What Counts as Business Personal Property

• Furniture, fixtures, and office equipment
• Inventory and stock, whether raw materials or finished goods
• Machinery and tools owned by the business
• Computers, electronics, and signage
• Improvements a tenant makes to a leased space, sometimes covered under a related but separate limit

It does not include the building structure itself (that's building coverage) or property that belongs to customers or others (that falls under care, custody, and control and needs separate coverage).

How the Coverage Limit Gets Set

BPP is typically written with its own specific limit, separate from the building limit, and it's the business owner's responsibility to keep that limit accurate as inventory and equipment levels change. Many BPP policies include coinsurance clauses requiring the business to insure to a set percentage (often 80% or 90%) of actual value; if the limit falls below that threshold at the time of a loss, the insurer can reduce the claim payout proportionally, even on a partial loss.

Why Underinsuring BPP Is a Common and Costly Mistake

Inventory levels fluctuate seasonally, equipment gets added, and replacement costs rise with inflation, but BPP limits often stay set at whatever number was quoted years earlier. A retailer that doubled its inventory ahead of a busy season but never updated its BPP limit could face a coinsurance penalty on top of the underinsurance itself after a fire or theft, meaning the payout shortfall is larger than the coverage gap alone would suggest. A periodic review of BPP limits against actual current values, not just at renewal, is the practical fix.