Electrical Work insurance – cost and coverage

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

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

Like any business owner, for your Electrical Work enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Electrical Work business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant chance not just of losing some money but of a complete wipe-out.

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

Electrical Work Insurance

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to highlight 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 Electrical Work business?

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

Your Electrical Work business is not sheltered by laws in the same way as states are, where edicts can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Montana, 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 right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Electrical Work operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

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

What does Electrical Work insurance protect you from?

For your Electrical Work business, the most important sorts of insurance are designed to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

Also there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Electrical Work business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

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

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Electrical Work business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can demand compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Electrical Work business covers you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your Electrical Work business from the claims themselves and in addition 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 insist on proper liability insurance.

The normal level of general liability insurance for your Electrical Work business would be with a boundary of $1 million for a single claim 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 Electrical Work insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Electrical Work business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Electrical Work business for them, you can quickly be involved in a monetary claim.

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

Every small Electrical Work business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover an individual claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

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

Product liability insurance

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

You need to understand the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

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

To cover yourself against any following lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Electrical Work

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Electrical Work business

Beware! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event like theft or accidental damage when the van is being used for business purposes.

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

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

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

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

The required value of the insurance is worked-out for the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Electrical Work business needs unique and expensive equipment, you know 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.

In addition, 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 unique 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 Electrical Work 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 Electrical Work business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Electrical Work business that owns or rents space in a building should have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you probably have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Any physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Electrical Work 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 Electrical Work business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Although the level of cover depends completely 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 Electrical Work insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Electrical Work business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Electrical Work business

Is your Electrical Work 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 Electrical Work – are special policies where you can cover a nominated 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 adequate risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a specific 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 improved.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Electrical Work business

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

A BOP merges commercial property and public liability insurance by packaging 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 frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized Electrical Work businesses, such as yours.

There are a few limits that will dictate whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs will not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle risks.

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

The usual business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Electrical Work business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Electrical Work business has one or more employees.

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

The benefits provide for 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 required to pay penalties levied by the states.

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

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

Workers compensation charges are calculated 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 Electrical Work insurance requirement 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 collected for the main types of insurance your Electrical Work businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $263 – $563
General liability insurance $631 – $1062
Commercial insurance $1153 – $2728
Product liability insurance $331 – $556
Equipment insurance $380 – $1215
Commercial vehicle insurance $1959 – $3455

Cost of insurance for your Electrical Work operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small freelance Electrical Work businesses.

In larger states like California, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Oregon, they will be about 20%-30% less.

The location and size and type of your Electrical Work 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 Electrical Work operations?

This is a general term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Electrical Work business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Electrical Work business have to have insurance?

Some of the forms 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 Electrical Work business insurance policy cover?

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

The exact cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Electrical Work insurance.

How much will Electrical Work business insurance cost?

As well as 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.

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