1. Choose a higher deductible.
Deductibles represent the amount of money you pay before your insurance policy kicks in. The first way to lower premiums is to raise your deductible. The higher the deductible, the less you will pay for the policy. At the same time, be sure you don’t set the deductible so high that it will be a financial burden for you to pay the deductible if you have an insurable loss.
2. Buy a package policy.
The second thing any business owner can do to lower premiums is buy a package policy. A package policy, which is a set of policies bundled together to provide more comprehensive coverage, such as a Business Owners Policy (BOP), rather than individual coverages, will cost less.
3. Work closely with your agent.
The more your agent understands your overall business and finances, the better he or she will be able to find competitively priced products for you.
4. Ask about specific actions you can take to prevent losses.
You may be able to reduce your premium for certain coverages by following your insurer's specific recommendations. These can include tips on workplace safety, disaster preparation, and devices that reduce losses (loss mitigation), such as installing alarms and sprinklers. In addition, there are steps you can take to lower the possibility that one of your employees might file a lawsuit against you for discrimination or sexual harassment, or may even steal or hack your systems, for example.
5. Avoid losses.
Remember insurance works a lot like credit. Costs are lower for customers with better claims histories. The more losses you have, the higher your premiums will be, because this factor indicates to the insurer that you are not very careful and that there will likely be more losses in the future. If your loss history is bad enough, you may have trouble obtaining insurance at all from a private insurance company.