Here are the top best Electrical contractor insurance requirements voted by readers and compiled and edited by our team, let’s find out
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Electrical Contractor Liability Insurance
The most common and basic insurance type to have for electrical contractors is electrical contractor liability insurance policy. It is essentially general liability insurance for electrical contractors. This policy is designed to protect you and your company from being “liable” for damages that are incurred while on the job. For example, if a light fixture falls on a client’s head and shatters, then your insurance company will pay for the client’s medical bills and repair the property damage by replacing their light fixture.
Typically, contractors purchase liability coverage in increments of $1 million. This means that you’re covered for up to $1 million worth of property and personal damage. As a result, smaller contractors may only need a minimum $1-2 million policy, while larger contractors may want to consider purchasing up to $10 million worth of coverage.
Electrical Contractor Liability Insurance Cost
So, just how much does electrical contractor liability insurance cost? The average general liability insurance policy for electrical contractors and contracting businesses cost $50 a month or $600 a year.
Electrical Contractors Insurance
If you own a larger commercial contracting business and employ several other electricians, then you’ll need to get your hands “dirty ” and find an electrical contractors insurance company, since as a larger company, there’s a higher degree of risk that your business is taking on.
On any given day, you could have multiple employees completing a number of different electrical jobs around town. All it takes is for one of them to make a mistake, hurt someone, or damage someone’s property. These are just a few examples of what could go wrong. Running a business comes with many risks and it’s your responsibility as a business owner to make sure that you’re prepared for the worst.
Electrical contractors insurance covers your business by providing a safety net between your company and your clients. If a third-party individual gets hurt or a client’s property is damaged, your electrical contractor liability insurance coverage can cover the costs of medical bills and repairs. Conversely, if one of your employees is hurt on the job, your worker’s comp coverage can pay for their medical bills and compensate them for their time lost at work.
Workers comp and general liability insurance aren’t the only types of protection for your electrical service business. You’ll also need employer’s liability insurance, commercial fleet insurance, commercial property insurance, and business interruption insurance.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
Employees have needs and want. For example, most want timely wages and a safe work environment. If you fail to provide any of the two, then employees might file a claim and require compensation.
Employer’s liability insurance will help sort things out if employees file a claim against you. With this insurance policy, you can pay for attorney fees, other legal costs, and settlements. Typically, employer’s liability insurance is bundled together with workers compensation insurance. However, you can also find carriers offering it as stand-alone coverage.
Commercial Fleet Insurance
As an electrical contractor, does your business own vehicles that employees can use to go to different project sites and carry work equipment? If so, consider getting commercial fleet insurance.
So what is commercial fleet insurance? Commercial fleet insurance is a modified type of commercial auto insurance. Its function is still the same, that is to shoulder costs if business vehicles caused an accident, got damaged, or needed towing services. However, unlike commercial auto insurance which can only insure one vehicle, commercial fleet insurance insures 2 – 10 vehicles. And so, it’s very practical because there’s no need to purchase multiple commercial auto insurance policies. Not to mention, it’s cheaper too.
Commercial Property Insurance
The primary function of commercial property insurance is to cover your building. In practice, this policy helps you reconstruct or repair a building that was damaged or totaled by fire, vandalism, theft, and other named perils.
You protect electrical service equipment inside the building by adding equipment coverage to commercial property insurance. In case your business equipment got damaged or lost because of fire, theft, vandalism, and other named perils, equipment coverage shoulders repair or replacement costs.
Business Interruption Insurance
Business might get interrupted for some reason. But even so, this doesn’t excuse you from paying bills, loans, and employee wages.
Business interruption insurance is a helpful insurance policy. If you have this, the insurance company will provide money equal to a portion of or the full amount of your business’s annual revenue. You can then use the insurance money to pay employees, loans, taxes, and other operational costs.
Electrical Contractor Insurance Requirements
Depending on which state your business is in, you might need to get a specific amount of coverage before bidding for a project. For example, if you’re an electrical contractor in New York, you’ll need to purchase a general liability coverage having $1 million per occurrence limit.
Another thing, aside from insurance, you might need to get a surety bond too. A surety bond protects your clients. This ensures that the client can receive some money if ever you failed to finish the project or completed the project poorly.
As for other insurance policies we discussed above, they’re not really a requirement. However, it’s best if you get them too before accepting a project. By having comprehensive protection, you can provide services with more confidence which in turn brings the desired results.
Electrical Contractor Insurance Cost
Below, you’ll find a table outlining some of the average rates offered by the leading insurance companies on the market for larger electrical contracting businesses. The rates below are reflective of each carrier’s $1 million general liability coverage. Keep in mind that these are just average rates obtained by surveying business owners across the country. Your own rates may differ considerably, depending on the factors discussed above and on our business insurance main page .
What Determines Electrical Contractor Insurance Cost?
How much you’ll pay for your electrical contractor insurance depends heavily on the amount of coverage you need, how many employees you have, the type of jobs you do (and the risk associated with them), and if you have any business assets that need to be insured. The more employees and assets that need to be covered, the higher your insurance premiums will be.
Another key factor in your overall electrical contractor insurance cost is if you’ve made previous insurance claims. If your contracting company has a good record and no major claims have been made over the past few years, then your rates will almost certainly be cheaper than if you recently made claims for an accident. This is why it always pays to follow safety regulations!
So how do you make premiums cheaper? Our first tip is for you to have a high deductible. By having a high deductible, your rates won’t become very expensive even if you decide to get hefty policy limits.
The second tip, ask for business experience discounts. Note that most carriers reduce the business insurance premiums of customers running a business that’s more than three or five years old.
