What Type Of Insurance To Get As A General Contractor

General contractors carry a broad range of insurance that includes many types of coverage made specifically for builders. As insurance experts, we always take the time to run down the list of insurance general contractors will need with every client so that they understand the importance of protecting their businesses.

Builder’s Insurance

Builder’s insurance is critical to general contractors because it:

• Reimburses a contractor for expenses that might not get covered until after the job
• Responds quickly to replacing lost or stolen tools
• Helps to fill in the financial gaps when unexpected events cause the project to go longer than expected

This is a type of insurance created to take care of the specific needs of contractors, and it can be invaluable to the future of any construction business.

Surety Bonds

Most project owners require a bid bond to be submitted with every bid, and public work often requires license and permit bonds to be submitted to make sure the projects get started on time. This is another form of insurance that is specific to general contracting, and it is incredibly important that a general contractor have a knowledgeable and responsive organization to handle their surety bonds.

General Liability

General liability is a form of business insurance that every company should have, and that is especially true for general contractors. Primarily, general liability insurance protects against unexpected losses and claims or lawsuits filed against your company. In an unpredictable world like construction, it is impossible to run a business with peace of mind without liability insurance.

Professional Liability

Professional liability is the kind of insurance general contractors need, but they want to use as infrequently as possible. Most construction issues are covered by general liability, but if a construction company also offers a home inspection service, then they need professional liability coverage. For example, if you sign off on a home inspection that says everything is fine and the roof collapses the next day without any reason, then you could be sued for not delivering your service properly. As you can imagine, professional liability is not a necessity among contractors, but it is definitely helpful in other parts of the construction industry.

Workers’ Compensation

For clarification, workers’ compensation insurance is something that general contractors have to buy to protect their employees. There are state mandated limits on how much insurance you have to purchase, and our experts can make sure that you purchase the amount of workers’ compensation insurance you need to not only meet the state minimums, but properly protect your workers as well.

Commercial Auto

We come into contact with construction company owners every day who fail to realize that their personal vehicles are an insurance risk if they use those vehicles for their company and do not have commercial auto insurance. While it is obvious that your construction vehicles need commercial insurance, it is important to remember that any vehicle that is on the road doing work for your company requires commercial insurance as well.

Protecting a construction company from financial disaster is a big job, but that is what our professionals are trained for. When it comes to the kind of insurance general contractors need to go about their business, there is a long list of proprietary coverage your company will need if it wants to work each day with peace of mind.