Plumber’s Helper Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

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

With the protection provided by insurance against accidents 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 plumber’s helper enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

If your plumber’s helper 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 consequences of their actions.

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

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your plumber’s helper business?

What this means, for any plumber’s helper 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 plumber’s helper business is not protected 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 New Jersey, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a judge can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the privilege of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a plaintiff more than they have sued for.

When you are running your plumber’s helper 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 a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does plumber’s helper insurance protect you from?

For your plumber’s helper business, the most important kinds 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 outline the most important points any plumber’s helper business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main headings of insurance for your plumber’s helper businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any plumber’s helper business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be spoiled.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your plumber’s helper business covers you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your plumber’s helper business from the claims themselves and as well to any resulting 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 usual level of general liability insurance for your plumber’s helper business would be with a cap 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 plumber’s helper insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your plumber’s helper business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your plumber’s helper business for them, you can quickly have to fight a law suit.

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

Every small plumber’s helper 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 plumber’s helper insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your plumber’s helper 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 they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your recommendation 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 injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for plumber’s helper

Only you can know exactly how much insurance you need.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your plumber’s helper 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 best way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a designated 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 covered if your truck is involved in a crash.

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

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

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your plumber’s helper business needs specific and costly 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 must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your plumber’s helper business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your plumber’s helper business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any plumber’s helper business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you probably 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 accidental occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your plumber’s helper 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 Rhode Island, where intense cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of plumber’s helper 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 plumber’s helper insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your plumber’s helper business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your plumber’s helper business

Is your plumber’s helper business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for plumber’s helper – are special policies where you can cover a designated 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 important feature of short-term insurance is that you purchase 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 raised.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your plumber’s helper business

You have the chance 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 combines 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 mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized plumber’s helper businesses, such as yours.

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

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

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

The normal business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have fewer 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 plumber’s helper business employees

In almost all states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your plumber’s helper 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 provide for medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

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

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize 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 worked out based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

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

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every plumber’s helper insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of average quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate 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 researched for the main types of insurance your plumber’s helper businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your plumber’s helper operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small freelance plumber’s helper businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your plumber’s helper 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.

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

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for plumber’s helper operations?

This is a wide term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect plumber’s helper business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my plumber’s helper business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds 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 plumber’s helper business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party 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 most common policies for plumber’s helper insurance.

How much will plumber’s helper business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, several 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 plumber’s helper, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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