Insurance Coverages

GENERAL LIABILITY

Commercial General Liability was developed to provide protection to a business for the expenses of injury and property damage to others. This product is often required before an artisan/contractor can bid for a particular job. Contractors are required to disclose to homeowners whether they carry General Liability.

WORKERS COMPENSATION

The State of California requires that every employer provide Workers Compensation insurance for their employees. Failure to carry Workers Compensation insurance exposes an employer to pay what the insurer would have paid, plus severe fines, and possibly jail time for violating the law. This coverage pays for injury, sickness or death suffered by anyone on the job, regardless of fault. Workers Compensation may also protect employers from lawsuits from workplace accidents.

COMMERCIAL AUTO

Personal auto policies exclude autos used for Commercial and Business purposes and would therefore require coverage on a policy designed for such use. If you use your automobile in business be sure you have the right policy and coverage is not excluded. Non-Owned/Hired Auto provides coverage for employees who use their own vehicle or if you rent vehicles.

BUILDERS RISK/COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION

This provides physical damage coverage for property under construction. This is usually written for a specified amount and only applies during the course of construction. Lenders will require it before issuing construction financing. They will usually require this coverage before funding remodeling projects as well and some policies can be endorsed to include the structure being remodeled also. This may also cover item stored at the work site.

INSTALLATION FLOATER

While home builders will usually obtain a Builder’s Risk policy to cover their jobs under construction, an artisan contractor will often only need an installation floater. An Installation Floater provides temporary property insurance to protect the value of labor and materials of the work in progress in the event that it is damaged. Coverage starts while the materials are in transit to the jobsite and ends once the job is completed or the owner accepts the work.

INLAND MARINE/ TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

Hand tools are normally covered on a blanket basis with no list or schedule. Equipment Insurance will protect your larger tools and equipment such as welders, generators, nail guns and other expensive portable equipment from theft, vandalism and damage.

UMBRELLA/EXCESS

Umbrella & Excess insurance is designed to protect business owners against multimillion dollar losses no company ever wants to have. Once your business is protected by the basic types of insurance coverages (like commercial auto and general liability insurance), you may want to consider an umbrella policy for extended coverage. An umbrella policy would provide additional coverage once the limits of the underlying policies have been exhausted.

BONDS

A third party contract guaranteeing that if one person fails to perform as specified, the person to who the duty is owed will be financially protected by the surety company. The most common types of bonds may include contractor license, bid, and performance and payment bonds.