The holidays may be over, but the ripple effects of your busiest season can linger well into the New Year. Inventory has changed, staff may have shifted, and you might be adding new services or equipment. Those changes can alter your risk profile, which is why the start of a new year is a smart time to review your business owners’ policy and make sure it still fits the way your company actually operates.
At Garrett Insurance, we help small and mid-sized businesses in Texas and Kansas keep their coverage aligned with real-world risk. A Business Owners Policy, or BOP, combines several important protections in one package so you can manage risk more efficiently and avoid gaps that come from juggling multiple separate policies.
The New Year Is an Ideal Time to Review a BOP
The end of the year often brings changes that do not show up in your original policy documents. For example, you may have:
- Increase or decrease your inventory for the holiday season
- Purchased new equipment, technology, or vehicles
- Added employees, seasonal staff, or new locations
- Expanded into online sales or delivery services
Many small businesses start with a general commercial insurance package and then adjust coverage as they grow. A New Year review gives you a chance to make sure your policy limits, deductibles, and endorsements still match how your business operates today, not how it looked when you first set up your coverage.
What a Business Owners Policy Typically Covers
A Business Owners Policy is meant to group the core coverages most small and mid-sized companies need into one package. Garrett’s Business Owners Policy description highlights several key pieces, including commercial general liability, property insurance for your building and contents, and business income coverage that can help replace lost revenue after a covered claim.
Industry resources like the Insurance Information Institute’s article on understanding business owners policies (BOPs) explain that a BOP is designed to protect small businesses against common risks such as fire, burglary, certain liability claims, and business interruption losses. In practical terms, that can mean a typical business owner’s policy helps:
- Protect your building, equipment, and inventory from covered causes of loss
- Provide liability coverage if your business is held responsible for injuries or property damage
- Replace lost income if a covered event forces you to temporarily close or scale back operations
New Risks That Can Sneak In Over Time
Even if your business feels the same from month to month, your risk can shift in ways that are easy to overlook. Some examples include:
- Higher inventory levels that are not reflected in your property limits
- Expanded services, such as installation or consulting, that increase liability exposure
- New equipment or technology that needs to be added to your policy
- Greater reliance on online sales or digital tools that may call for cyber or data breach coverage
Garrett’s blog on how to expand your business insurance coverage as your industry grows emphasizes that growth can introduce new exposures even when operations feel familiar. A yearly policy review helps you identify those shifts and decide whether your current BOP, plus any endorsements, still gives you the right level of protection.
How to Prepare for a New Year BOP Review
To get the most out of your business owners’ policy review, gather a few basics before you talk with your agent. This does not need to be a formal report. Even a simple list gives your agent a clearer picture of how your operations have shifted:
- A rough estimate of current inventory and major equipment values
- Any recent leases, renovation details, or changes to your premises
- Notes on new products, services, or delivery methods you added this year
- Information about any claims or close calls you experienced recently
New Year, Same Trusted Advisor
The team at Garrett Insurance works with a wide range of carriers and industries, so we can help you compare options and adjust your BOP as your business changes. Our goal is to help you enter the New Year with coverage that matches your real risk, not a generic template. Whether you run a retail shop, a professional office, or a service-based business, a right-sized BOP can be the foundation of your broader commercial insurance strategy.
To get started, contact Garrett Insurance and request a New Year’s business insurance review. We will walk through your operations, talk about any changes over the past year, and recommend updates to your BOP and related commercial coverages so you can move into the New Year with more confidence.