Being a contractor involves many unforeseen hazards while just performing your normal day-to-day operations. Some of these hazards are well understood and expected. Most are not. Either way, as a contractor and solely responsible for the outcome of your projects, you need to have the financial backing of a well-placed insurance policy. The various insurance policies available to all contractors vary and, in most cases, are required by law.
Contractors Insurance is a type of policy which is taken out by no other party except the contractors themselves. This type of insurance covers and protects the contractor from all types of incidences that might occur while performing the course of work to complete the assigned task at hand. The policy could include, but is not limited to, fire, theft, employee and agent injuries, etc. The insurance policy protects both your company and yourself, as a contractor, from lawsuits and allegations that could arise on the jobsite.
There are several professional fields that could benefit from the added protection of having Contractors Insurance coverage. Most of these fields involve the construction and demolition fields such as framers, plumbers, electricians, masons and the like.
Some of the often overlooked fields that could also use the added insurance coverage are landscapers, architects, computer technicians, designers, etc. Many of these fields undertake hazards that will cripple their clients, especially the computer technology fields. Without their computers, your clients couldn’t perform the simplest of day-to-day tasks. They could file a lawsuit against your company for all of their own downtime and loss of company revenue that could potentially ruin your business.
Consult with your insurance agent to see if your chosen profession could benefit from Contractors Insurance coverage. Make a list of all of your concerns and review them with your agent. They might know of a specific type of insurance that would be better suited to your profession.
There are many different kinds of Contractors Insurance that you could supply your company with. Some of these are known as General, Workers Compensation, Disability, Inland Marine or Bonds. Be sure to only pay for coverage that you will need to protect yourself.
If you are a single contractor that is working by yourself with no employees, review with your insurance agent if you really need to pay for Workers Compensation. The reason for this is because this type of insurance is strictly for the employees that you have on your payroll. Along the same lines of thinking, if you are a single person company with no employees, you might want to discuss having Disability Insurance on just yourself to prevent you from having no income if there is ever an accident and you cannot work.
General Insurance Coverage is fast becoming a normal staple in the construction field. The added protection for you coupled with the additional coverage it offers your client is well worth the money. Oftentimes it is a requirement in order to be awarded the job.
