goodman has seen in the insurance world recently is employment practices, which typically require high payouts to lawyers involved.

“It’s a big, big deal,” he said. “Those claims get into a lot of money, because when someone gets fired or there’s sexual harassment and things like that, the lawyers get involved… There are settlements, but the lawyers always are going to get paid.”

Business owners can also seek help from Farmers to prevent these kinds of claims, according to Goodman.

“Once they have that on their policy, we have a certain website that they can go on,” he said. “Let’s say that they want to fire an employee. They can go onto that website, they can call somebody and they can get advice on how to handle that.”

This is important because anyone can choose to sue regardless of wrongdoing, Goodman added, and the process to fight a false claim can be long and expensive.

“People can sue for any reason,” he said. “Even though we can fire anyone we want in this state, they can still go get a lawyer and sue, so you’re going to have a claim… and those claims are always pretty substantial.”

Santa Clarita insurance agent Gregg Goodman has more than 20 years of experience as a Farmers Insurance agent. Goodman can help local residents identify the insurance coverage that best fits their needs, and strives to keep the process straightforward and personalized. Whether individuals are in need of auto insurance, home insurance, renters insurance, business insurance and more, Goodman’s goal as an insurance agent in Santa Clarita is to help his customers make smarter choices about their insurance options. 

Gregg Goodman, Farmers Insurance

Gregg L. Goodman Insurance Agency, Inc.

25030 Avenue Stanford Ste 50

Valencia, CA 91355

(661) 254-6739