Installation Professionals Insurance – Cost and Types Of Policies

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Installation Professionals insurance must be included in the list because you can’t always know exactly what can happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by general insurance and all the other sorts 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 Installation Professionals enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Installation Professionals

If your Installation Professionals 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 results of their actions. 

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

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Installation Professionals business?

What this means, for any Installation Professionals 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 Installation Professionals business is not protected by laws in the same way as states are, where legislation can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like New Jersey, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a court 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 claimant more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Installation Professionals operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

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

What does Installation Professionals insurance protect you from?

For your Installation Professionals business, the most important types of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

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

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

The main types of insurance for your Installation Professionals businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Installation Professionals business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be spoiled.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Installation Professionals business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

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

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

The normal level of general liability insurance for your Installation Professionals business would be with a upper limit of $1 million for a single submission 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 Installation Professionals insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Installation Professionals business

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

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

Almost all small Installation Professionals 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 Installation Professionals insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Installation Professionals 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 what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your guidance was basically incorrect.

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

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Installation Professionals

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

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Installation Professionals business

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

The proper 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 covered if your truck is involved in an accident.

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Installation Professionals business needs specific and costly 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 specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your Installation Professionals 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 Installation Professionals business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Installation Professionals business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you certainly 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 unexpected occurrences like fire and storms, and against criminal damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Installation Professionals business operates in areas of high risk, like California or South Carolina, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where intense cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Installation Professionals business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends entirely 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 Installation Professionals insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Installation Professionals business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Installation Professionals business

Is your Installation Professionals business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business variable?

Using short-term insurance makes good sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Installation Professionals – 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 identical risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you buy 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 better 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 Installation Professionals business

You have the option to combine most 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 incorporating 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 Installation Professionals businesses, such as yours.

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

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

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

The normal business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Installation Professionals business employees

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

Workers compensation insurance covers the operation against any costs that arise if any hired hand 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 having 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 can’t take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

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

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Installation Professionals insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of average quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

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

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

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $310 – $750
Commercial insurance $890 – $2935
Commercial vehicle insurance $1500 – $2970
General liability insurance $710 – $970
Equipment insurance $440 – $1035
Product liability insurance $255 – $755

Cost of insurance for your Installation Professionals operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small self-employed Installation Professionals businesses.

In larger states like California, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like New Mexico, they usually are about 20%-30% less.

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

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

In addition 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 Installation Professionals operations?

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

Does my Installation Professionals business have to have insurance?

Some of the types 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 Installation Professionals business insurance policy cover?

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

The precise cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Installation Professionals insurance.

How much will Installation Professionals 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 Installation Professionals, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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