What is welding contractor insurance?
Welding is a dangerous profession. This is why it is critical for welders to consider welding insurance. It can protect your business, employees, and assets from financial burdens you would otherwise be paying for out of pocket.
Do welding contrators need insurance?
If your business provides services for joining metals together through high heat or other methods, you will most likely need to get welding insurance. Due to the nature of the process, welding can have devastating consequences when accidents do occur.
What insurance do welding businesses need?
Welders have a few different types of insurance that they usually need to cover all their risk areas and activities. Common ones include general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, and more.
Common types of welding insurance
General liability insurance
This type of policy covers a variety of common risks and accidents. It will give your business financial protection if you are held responsible for a person, other than your employee, getting injured or damaging property that does not belong to you.
Commercial auto insurance
Commercial auto insurance helps pay for property damage and medical expenses caused by a vehicle owned by your business. Most states require this type of policy.
Workers’ compensation insurance
Workers’ compensation insurance will ensure that an employee that gets injured on the job will have medical bills and rehabilitation paid for, as well as any lost wages. Employer’s liability insurance is also usually included in workers’ compensation insurance. It covers events such as if an employee files a lawsuit blaming your business for negligence that led to an accident. Employers’ liability insurance will protect your business from costs like settlements, court fees, and attorney fees.
Errors and ommision insurance
Also known as professional liability insurance or errors and omissions insurance, this type of insurance protects your business if you are held responsible for making a mistake that led to monetary damages. For example, if you used the wrong type of steel and it rusted, which ended up leading the client to use their own money to replace it.
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance provides protection for your building (if you own or rent it), equipment, and inventory.
Tools and equipment insurance
This coverage ensures that no matter where your gear is, it is protected from theft and damage. It is great for people who take expensive equipment to job sites.
What are the limits of welding contractor insurance?
The limits for your welding business depend on the types of coverage you need. Standard general liability coverage policies have a limit of $1,000,000 for bodily damage and $2,000,000 for property damage per occurrence. Each policy has a certain number of occurrences per calendar year that the insurance company will cover, depending on the product you choose.
You should consider the limits based on your estimated financial liabilities, should an accident occur. Basic packages could start as low as $300,000. However, it will most likely not be sufficient for your needs. It is possible that larger projects will have a higher financial risk, so you will need to have higher limits than the standard.
How much does welding contractor insurance cost?
There are different factors that can affect how much welding contractor insurance costs. These factors can include (but are not limited to):
- Types of cleaning services offered
- Tools and vehicles used by the business
- Area you conduct your business
- Size of your business (employee number)
Grouping policies together with the same insurance provider can help save money through discounts.
- General liability insurance: Welding businesses can expect to pay premiums around $97 to $129 per month for smaller businesses. Usually costs get higher depending on the previously mentioned factors and increased policy limits.
- Commercial auto insurance: Welders can insure their vehicles traveling between job sites starting at $99 per month for commercial auto insurance policies with lower limits. Higher limits or vehicle quantity and type will increase the premium.
- Workers’ compensation insurance: You can purchase worker’s compensation insurance for as low as $134 per month. Prices will increase based on the size of the business and history of claims among other factors.
- Employer’s liability insurance: This type of insurance is usually included in the workers’ compensation insurance policy and is covered by the premium.
- Commercial property insurance: At $63 per month, the median for commercial property insurance is affordable for most welding businesses and is worth considering the policy if you rent or own the real estate.
- Tools and equipment insurance: For as low as $17 per month, you can get your equipment and tools insured up to a $10,000 limit (in most cases) to protect them from damage or theft.
- Commercial umbrella policy: To further protect your business, if a claim goes past your coverage, you can purchase a commercial umbrella policy for about $40 per month.
How to choose the best welding contractor insurance
Here are a few useful tips that can help choose the best provider for you:
- Risks: Look at your business and identify areas that have a higher risk for accidents. Once you are able to do that, you can shop around for a policy that covers these areas and protect your business from financial liabiltiies.
- Customize: The provider should be able to customize their product to best suit the needs of your business. A provider that is not willing to work with you should not be the provider you work with. Make sure the provider gives you a few different options and lets you pick what will work best with your budget and requirements, versus trying to sell you the highest priced product.
- Customer feedbak: Checking reviews for each provider to see what their customers think about them is a great way to scope out how they really operate. Third party companies like the BBB rate how satisfied the public is with companies, so this score is a good measure on how to qualify a provider.