Business Owners Insurance: Are You Covered?

If you’re a plumber, electrician, HVAC installer or any kind of professional contractor, you may be eligible for a Business Owners Policy (BOP). This policy could include general liability, workers’ compensation, commercial auto insurance and other types of coverage.
General Liability Insurance
This is perhaps the most important type of coverage for a professional contractor. If there is an accident in the home where you’re performing work—whether it’s on pipes or electrical wires, for example—this will protect you from lawsuits and other liabilities.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
If one of your employees is injured while on the job, this coverage will help cover medical costs as well as part of the wages lost while the employee was out sick or hurt. This is useful for industries that require a great deal of physical labor, which increases the risk of accidents.
Commercial Auto Insurance
There are special coverages for the vehicle you use for your business—extending to commercial autos, trucks and trailers. There are many options to choose from with this form of coverage, including liability and physical damage. Rates may also be adjusted according to the season. For example, if your business doesn’t do as much work during the winter, you may not use your company vehicle very much, so your rates might reflect this.
Business Interruption Insurance
Some Business Owners Insurance policies include coverage in cases where you’ve had to lose revenue because for, whatever reason, your business was out of operation. For example, if there’s a lawsuit pending against your business or a weather event forces you to halt operations, you would be covered.
Types of Businesses Eligible for Business Owners Insurance
Plumbers
What types of professionals may need these kinds of insurance? If you’re in the plumbing industry, you should consider getting insurance if you’re a contractor, pipe fitter, and septic tank or sprinkler installer.
Building Contractors
If you’re a home builder or developer, remodeler or any type of handy person charged with fixing or making changes to residential homes, you too would be eligible for Business Owners Insurance. Builder’s Risk Insurance is also an important type of insurance for this industry. It covers equipment used in construction projects, as well as the cost of extra materials. It also covers you for the unexpected.  
HVAC Installers
For an HVAC contractor, General Liability Insurance is the most important policy to get. If there are lawsuits because of damage to the property caused by moisture or installation issues, even injuries that resulted from work you did, General Liability Insurance will cover it.
Electricians
While electricians are necessary to repair power lines or install the electrical infrastructure of new buildings, there is still a high rate of risk in this profession.  Electricians often have to deal with live wires, circuits and high voltage. Bodily injury is a major concern, so getting the right types of insurance will protect you from high liability costs.
For all of the above professions, as well as other types of contractors, Zawada Insurance Agency will work with you to find the best coverage to protect your company. In future blogs, we’ll go into even more detail about the types of coverages unique to various industries.
For more information on insurance for business owners, please contact Zawada Insurance Agency. We work to give you comprehensive coverage at a competitive price.
Zawada Insurance Agency, Inc. is a family-owned and operated independent insurance agency, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, serving central Massachusetts and beyond.