Heavy Equipment Mechanic Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance must be high on 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 insurance against accidents and all the other kinds of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Heavy Equipment Mechanic

If your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a final 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. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to explain 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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic business?

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

Your Heavy Equipment Mechanic 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 sued for.

When you are running your Heavy Equipment Mechanic operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent beforehand the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as a person.

What does Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance protect you from?

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

As well there are some mandatory kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will outline the most important points any Heavy Equipment Mechanic business owner should know when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main categories of insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Heavy Equipment Mechanic business is dealing directly with other people, 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 sue you for compensation.

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

It protects your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business from the claims themselves and also to any resulting court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it will even 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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic 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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business

In the event where a buyer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business for them, you can quickly have to fight a monetary claim.

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

Every small Heavy Equipment Mechanic 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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic 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 the results didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation was basically incorrect.

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

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Heavy Equipment Mechanic

Only you can determine exactly how much insurance you need.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business

Be careful! – almost all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any event like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle 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 direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

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

Also, in case of any accident, the car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your van is involved in an accident.

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

The necessary value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business needs specialized and expensive equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The equipment may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unpredicted acts.

Also, 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 need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s really dependent on how much you have invested in your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Heavy Equipment Mechanic business that owns or rents space in a building should have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you may already have a substantial capital investment, in addition to a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

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

If your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business deals in areas of high risk, like California or Georgia, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Washington, where extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Heavy Equipment Mechanic business premises, there is a need for more additional 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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business

Is your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business variable?

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Heavy Equipment Mechanic – 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 less premiums but still having adequate risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you purchase 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 raised.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business

You have the chance 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 combines commercial property and public liability insurance by amalgamating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

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

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Heavy Equipment Mechanic businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle risks.

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

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

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic business employees

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

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

The benefits cover 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 allow coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you may not take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

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 Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

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

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your Heavy Equipment Mechanic businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Product liability insurance $320 – $620
Commercial insurance $1000 – $2410
General liability insurance $575 – $850
Public liability insurance $305 – $675
Commercial vehicle insurance $1840 – $2905
Equipment insurance $480 – $1045

Cost of insurance for your Heavy Equipment Mechanic operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small freelance Heavy Equipment Mechanic businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Heavy Equipment Mechanic 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.

As well you can let the internet do the work for you by looking for insurance companies near where your business is located.

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

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Heavy Equipment Mechanic operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect Heavy Equipment Mechanic business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Heavy Equipment Mechanic business have to have insurance?

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

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

What does a small Heavy Equipment Mechanic business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer 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 recommended policies for Heavy Equipment Mechanic insurance.

How much will Heavy Equipment Mechanic business insurance cost?

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

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for Heavy Equipment Mechanic, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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