The contractor business is filled with risks. Make sure you’re properly covered.
Whatever your trade or industry, from constructing HVAC systems to installing flooring to building homes, it’s essential to protect your business from a wide variety of potential risks.
Make sure you consider key coverages, including liability insurance and property insurance, as well as options specific to your business. For example, equipment rental coverage can cover your equipment if it is damaged or stolen, and coverage for damage to computer hardware can protect you in the case of a security event.
We recognize that every dollar you spend is a critical decision. Our brokers use their years of expertise to determine exactly what protections you need for your specific business. Then we identify the best protection for you for the most affordable cost.
Who Needs Contractor Insurance?
Large and small tradespeople across many industries are required to carry contractor insurance in Ontario. This protection allows peace-of-mind for a variety of contractors such as:
- Carpenters
- Drywallers
- Electricians
- Floorers
- General Contractors
- Home Builders
- HVAC Contractors
- Landscapers
- Masons
- Painters
- Plumbers
- Roofers
- Tilers
- Window Cleaners
- Window & Door Installers
- And more
What Coverages & Bonds Do Contractors Need Most?
General Liability
Contractors need financial protection, in case they are obligated to pay damages or medical payments. This might occur if bodily injury, property damage or personal/advertising injury was sustained by a third party and caused by or related to the contractor’s work.
Wrap Up Liability
Wrap-up insurance is a liability policy that serves as all-encompassing insurance to protect contractors working on large projects costing over $10 million. The two types of wrap-up insurance are owner-controlled and contractor-controlled.
Builders’ Risk/Course of Construction
Contractors need to be able to protect themselves and their clients’ insurable interest in materials, fixtures, and/or equipment awaiting installation (or after installation). This coverage needs to extend throughout the construction or renovation of a building or structure, in case these items sustain physical loss or damage from a covered loss.
Contractor Equipment Coverage
In the construction industry, this type of coverage protects a contractor’s mobile machinery and equipment if it should suffer direct physical damage/loss. The protection follows the equipment even in transit from jobsite to jobsite.
Commercial Auto Coverage
Your contractor business likely uses a few vehicles or a full fleet of vehicles to transport personnel and equipment to and from job sites. Dawson & Keenan can put together affordable coverage for a few vehicles or fleet insurance for over 5 vehicles.
Bonding Coverage
While bonds are not insurance products per se, they are protections that an insurance company can provide to contractors. Potential clients may prefer contractors who carry one or more of these bond types:
- Bid Bond/Agreement to Bond – This bond protects an owner or developer in the construction bidding process. It is a guarantee that you, as the bidder, provide to the project owner to ensure that if you fail to honor the terms of the bid, the owner will be compensated.
- Performance Bond/Labour – This bond is issued by one party to contract the other party. It serves as a guarantee against the issuing party’s failure to meet their obligations under the contract, or to deliver on the level of performance specified in the agreement.
- Material Payment Bond – This bond protects clients if you fail to complete a job, don’t pay for permits, or fail to meet other financial obligations, such as paying for supplies or subcontractors or covering damage that workers cause to a property.
We work with some of the top providers in contractor insurance to deliver the best coverage at the best price.
