As a carpenter, you see the dangers of constructing and creating. Despite your best efforts, accidents can happen in carpentry.
Clients may reject your warnings and fall on your equipment, causing significant harm. New employees may drop a power tool and break a client’s antiques. Another contractor involved in remodeling fails to give you all the relevant information, causing you to miss your projected completion date.
In any of these events, dissatisfied consumers can sue for bodily harm, property damage, or professional negligence. Even if they’re not prosecuted, these allegations can be costly to defend. In most cases, small business owners face the most significant threats as they may struggle to cover medical expenses, legal bills, and property damage.
Carpenters Insurance comes to the rescue as it protects your carpentry business from these claims.
In this article, we will show you how much it costs to insure a carpentry business and some other things you need to know about this coverage.
- How much does carpentry insurance cost?
- General liability insurance costs for carpenters
- General liability insurance quotes for carpenters
- What factors influence the cost of carpenters’ insurance?
- How to get cheap carpenters’ insurance?
How much does carpentry insurance cost?
The average cost of carpentry insurance is $42 per month, or $504 per year. This is for a $1M general liability insurance policy.
Different carpenters will get different quotes and have different rates from insurance companies since each carpenter has their own risk characteristics.
Carpenters may need different coverages. The more coverages they need, the more expensive their carpentry insurance policies are. Below are the average costs of different coverage of carpentry insurance:
| Carpentry insurance coverages | Average costs |
| General liability insurance | $42 per month |
| Professional liability insurance | $34 per month |
| Tools and equipment insurance | $15 per month |
| Inland marine insurance | $12 per month |
| Workers comp insurane | $150 per month |
| Commercial auto insurance | $115 per month |
| Surety bond | $8 per month |
| Excess liability insurance | $21 per month |
These are just the averages. You will have different rates. Be sure to shop around with a few companies or work with a top broker like InsurePro, Simply Business, or CoverWallet to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
General liability insurance costs for carpenters
As a carpenter, general liability insurance is usually the first coverage that will be suggested to you. It provides coverage for third-party accidents and occurrences that result in injury or property damage.
Even carpenters with strict safety regulations may be the subject of a claim for general liability. These claims can be in the tens of thousands of dollars and your general liability insurance will cover you.
For instance, if a person trips over your hammer and twists their wrist. You would be responsible for their medical expenses because your company’s practices caused their injuries. However, your general liability will cover their medical fees and legal costs if they decide to sue you.
Carpenters pay an annual cost of $504, or a monthly premium of less than $42, for a $1M general liability insurance policy.
Learn more at general liability insurance cost and the best general liability insurance companies
General liability insurance quotes for carpenters
We research more than 10 companies to find which companies offer quotes online. The following are some quotes for carpentry insurance from Simply Business, Next insurance, Insure Pro, and CoverWallet for your reference. I found that these companies offer fast online quotes for carpenters. Each doesn’t take more than 10 minutes.
Professional liability insurance costs for carpenters
Professional liability insurance is also known as errors and omissions insurance and professional indemnity insurance.
In most circumstances, this protects you if a client accuses you of giving them incorrect or inadequate advice. It is intended to cover your legal costs should you need to defend yourself in court. It will also protect you if you lose your court action and are held accountable for fees or damages.
Carpenters pay approximately $34 monthly, or $408 annually, for professional liability insurance.
Learn more at the average cost of professional liability insurance and the best professional liability insurance companies
Carpenters’ tools and equipment insurance cost
You rely on tools and equipment to complete a project as a carpenter. However, you will agree that a carpentry kit is really costly. Even the cheapest ones cost at least $1,000.
This is why it is important to consider insuring your carpentry set if you do not wish to incur monetary damages if it requires repair or replacement.
Equipment and tools coverage applies if your carpentry tools are stolen, vandalized, or destroyed by fire or other covered dangers.
Carpenters pay a monthly premium of approximately $15, or $170 annually, for tools and equipment coverage.
Inland marine insurance costs for carpenters
Inland marine insurance is another must-have insurance policy for carpenters. The policy safeguards your tools and equipment while you move around town. Transporting tools, equipment, and supplies to new job sites is something carpenters do every day. Without these tools, you cannot perform your duties. This is expressly covered by inland marine insurance.
For instance, you load your truck with tools for a project and then stop at a hardware store to get some extra supplies. Sadly, someone steals some of your tools from the back of your truck while you’re at the hardware store.
This loss is covered by inland marine insurance. You pay a small deductible, and the remainder is covered by insurance. Without it, you would have to pay for the new tools.
The average cost of inland marine insurance for carpenters is $12 per month, or $144 per year.
Workers’ compensation insurance cost for carpenters
In most states, businesses with one or more employees must carry workers’ compensation insurance. Even if you only have part-time or temporary workers, it is required by law, and failure to comply could result in severe penalties and fines.
