What is Electrical Contractors Insurance?
Whether you are installing a subpanel as part of a small residential job or repairing the wiring in a large commercial building, every electrical contractor project you undertake comes with some level of danger. From working around live wires, power lines, or active circuits to using power tools like saws and drills, the risk is high for an electrical incident that could harm you, an employee, a customer or other third party, or even another person’s property. If a work-related accident does happen, having the appropriate electrical contractors insurance solution may help you recover from associated financial losses and keep your business up and running.
What kind of insurance do you need for your electrical contractor business?
If you choose Austin as your insurance professional, we will customize an electrical contractors insurance solution for your business based on the risks that are unique to your industry and specific line of electrical work. Typically, though, we do suggest the following four coverages as a good starting point for the majority of our electrical contractor clients:
- Commercial General Liability, or electrical contractors liability, is one of the most important insurance coverages you can invest in as an electrician because it may help protect your business against the financial repercussions of a bodily injury or property damage claim against you or an employee. From a passerby tripping and falling over a pile of wires to a new employee accidentally knocking a hole in a wall, there are many potential ways electrical work can lead to injuries to others or damage to another person’s property. If these or other similar events occur, general liability insurance coverage typically helps pay for medical bills of anyone injured other than you or your employees, plus repairs to other people’s damaged property and some of the legal expenses that may arise if you must defend yourself against a claim.
- Commercial Property is essential coverage for the business assets you are accumulating as an electrical contractor, including your equipment and materials, the electronic devices and supplies you use to run your business, and any real estate that you own or rent. Imagine if a thief broke into the storage unit at your business facility and stole multiple rolls of copper wiring, as well as voltage meters, wire strippers, circuit analyzers, and other tools. Replacing all of these items could cost you thousands of dollars out of your own pocket. If you have commercial property insurance, though, it typically helps pay to repair or replace the items that have been lost or destroyed due to theft or vandalism. In addition, commercial property insurance generally assists in covering the costs related to repairing your place of business, whether that is a building you own, a space you lease, or a home office, as well as the business belongings in it, if they are damaged by covered events such as severe weather, a burst pipe, or a fire.
- Commercial Auto is crucial insurance protection for electrical contractors and the vehicles they and their employees use for business purposes. Whether you and your employees drive your own vehicles or pickups and vans that were purchased through the business, it’s important to understand that personal car insurance is typically not going to provide any coverage if an accident occurs. Instead, you are going to want to make sure all these vehicles are properly insured with a commercial auto policy. At a minimum, you need to make sure you have the appropriate amount of compulsory commercial auto insurance coverages to help pay for the costs you or an employee could be responsible for because of an at-fault crash. In addition, you should strongly consider optional coverages, such as collision and comprehensive, which may assist you in paying for repairs to your own vehicles if they are damaged in an accident or by a break-in, vandalism, severe weather, or other covered event.
- Workers’ Compensation is insurance that is typically required for all Massachusetts employers, no matter the size or makeup of their workforce. In fact, even if you are a sole proprietor, there are several reasons why you may want to talk to a local insurance professional, like Austin, about getting workers’ compensation. This coverage is critical protection for both you and the people you employ because it provides important financial assistance to an employee who experiences a work-related injury or illness and saves you, the employer, from the financial hardships of a claim. How does workers’ compensation work? Suppose one of your workers suffers an electrical shock, a serious burn, or a bad fall. Your workers’ comp policy usually will cover everything from the employee’s medical expenses to temporary disability and vocational rehabilitation. Without workers’ compensation, you would likely have to pay out-of-pocket for all of the employee’s injury-related expenses.
These four insurance coverages are among the most important for electrical contractors because they address some of the most common liability risks you are likely to face. However, depending on the specifics of your business, it may be a good idea to supplement these basic coverages with one or more of the following options:
- Business Interruption and Extra Expense
- Commercial Umbrella
- Completed Operations
- Contractor Pollution Liability
- Contractors’ Errors and Omissions
- Cyber Liability
- Employment Practices Liability
- Equipment Breakdown
- Hired & Non-Owned Auto Insurance
- Inland Marine
- Professional Liability
- Surety Bonds
We know that fitting all these important insurance coverages into your budget may be a concern, especially if you own a small or midsize electrical contractor business. But for many electricians, there may be a simple and cost-effective option that still provides broad coverage: a Business Owners Policy (BOP).
A standard BOP for an electrical contractor typically includes general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. In addition, these bundled policies often provide—or can be customized to include—coverages such as cyber liability, employment practices liability, business interruption, professional liability, and more.
Austin Insurance will help you build a complete electrical contractors insurance solution to cover the distinct risks of your industry and operation.
An Austin team member will be happy to assist you in selecting the coverage options that are the best fit for your electrical contractor business and your budget, whether those options include a BOP, a different type of commercial package policy, or other solutions from the top insurance companies we work with. To make sure we identify the right coverages for your company at the most competitive rates available, we will take the time to get to know you personally and understand the ins and outs of your business, including:
- The types of services you offer
- Where your business and projects are located
- The value of your business property and equipment
- The number of employees you have
- The amount of your business revenue
- The size of your payroll
- Your prior claims history
We also want you to know that the Austin team is here not only to help protect your electrical contractor business but also to support its growth. As our client, you will have access to a highly responsive, self-service online client portal where you can request a certificate of insurance, review your current policies, report a claim, and much more—24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are dedicated to making the insurance process easy and efficient for electricians and all our business insurance clients.