California Contractors Insurance Agents In LA Know Why A General Liability Policy Is Necessary

By Faye Landry

Getting into the construction business requires more than a talent for building and a good set of tools. You will have to get licensed and show proof of bonds and insurance. It may be tempting to skimp on your coverage because of the expense. This is always a mistake. If something unexpected happens, you will be held liable. This can have catastrophic consequences. That's why California Contractors Insurance Agents In LA always advise their clients to take out, and keep current, a good general liability policy.

General liability is what will protect you if a worker gets injured on the job. You'll be protected against personal liability if property is damaged before the project is completed. It may even give you protection when a claim is filed years after the project is finished if the policy was in place when the incident occurred. To be considered for a lot of jobs, potential clients require that their contractor have a policy in place.

What the policy costs you depends on several factors. It depends on where you are in the country, your payroll, receipts and cost of subcontractors. A contractor without employees can expect to pay somewhere in the range of eight hundred and thirteen hundred dollars a year. Contractors who have payrolls in excess of one hundred thousand dollars will spend more the two thousand dollars a year.

The cost of monthly premiums will vary as well. You might get discounted rates if you haven't filed a claim recently for instance. Experience and credit ratings are factored in. Your deductible, and other types of policies you have, can also affect the monthly cost.

This policy covers a lot. It includes personal injury, illness, or even death. Property damage is included. This will cover you in the event there is physical injury to the property that results in loss of use.

Liability coverage includes claims of illness, injury, and property damage even after the project is finished. Accusations of copyright infringement, or slander caused by the publication of materials, are included in this policy. Most contracting businesses are not affected by these types of occurrences however.

You can choose from two kinds of general liability policies. There is the occurrence policy that covers claims made any time, if the insurance was in place at the time the event occurred. With an occurrence policy a claim for an incident that happened on the job, will still be covered, even after ten years, as long as the policy was current at the time of the incident. A claims made policy will only cover an incident when the claim was made during the time the policy was in place.

Insurance companies reserve the right to conduct premium audits. They will usually check if the information a contractor put on his application and the actual scope of the work the contractor is doing show discrepancies. Audits are normally conducted to make sure the insurer is not facing more exposure than was anticipated when the policy was issued. Audits can be conducted as soon as ten days after a policy is put in place.

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