Being a professional roofer is not an easy task. If you are doing this for years, then you know how exausting certain workdays can be. Your duties will not reduce if you decide to run your own company and hire a couple of workers. Indeed, the profit will be better, but there are a couple of things you need to take care of. One of them is definitely the types of insurance that you need to have.
As previously mentioned, being a roofer is not easy (even if you are a professional with 10+ years of experience). Accidents simply happen, and we hope their outcome is not critical. Because of that, you need to find a way to protect yourself as well as your workers from any problem.
Let’s say that you do not have insurance. In case your worker gets injured during the work, you are the one who needs to cover all the medical costs out of your pocket. On the other hand, if you have insurance, then the insurance company is responsible for those costs.
Taking care of your workers is not the only reason why you should pay for the insurance. There are many of them that will cover the property damage as well. As you know, the issues like that one can be costly, and not many companies will have enough money to cover those costs.
There is no just one roofer insurance you need to know about. Yet, in this article, we will focus on the so-called general liability insurance for roofers. As you could guess, the answer to the question from the title of this article is “yes, roofers need the professional liability insuracen, and we will explain the further part of the article everything you should know about it. Let’s start!
What Is General Liability Insurance and What Does It Cover
You are probably tired of reading a lot of professional phrases and terms that do not explain anything in the end. We will try to explain to you what general liability insurance actually is. In simple words, this type of insurance will protect your roof contractor business in the event when the third party (logically, customers are the most usual ones) experience property damage or personal injury.
Which costs the professional liability will cover is not precisely determine because it varies from one company to another. Logically, bodily injury, as well as property damage, are the most common ones. However, there are a few more things that we can add to this list. For instance, some professional liability insurance woudl cover legal costs as well in case the third party sues you. Despite that, some of them are covering the so-called advertising injury. This happens in case when your company slanders the competitor.
Anyway, it is good to mention that this insurance is not that expensive, but it can definitely cover a wide range of costs and save your company from bankrupt. Another good news is that you can find many websites such as businessinsuranceusa.com where you can get a quote and find out more information about the professional liability with a couple of clicks. As you see, there is no reason to collect a bunch of paperwork to get all the benefits we just talked about.
Is There Something Professional Liability for Roofers Doesn’t Cover?
As we said, the offers you will manag to find are different from one place to another. However, there are some common costs that general liability policy often does not cover. This especially counts when we talk about employee injuries as well as the damage your vehicles and tools may experience. Covering these costs is possible with some other insurances.
On the other hand, the professional liability may not cover the damage that you and your workers make by a mistake. In some states across US, it can also happen that you will have to pay the costa alone for the so-called punitive damages. Because of that, we suggest you carefully read the policy before signing the contract. Of course, researching the law can also be a good thing.
There Is No Just One Type of General Liability Insurance
It worths mentioning that there is no just one type of the general liability insurane. There are two of them – claim-based and occurrence. The name of these two types probably say the full story, but we would like to analyze them a little.
As the name refers, the claim-based liability insurance will cover the costs only if you the entrepreneur make the claim. They have to do that during the coverage period. In case the professional roofers do not submit a claim during the policy, then the insurarer will not cover the costs. Compared to the other type, this one is relatively cheaper. So, if organizing your budget is the problem, then you may want to start with this type of protection and see how things are functioning.
Speaking of occurrence policy, it covers all the damage that occurs during the coverage period. Let’s say that that the homeowner that hired you decides to sues you for some reason. For instance, he experienced an accident during your work. Even if that happened before the occurrence policy period started, you may manage to cover some costs you will have on the court. However, we once again invite you to read the policy careful and confirm this with the professional insurer. We are probably boring for repeating the same thing many times, but offers vary from one place to another. The last thing you would want to happen is to figure out that your insurance does not cover certain costs.
Why Is This Insurance Important for All Homeowners As Well?
Before we end this part, it is good to mention that getting the professional liability for roofers is going to boost the reputation of your business as well. All the clients that you may work with know very well that accidents happen. They want to be sure that, in case the accident happens, all the costs are going to be covered. If they do not have the proof that you can pay them, that would mean they would have to cover the costs on their own or simply sue you which will prolong the entire process. Peace of mind is something all the homeowners want to have, and with professional liability, you can help them get that.
