If you are a contractor in New Jersey, you should know what you are liable for.
If you do not take the time to understand contractor insurance in NJ and why you need it, then you may find that you end up being liable for expenses that you never thought you would be, and this is the last thing that you need.
If you want to find out more, then take a look below.
What is General Liability Insurance?
If you are a contractor, then you will be the one who is responsible for the equipment, labor, materials and anything else when a particular construction project is carried out.
You will also be responsible for monitoring the operating vehicles, and any subcontractors who you hire. For this reason, you will have a significant amount of responsibility and liability.
The great thing about general liability insurance is that you will be given coverage for a wide range of issues. This includes customer injury, damage to a property or anything else of the sort.
Are You Going to be Liable for Damages?
It’s more than possible for you, as a general contractor, to be held liable and even sued for damages. If you do not have a plan in place, then you may find that you end up paying some very expensive bills later on.
Why Do You Need General Liability Coverage?
There are a huge number of reasons you would need general liability insurance if you work as a contractor. You don’t want to be facing expensive legal action at any stage of your company operation, therefore it’s so important for you to have a good policy.
Certain industries, including the construction sector, require contractors to have a good level of general liability coverage.
Ideally, the client and the contractor will have a policy of their own, as this makes sure that one person is not relying on the other.
Your client will expect you to have coverage even if they have their own. If you don’t then you may end up leaving them vulnerable and this is not a risk that most clients would be willing to take.
Taking Out Coverage
You may wonder how you should take out general liability coverage if you live in New Jersey.
There are two routes you can take here. The first would be for you to take it through your client, where they would add you to the policy as an additional insured worker.
With this option, you will be given coverage for the project and possibly, past it. It’s possible for a business to add you, or even numerous contractors to their policy, but it can be expensive.
Another option would be for you to take out your own coverage. Clients will sometimes request proof that you have a good level of cover, and for this reason, having your own insurance plan can work in your favor.
It’s important to know that both options do not provide the same amount of coverage, and you need to make sure that you understand what your policy entails.
If you opt to be additionally insured, or if you take it out through the business, then you won’t gain the same amount of protection when compared to the owner of the policy.
You will gain what is known as “defense coverage”, where you will be able to claim for legal fees, property damage or even sometimes injury.
More About Contractor Insurance Coverage
If you want to find out more about contractor insurance coverage, look below.
Coverage for Third Parties
If you have coverage for third parties, then anyone who visits your construction site will be protected by the general liability insurance you have.
This is vitally important because it means that if they get hurt by a piece of falling debris, or if they trip over some lumber then their medical treatment won’t be paid for by you. It will be paid for by the insurance policy.
If their personal property gets damaged at the site, then your policy will also pay for the repairs here as well.
Tools and Equipment Coverage
If you are concerned about the chance of losing access to your tools or your equipment, then NJ contractor’s insurance will cover you.
Your policy will pay to replace any items you use in the construction business, whether they are rented or owned.
Sure, you might not think you’ll need to make a claim if your hammer or wrench gets stolen, but if you have one of your excavators stolen, there’s a high chance that you’d struggle to make your money back for it.
Employee Coverage
Employee coverage does exactly what the title says. It doesn’t matter whether you have 500 employees or whether you just have one because this will be included in your contractor insurance in New Jersey.
This coverage will pay for the treatment of your team if they are injured in any way on the job.
It doesn’t matter whether they lose a limb or whether they break a bone because workers compensation will cover the ambulance ride, any recovery periods and rehabilitation.
Worker’s compensation will also cover any costs if your employee was to bring a lawsuit against you.
Business Vehicle Insurance
If you have ever had to use your own car for business purposes, then it may be wise for you to add business vehicle coverage to your contractor insurance policy.
If you were to be in an accident when out driving for your company, then the damages won’t be paid for if you do not have this policy.
If you have personal car insurance then this won’t cover you for this either, so that’s why it’s important that you have some kind of vehicle insurance included in your policy.
If you need some help with your contractor insurance in NJ, then please do contact us today to find out more.
When you do, we can then advise you on anything you might need to know about your policy and your position if you were to file a claim.