Hello World! Welcome Friends! A contractor’s job involves a lot of moving around with all its attendant risks. Observing precautions and safety measures is a first step to preventing or reducing the actualization of these risks. However, despite our best efforts, some mishaps may still occur.
As a contractor in California, you do not know what kind of risks you may face as you work from day to day. The best you can do is make efforts to ensure that your business is not affected adversely when any mishap occurs. What you need to do is to get your business insured. An insurance policy will act as a buffer for your company in case of any such occurrence.
There are different types of insurance policies that a contractor in California can purchase for their business. Some of these include automobile liability, worker’s compensation, roofers insurance, building risk, contractor pollution, and general liability. You will find in this article the types of insurance cover that a contractor in California will require.
Most of these are required by law or by companies you need to work with. More so, having insurance means your company is protected. One very important cover in this regard is general liability insurance.
General Liability Insurance
This is a kind of policy that a contractor purchases for protection from claims by third parties that have been negatively affected by their business in any way. It covers medicals, legal as well as payouts that a contractor may be found liable for. It doesn’t however cover contractual liabilities or damages that occur or are inflicted intentionally.
An interesting thing about general liability is that you can have what is referred to as “additional insured”. This means that another company can be added to the policy such that in the event that they are liable in a claim, they can be covered under the same policy even though they are not directly the policy owners. This is usually used as a requirement by companies in California before they work with another business as sub-contractors. This may also be required when bidding for a project.
What Does a General Liability Cover?
A general liability policy covers various types of claims and this is why as a contractor, you need to give it serious consideration. Claims that will be covered in this policy include:
Bodily Injuries and Property Damage
One major part of this policy is protecting your business against claims that involve bodily harm to a person who is not part of the project or associated with your company. This can include a bystander, a visitor or anyone around. It also includes damages done to other people’s property. That is, a property that is not yours or that you are not responsible for.
Personal and Advertising Injuries
This classification covers slander, libel, wrongful eviction, as well as copyright and advertising infringement. It also covers injuries such as a damaged reputation suffered by another person such as a competitor.
Product and Completed Operations
Sometimes even after a contractor has completed their project, there is still a possibility that something can go wrong and harm others. This may be that a fixture comes lose and hits someone, a worker forgets to remove a tool or did not screw on something properly and it impacts negatively on another person. When things like these happen, general liability can cover claims arising from it.
Medical Payments
This covers medical bills when someone who is not your worker gets injured. It is slightly different from bodily injury as bodily injury means you are directly at fault while medical payments are indirect injuries caused as a result of your business activities. It is typically limited to $5,000.
What to Consider When Buying a General Liability Insurance
There are different consideration factors when it comes to purchasing a general liability policy. These include your business type, taking into account the unique risks associated with such businesses, where your business is located and even the people you work with or areas that you supply your services. When all these have been determined, you need to be honest in analyzing your company’s activities and make a fair presentation to your insurer. This will help in the discussion of the risks involved.
You must also be thorough and ensure that your needs are adequately met in the terms of the policy before you sign up or make a purchase. You may want to visit californiacontractorsinsurance.org to know more about purchasing a plan.
Conclusion
As a California-based business, ensuring you are covered when it comes to claims by third parties is a requirement. It protects you from the possibility of losing thousands of dollars which may adversely impact your business and more. Seek out a reputable insurer to sign up with today.
Whatever you do, take your time to make sure that the type of policy you sign is indeed to your benefit.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Ways to Critter Proof your Home
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