Pillar 5 of 6
Insurance & Claims Readiness
Will your insurance actually protect you when it matters?
You pay your premiums. You assume you're covered. But coverage gaps, exclusions, and policy misalignments catch business owners off guard every year, often in the worst possible moment.
The question isn't whether you have insurance. It's whether your insurance will actually work the way you think it will.
The Blind Spot
Most business owners buy insurance and then put it in a drawer. They don't know what their policies exclude. They don't know whether their coverage aligns with what their contracts actually require. And they don't have a clear process for handling when something goes wrong.
By the time they find out there's a gap, the claim has already been filed, and it's too late to fix it.
Real Scenario
Real scenario: A professional services firm signed a contract requiring it to indemnify its client for "any and all claims arising from the engagement." When a $480,000 claim was filed, the firm's insurance covered only $200,000 because the indemnification language exceeded the scope of the policy. The firm paid the $280,000 difference out of pocket—a gap their attorney and broker would have caught in a 30-minute review.
What This Pillar Covers
Pillar 5 examines your insurance coverage against your actual risk exposure and makes sure you'd know what to do if a claim came in tomorrow. We look at:
General liability coverage: Do your limits match your actual risk and your contracts?
Professional liability: Are you covered for the work you actually do?
Cyber liability: Do you have coverage for a data breach or ransomware attack?
Workers' compensation: Are all states where you operate covered?
Umbrella and excess coverage: Do you have enough when a major claim hits?
Contract alignment: Do your indemnification obligations match what your policy actually covers?
Certificate of insurance management: Are your subs and vendors carrying what you require?
Claims reporting procedures: Do you know what to do in the first 24 hours after an incident?
Business interruption coverage: Would you survive if you couldn't operate for 30 days?
What You Get From This Assessment
WITHOUT this assessment
• Coverage gaps you discover only after a claim is filed
• Contracts that promise more than your policy can deliver
• No clear process when something goes wrong, scrambling when it matters most
• Paying the difference between what you owe and what your policy covers
WITH a clean Pillar 1
• Coverage that matches your actual risk and your contractual obligations
• A clear claims protocol so you respond correctly; every time
• Contracts and policies reviewed together so they actually align
• Peace of mind that your insurance will actually do what you're paying for
Watch the Video
Eric Jeppson walks through the most common insurance mistakes business owners make and why having a policy is very different from being covered.
Your Next Step
The Pillar 5 Checklist gives you a structured way to review your insurance coverage against your actual exposures, plus questions to ask your lawyer. No insurance jargon. Just a clear picture of where you're covered, where you're not, and what to do next.
Get the Pillar 5 Checklist
Know exactly where you stand on Insurance & Claims Readiness. The Pillar 5 Checklist walks you through every critical item, with plain-English explanations, real-world scenarios, and action steps you can take today.
Or book a free 15-minute Legal Health Review → jeppsonlaw.com