Those who aren’t required to have it should still consider it since it assists in covering employee injuries, and some general contractors may need it to grant you contracts.
Workers’ compensation insurance covers medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitative expenses for injured employees performing job tasks.
For instance, you employ a second carpenter to assist you on a project. While lifting some plywood, he sustains a back injury. Unless you have workers’ compensation insurance, his injury is your financial responsibility.
The average monthly premium for carpenters’ workers’ compensation insurance is about $150, or $1,800 yearly.
Learn more at the best workers comp insurance companies
How much does carpenters’ commercial auto insurance cost?
Most carpenters utilize their work van or truck as a mobile office. To effectively safeguard the truck or van, it is necessary to acquire the proper insurance. Some carpenters make the error of insuring their work trucks with their personal motor insurance.
This is wrong since your insurance company can deny a claim if the truck causes an accident while you are at work. If you use your vehicle for business purposes, you must cover it with commercial auto insurance.
This insurance coverage categorizes the work truck as a business automobile. It provides adequate protection against accidents and occurrences that may result in truck damage.
For instance, if you rear-end another vehicle while driving to a job site, you are responsible for the other vehicle’s damages and may need to repair your truck. This is covered by your commercial motor insurance coverage.
At a monthly premium of approximately $115, or $1,380 annually, commercial auto insurance provides coverage for the vehicles owned by your carpentry firm.
Learn more at the average cost of commercial truck insurance
How much does carpenters’ surety bond cost?
A carpenter may also be required to obtain a surety bond, an insurance policy that guarantees the carpenter will fulfill contractual responsibilities to clients. It operates differently than conventional insurance products.
Surety bonds are typically far less expensive than other types of insurance. If the customer believes you have breached your contract, he may file a claim against the surety bond. If compensated, the carpenter must reimburse the insurance company.
Some local governments may require a licensed carpenter to keep his license by posting a bond. A surety bond is also an excellent idea for carpenters because it helps them appear more professional to potential clients, increasing their contract opportunities.
Surety bonds cost construction enterprises and contractors an average of $8 per month or $100 per year.
How much does excess liability insurance cost?
Most carpenters buy policies with limits between $100,000 and $1 million. Even though these coverage limits are typically sufficient, there are cases in which they are not. If you desire higher limits, you will need to get excess liability insurance.
Excess liability insurance is secondary coverage to general liability insurance. During a claim, the general liability policy will pay up to its policy limitations before the additional liability policy kicks in. Excess liability insurance gives you optimum protection at a reduced cost.
The average cost of excess liability insurance for carpenters is $21 per month, or $252 per year.
What factors influence the cost of carpenters’ insurance?
The exact cost of your carpentry insurance depends on some variables, including:
Location
The location of your business might affect the cost, as the number of individuals in your neighborhood can affect your total risk profile. More individuals increase the likelihood of an accident or bodily harm. And so, your premium reflects this higher risk.
Crew size
Whether you work alone or with others influences the cost of your insurance. The greater the number of employees, the greater the likelihood of an accident occurring, especially to a third party. Therefore, companies with more workers tend to pay higher premium rates.
Coverage limits & deductibles
Your coverage limit is the maximum your insurer will pay for covered perils. Higher limits provide increased protection but at higher costs.
Coverage duration
The length of coverage you require substantially impacts your insurance premium. You can pay monthly, yearly and in some cases, per day, per hour or by the job. In most cases, yearly insurance comes at a lesser price when comparing the daily rates. But then, it might not be the most cost-effective option if you do not work daily. You might consider picking daily, monthly or weekly policies as your work schedule demands.
How to get cheap carpentry insurance?
The following ideas might help you get affordable carpenter’s insurance:
Know what coverage you need
The aforementioned carpenters’ insurance plans are typical, but you may not need all of them depending on your company’s job. Know what coverage you need to obtain affordable coverage.
Compare prices
Carpenter insurance costs vary widely by insurers, so compare at least three to five quotations to discover the best rates.
Check exclusions
It’s just as vital to know what your insurance doesn’t cover. Exclusions will help you choose which additional coverage you need.
What is carpentry insurance?
Carpenters perform a crucial job; unfortunately, carpentry can include hazardous work that may result in injury, property damage, or other problems.
When such incidents occur, consumers or employees may choose to pursue legal action, resulting in a substantial loss of money if your business is proven guilty.
Carpenter insurance safeguards you and your business by reducing the costs associated with lawsuits, losses, etc.
Best carpenter insurance companies
Hundreds of insurance companies offer carpenter insurance. We have researched more than 30 companies. Here are our recommendations of the best carpenter insurance providers for your consideration.
