Concrete contractors have a stressful business – especially when you consider concrete is the foundational building block of nearly every structure nowadays.
Your work involves tracking a number of projects, customers, employees and supplies all simultaneously.
Work may range from laying a wall to constructing ornate exteriors or buildings, and using a variety of materials including brick, concrete or stone.
Managing all of the moving parts of your business, as well as meeting the needs and desires of your clients, can be overwhelming.
Which is why it’s important to make sure that you have the right protection before a loss happens and forces to you to suspend operations or lose work.
Like any other business, Concrete Contractors need a variety of insurance coverages to ensure their operation is protected. Additionally, rules and coverages can vary from state to state, so understanding Ohio Concrete Contractor insurance is essential.
Commercial General Liability Insurance
If you’re a Concrete Contractor, then a Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy is a must as it would protect when lawsuits or financial losses occur.
A typical CGL policy provides coverage for claims of bodily injury or other physical injury, personal injury (libel or slander), advertising injury and property damage as a result of your products, premises or operations.
For example, your business provides the concrete foundation for a new construction building. Years after the building is complete and the tenants have moved in, there are claims being made by the building owners that the foundation was poorly completed.
Without a CGL policy, your concrete business could be paying for the damages out of pocket… ouch!
As a safeguard against liability, CGL enables you to continue your normal operations while dealing with real or fraudulent claims of negligence or wrongdoing. CGL policies also provide coverage for the cost to defend and settle claims.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial Auto Insurance is another important policy that all Ohio concrete contractors must consider because you’re relying on vehicles to get you from one job to another. Doesn’t matter if you have one truck or a fleet of 100, you still need Commercial Auto Insurance.
The trucks or trailers that you’re using to haul your materials and equipment should be insured. A Commercial Auto Policy can be used to insure vehicles for:
- Liability – this would protect the business owner in the event of an at-fault accident where the owner, or any employees, caused injuries to others while driving a company vehicle
- Physical damage to the vehicles owned by the business if they’re involved in an accident, stolen or vandalized
- Or both Liability and Physical Damage
For example, one of your employees is driving one of your large commercial vehicles to a job site when they’re involved in a severe accident with another driver.
Your employee is at fault, there is extensive damage to both vehicles, and there will be medical expenses for both drivers.
Your Commercial Auto policy could cover the property damage, the medical expenses and any potential legal costs involved.
Contractor’s Equipment Insurance
In addition to the vehicles that you’re using to haul materials and equipment, you’ll also need to insure the equipment.
The standard Commercial Property Insurance policy provides coverage for your equipment, but it’s only covered while it’s on your premises.
For a concrete contractor that routinely has most of its equipment away from its office premises, this creates a problem.
In order to protect these types of items that are regularly off your premises, you need an Inland Marine policy (also known as a Contractor’s Equipment policy or floater).
For example, if you were to leave your equipment on your customer’s property for the night and you returned in the morning to find it had been vandalized, an Inland Marine policy would cover those costs even though it didn’t occur on your business premises. A Commercial Property policy would not provide coverage.
Conclusion
Finding the best insurance policy for Concrete Contractors in Ohio, and figuring out the types of coverage needed to protect your business, can be confusing, time consuming and difficult.
However, the right insurance protection is still critical to the success of your business. Without it, you’re one claim away from being out of business.
And remember, not all policies are created equal.
You probably wouldn’t go to your eye doctor instead of your dentist if you were having a toothache, right? Just because they’re both doctors doesn’t mean they have the same skillset.
Just the same, you need an Insurance Advisor that understands your industry, your risks of loss, and how best to protect you and your business.
We can help.
We know the industry, we understand your needs, and we work with multiple insurance companies so we can deliver the insurance solution that’s perfect for your business, and your budget.
When you have confidence in your business insurance, you have greater peace of mind knowing that you can keep working to generate revenue, even when disaster strikes.
To get started on your customized solution, contact one of our Licensed Advisors, or Request a Proposal and we’ll get to work right away.