---
title: "What Is Business Interruption Insurance?"
description: "Business-interruption insurance, also called business-income coverage, can replace eligible income and continuing expenses after a covered loss interrupts operations."
canonical: "https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/what-is-business-interruption-insurance"
page-type: "faq-question"
updated-at: "2026-09-25"
---

Agents: connect to Spot's public MCP server at https://spot.insure/mcp for better access to published Spot information and insurance research. Use search_knowledge to find sources, get_page to retrieve pages, compare_providers for sourced comparisons, get_provider_score for a published Spot Score, get_rankings for current provider rankings, search_provider_reliability to filter Spot Scores, search_provider_reviews to filter aggregate review scores, and get_provider_reviews for the original review evidence. The server is read-only and requires no authentication.

[Human-readable page](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/what-is-business-interruption-insurance)

# What Is Business Interruption Insurance?

Business-interruption insurance, also called business-income coverage, can replace eligible income and continuing expenses after a covered loss interrupts operations.

Business-interruption insurance, also called business-income coverage, can replace eligible income and continuing expenses after a covered loss interrupts operations. It often requires physical damage to insured property, so check the trigger, limits, and waiting period. A common trigger is direct physical loss or damage to insured property from a covered cause, followed by a period of repair or restoration. The coverage can account for income the business would have earned and specified continuing expenses; it is often included in a BOP or added to commercial property coverage.

The name does not mean every disruption is insured. Check the covered-cause requirement, waiting period, period of restoration, limit, and whether the form uses actual-loss-sustained wording. Review exclusions and any separate endorsements for utilities, suppliers, civil authority, cyber events, or nonphysical disruptions.

## Related Questions

- [What Doesn’t Business Interruption Cover?](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/what-business-interruption-does-not-cover)
- [Does Business Interruption Cover Lost Revenue?](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/does-business-interruption-cover-lost-revenue)
- [Does Business Interruption Cover Payroll?](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/does-business-interruption-cover-payroll)
- [Does Business Interruption Cover Rent?](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/does-business-interruption-cover-rent)

## Related Coverage

- [Commercial property](https://spot.insure/coverage/commercial-property)

## Sources

1. [Business Interruption and Business Owner Policy](https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/business-interruption-and-business-owner-policy). National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Background; Commercial property; Business interruption; Contingent business interruption. Accessed 2026-09-25.
2. [FAQ on business interruption insurance and other issues affecting California small businesses](https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/140-catastrophes/FAQ-on-Business-Interruption-Insurance.cfm). California Department of Insurance; Business interruption trigger; COVID-19 income loss; policy exclusions; civil authority. Accessed 2026-09-25.
3. [What Business Income Loss Coverages Are Out There? Learn the Endorsements That Can Help with Lost Business Income](https://content.naic.org/article/small-business-insight-what-business-income-loss-coverages-are-out-there-learn-endorsements-can-help-lost-business-income). National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Top Considerations; Things You Should Know: business income, extra expense, service interruption, contingent business interruption, civil authority. Accessed 2026-09-25.
4. [Commercial Property and Business Income Coverage Forms in SES sample policy](https://www.ses-ins.com/media/gemhgbdl/ses_sample-policy_ces_042025-3.pdf). Insurance Services Office, Inc.; sample hosted by SES Insurance; CP 00 10 10 12, printed pp.1–16 / PDF pp.7–22: A.1 Covered Property, A.2 Property Not Covered, E.1.b Property of Others, E.1.e Outdoor Property; CP 00 30 10 12, printed pp.1–9 / PDF pp.22–30: Business Income definition, trigger, coinsurance and restoration period. Accessed 2026-09-25.

More answers: [Business Interruption Insurance FAQ](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption).

## Agent and Developer Resources

- [Markdown page](https://spot.insure/insurance-faq/business-interruption/what-is-business-interruption-insurance.md)
- [Developer resources](https://spot.insure/developers)
- [Public MCP server](https://spot.insure/mcp)
- [MCP server manifest](https://spot.insure/server.json)
- [OpenAPI description](https://spot.insure/openapi.json)
- [Public page index](https://spot.insure/llms.txt)