When you own your own business, it is crucial to make sure that you protect yourself and your employees. One of the ways that you do this is by ensuring that you have all of the proper insurance necessary to properly run your business. By making sure you have all the right insurances in place, you are keeping your small business safe from the risk of potential expensive lawsuits. The construction industry comes with a certain number of risks that other, safer jobs do not. Due to the high-risk factor of construction jobs there are several different layers of insurance business owners should consider.
There are four specific policies you want to make sure you have in place as soon as possible.
1. General Liability Insurance
This type of insurance will protect you and your employees in the case that you are accused of causing any property damages or bodily injury to someone outside of your company. You will want to contact your insurer to design a policy that covers the specific issues and problems that may arise in the construction and building line of work. This can be incredibly important if you have subcontractors on your job site, as they may be unfamiliar with potential hazards of a specific location. Unfortunately, because of these hazards, construction companies face some of the highest premiums for this coverage with the national average close to $1000 monthly. However, this is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that this coverage will give you and your business. It is also a good idea to make sure that the subcontractors you hire carry their own insurance. You can easily search for qualified, insured subcontractors with PlanHub.
2. Worker’s Compensation Plan
This type of insurance is for your employees and provides financial assistance to them should they be injured on the worksite. It will also help to offset the cost of medical benefits in case of injury. Employees who accept these benefits are agreeing not to sue their employer for the accident. This protects you, as the business owner, from legal issues that arise when employees are injured. It is usually a requirement to carry this type of insurance if you have employees who will be receiving a W2 form. Each state will have its own laws regarding Workers Compensation insurance, so be sure to learn the ins and outs of your state laws.
3. Property Insurance
This will be an important policy to have in place if you own your office space or have inventory or tools that you need covered. Property insurance will protect you if there is any theft or vandalism of your property and also reimburse you for fire or other unexpected damages. These policies often have coverage that you can add on as well. For instance, if there were loss of wages due to a fire, you can often be covered for interruption in your business’s workflow. This is called Business Interruption Insurance and often falls under your property insurance policy.
4. Auto Insurance (both personal and commercial)
Commercial auto insurance will protect your company’s vehicles. This is important if your employees will be driving vehicles that belong to you or your company. You can insure your heavy machinery as well. If you do not have company cars and vans, but employees will be using their own cars on company time, you can add on “non-owned auto liability” to protect your business. This will be important if your employees do not have adequate auto insurance of their own.
Put your insurance plans into place as soon as possible to protect your company from potential financial loss. Contact us today with questions about how we can help you to manage your documents and build your budget as you think about the costs of your next job.
