Bernauer Insurance Agency
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Commercial Insurance

Contractors, artisans, HOAs, and small business — general liability, property, and everything around them.

Commercial insurance is where the gap between what you think you're covered for and what you're actually covered for tends to be widest. We write contractors and trades, homeowners associations, artisans, and Main Street businesses — and we start by asking what you actually do, because the policy should follow the work.

General liability is the floor, not the ceiling. If you own tools, they need inland marine coverage — a general liability policy will not replace a stolen trailer of equipment. If you have employees, workers compensation is required in Minnesota. If you sub work out, your certificates of insurance need to actually be current, because your carrier will audit that and charge you for uninsured subs as if they were your own payroll. We handle certificates for you, same day in most cases.

  • General liability
  • Commercial property
  • Business Owners Policy (BOP)
  • Workers compensation
  • Commercial auto and hired/non-owned
  • Tools, equipment, and inland marine
  • HOA property and directors & officers
  • Professional liability (E&O) and cyber
  • Umbrella and excess liability
  • Same-day certificates of insurance

HOAs have a specific set of exposures most agents handle badly. You need property coverage matched to your governing documents — who insures what between the association and the unit owners is defined in your declarations, and a mismatch shows up only after a loss. You also need directors and officers coverage, because board members are volunteers being sued personally for decisions they made in good faith. We read the declarations before we quote.

For most small operations a Business Owners Policy bundles general liability and property at a better price than buying them separately. Where it gets interesting is the edges — professional liability if you give advice, cyber if you hold customer data, commercial auto if a personal vehicle is being used for work. That last one surprises people: a personal auto policy can deny a claim if you were working at the time.

Most commercial policies are audited at the end of the term against actual payroll or receipts. If your estimate was low, you get a bill you were not expecting. We would rather set the estimate honestly up front and have you plan for it than win your business with a number that falls apart in twelve months.

You'll work with Pat or Spencer directly

Pat and Spencer are the agents here, so whoever quotes commercial insurance is the same person who answers when you call about it later. No call centers, no getting handed off, no explaining your situation twice. They'll work closely with you from the first question through every renewal after it.

Would rather not fill in a form? Call Pat directly at 952-457-5894 and give him your information over the phone. It takes about the same amount of time, and plenty of people prefer it — you're welcome to do it that way.

Pat Bernauer952-457-5894Spencer Bernauer952-956-2502
Step 1 of 2

Request a Commercial Insurance Quote

This part you can answer from memory. The next page asks for the things you need paperwork for — entity type, revenue, who insures you now — and both halves reach us together as one request when you send it.

01

CONTACT INFORMATION

02

ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

Electrician, general contractor, HOA, landscaping, salon, restaurant — whatever fits.

Include owners. Put 0 if it's just you.

Needed for workers comp. Skip if you have no employees.

$

The more specific the better — it decides which class codes and carriers apply. Mention if you work at heights, do any roofing, handle hazardous materials, or work on commercial vs. residential.

03

COVERAGE NEEDED

Choose everything that applies — or pick Not sure and we'll work it out with you.

A shop, warehouse, office, salon chair or restaurant space — anywhere you work out of. This is separate from liability, and it is the thing most people forget to mention until something floods.

Roughly what it is, how big, and anything valuable inside — stock, machinery, tools, a walk-in cooler. Skip if there is no location.

Your information goes straight to our office. We never sell your data.

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