Construction Estimator Insurance – Cost and Coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Construction Estimator insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what is going to happen in the future.

Need General Liability Insurance for Your Construction Estimator Business?
Get Your Free Quote

With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other types of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unwanted happens.

Like any business owner, for your Construction Estimator enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Construction Estimator

If your Construction Estimator business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a total wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the results of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to outline what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where available, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Construction Estimator business?

What this means, for any Construction Estimator business owner, is that if some company claims that your work caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Construction Estimator business is not harbored by laws in the same way as states are, where laws can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Texas, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the duty of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a claimant more than they have sort.

When you are running your Construction Estimator operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the results of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent up-front the money necessary to have your business running as a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does Construction Estimator insurance protect you from?

For your Construction Estimator business, the most important types of insurance are meant to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

In addition there are some legal kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will outline the most important points any Construction Estimator business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main categories of insurance for your Construction Estimator businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Construction Estimator business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can sue you for compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Construction Estimator business insures you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your Construction Estimator business from the claims themselves and also to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it should help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts demand proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your Construction Estimator business would be with a upper limit of $1 million for a single event and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Construction Estimator insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Construction Estimator business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Construction Estimator business for them, you can quickly face a court case.

Even if the matter against you is decided in your favor, the cost of defense can be substantial, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Most small Construction Estimator business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a once-off claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Construction Estimator insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Construction Estimator operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to know the explicit laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for damages caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Construction Estimator

Only you can know exactly how much insurance you must have.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Construction Estimator business

Take care! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening like theft or accidental damage when the car is being used for business purposes.

The right way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies insure the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the truck itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your truck is involved in a crash.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, require this type of insurance.

The required value of the insurance is calculated on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Construction Estimator business needs specialized and dedicated equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The gear may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unforeseen acts.

As well, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can wipe-out your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Construction Estimator business running.

It is hard to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your Construction Estimator business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Construction Estimator business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the property, you may already have a substantial capital investment, as well as a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Any physical building location needs to carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against unexpected occurrences like fire and storms, and against deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Construction Estimator business deals in areas of high risk, like Florida or Georgia, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Construction Estimator business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends mainly on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Construction Estimator insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Construction Estimator business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Construction Estimator business

Is your Construction Estimator business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Construction Estimator – are special policies where you can cover a specific period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having lower premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you buy the cover for a defined period – a designated date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of larger business activity, get the existing cover increased.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Construction Estimator business

You have the choice to combine several of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP combines commercial property and public liability insurance by amalgamating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will cover you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Construction Estimator businesses, such as yours.

There are some limits that will determine whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle cover.

Also, the size of your business will dictate whether you are permitted to take out BOP cover.

The usual business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual turnover.

In addition, you must separately take out the necessary worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Construction Estimator business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Construction Estimator business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if a worker experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits include medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s requirements in this regard can leave you as the employer having to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only allow coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you cannot get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation charges are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must see the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Construction Estimator insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your Construction Estimator businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial insurance $875 – $2690
Public liability insurance $285 – $640
Equipment insurance $400 – $1040
General liability insurance $735 – $900
Product liability insurance $235 – $705
Commercial vehicle insurance $1885 – $2810

Cost of insurance for your Construction Estimator operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small self-employed Construction Estimator businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like New Mexico, they can be about 20%-30% less.

The location and size and type of your Construction Estimator business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should consult with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by searching for insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another reliable source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Construction Estimator operations?

This is a wide term used to describe common insurance policies designed to protect Construction Estimator business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Construction Estimator business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Some other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Construction Estimator business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection against lawsuits or claims filed by a client for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The specific cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the recommended policies for Construction Estimator insurance.

How much will Construction Estimator business insurance cost?

In addition to the size of the business, some other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should consult with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for Construction Estimator, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

Was this helpful? Share it!
SBCoverage.com