California Contractors Insurance Agents In LA Know Why Contractors Need General Liability Policies

By Ronald Roy

If you love being outdoors and have a talent for building things, you might consider going into the construction business. To do that, you are going to need a license, bonds, and insurance. Some beginning contractors try to justify skimping when it comes to insuring themselves. When something bad happens though, they can be ruined financially and professionally. It's for this reason that California Contractors Insurance Agents In LA stress the importance of having general liability policies.

General liability protects you in the event someone gets hurt on the job site. It will protect you against being personally liable for property that is damaged in the course of a project. General liability will even protect you from something that happens after the project is completed as long as it happened during the time the policy was in place. Many times the contractor has to show that a general liability policy is current in order to be considered for a job.

The cost of coverage will vary depending on the part of the country you are doing business in, cost of subcontractors, receipts, and payroll. As an estimate, a contractor without employees will pay a little less than a thousand dollars, or as much as thirteen hundred, per year. A contractor who has a payroll of one hundred thousand or higher is going to pay at least two thousand per year.

Monthly premiums also vary. One of the factors that will determine this cost is how long the contractor has gone without submitting a claim. Years of experience and good credit ratings will affect the monthly cost. The deductible amount and additional coverage included in the policy package will make a difference.

General liability is meant to cover a wide range of issues. It includes illness, personal injury, and even death. Your policy will cover property damage. If the property suffers a physical injury that results in the loss of use, you will be covered.

You will be covered if someone claims injury, illness, or property damage, after a project is completed. If you are accused of copyright infringement or publish material that slanders or libels another individual, the policy will cover that. This is not something most contractors will have need of.

There are two basic types of general liability policies. You can buy an occurrence policy that will cover claims made at any time as long as the policy was in place when the event happened. With this policy, when the claim was filed doesn't matter. In most instances a claim can be made up to ten years after a project was completed and still be covered by a policy. A claims made policy covers an event only if the event and the subsequent claim occurred during the time the policy was in place.

Your provider has the right to conduct premium audits at any time. They usually do this when there seems to be a discrepancy in what you put on your application and what they have subsequently learned. A change in their potential exposure is usually at the heart of these audits.

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