Carpenter Business Insurance FAQs

We have more insurance FAQs here.

Policies Available for Carpenter’s Insurance:

• General liability insurance
• Workers’ compensation insurance

Benefits:

• It can protect your business from certain claims.
• It can cover damages caused by your negligence.
• Proof of insurance can help customers feel good about your work.
• It may be legally required where you’re located.

What Type of Insurance Do I Need as a Carpenter?

Carpenters insurance can refer to a bundle of insurance policies that can cover you from a variety of risks you may face in your day-to-day activities on the job.

Here are the policies we recommend looking into if you’re a carpenter:

General Liability Insurance for Carpenters

While working as a carpenter, general liability insurance can cover you for certain costs associated with claims arising from your projects, such as accidents that cause property damage or bodily injury to a third-party.

You can’t always predict what will happen while on the job. Say you’re building a new back deck for a customer, and even though you asked them to stay off the structure until you were finished, they forgot your instructions, and wandered onto the deck anyway. While descending the stairs, which were not finished, one plank collapsed and they fell and broke a bone.

If you’re not covered by insurance, you could end up paying out of pocket for your customer’s hospital bills and any legal fees associated with the accident. That’s a substantial amount of money that not many businesses could stand to lose.

You’ve worked too hard building your business to take that kind of risk, which is why we typically recommend adding general liability insurance to your overall carpenter insurance.

Here’s what your general liability insurance usually covers:

• Bodily injury to another person (like a customer)
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

Here’s what general liability insurance usually doesn’t cover:

• Damage to your own property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work (that you caused)
• Automobiles while in business use
• Expected or intentional injury or damage
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers compensation insurance, also known commonly as workers comp, is a policy that protects your employees, whether they work part-time or full-time for your carpentry business. Depending on which state you operate your business in, you could be legally required to get workers comp insurance. Since it protects your business if an employee gets hurt, injured, or sick while working on the job, it’s a worthwhile investment to make.

Even if workers compensation isn’t a legal requirement, a contractor’s license may be required. If you’re not sure if you’re required to have a license in your state, you can check out our contractor licensing hub.

Having workers comp can provide your business with an added level of security against the risks your business faces.

Workers’ compensation insurance for carpenters can cover:

• Medical payments
• Lost wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death benefits

Tools & Equipment Insurance

Tools & equipment coverage – also known as “inland marine insurance” – protects your tools while they’re in transport or being stored at an offsite location. For example, if your carpentry tools were damaged while on a job site, your tools & equipment coverage could pay for the costs to replace those tools (up to your policy limit).

Tools & equipment insurance for contractors can typically protect:

• Hand tools, such as saws, wrenches, and hammers
• Power tools, like drills, nail guns, and jigsaws
• Heavy equipment, such as excavators and backhoes
• Computer hardware and software, like laptops and business software

Tools & equipment insurance is available for all contractor trades, including carpentry. Please note that contractors’ equipment is defined as equipment over $1,000 in value, while small tools are defined as tools under $1,000 in value.

Contractor’s E&O insurance

This type of insurance policy (also known as professional indemnity insurance for carpenters) typically covers damage caused by your errors, omissions, or negligence to your completed work (such as product installation or property damage).

For example, let’s say you worked to build a wooden staircase banister commissioned by a customer. However, it’s not until after the banister is installed that your customer realizes that you delivered the incorrect length; as a result, the customer has to have the banister removed, rebuilt, and replaced.

With contractor’s E&O (errors & omissions) coverage, your policy could pay for the costs to fix the banister (up to your policy limit).

Why Should I Get Insurance for my Carpentry Business?

As the owner of a small business, we understand your to-do list is ever-growing. As soon as you cross one item off the list, another three pop up. It’d be easy to sweep getting carpenter insurance under the rug. After all, you have what you need to get the job done, why add the extra cost of a policy to your expenses?

Speaking of expenses, what you pay sorting out a claim without insurance could turn out to be a monumental blow to your business. Even if you perform your work perfectly, a customer could still raise a claim against your business. The cost of settling these claims, as well as paying for any legal assistance, all adds up.

If for some reason a claim is raised and you’re not prepared with insurance, you could be totally unprotected. You could end up owing a large sum of money and without insurance, that could come out of your pocket. Unfortunately, these types of claims could impact your business’ well-being, as well as your family’s personal finances. Having a policy will help to pay for certain damages and associated legal fees (up to policy limits), so you don’t have to worry about your personal funds being jeopardized.

You may not have a history of any claims filed against you or your business, but many clients may insist that you are licensed and insured before hiring you. Working with contractors that aren’t insured is something that people are wary of and warn against, so investing in a policy can help you avoid assumptions being made about your business.

Having proof that you’re insured can help solidify the trust between the two parties before a project gets started.

When you’re insured through Simply Business, we provide you with a certificate of insurance (COI) so that you can provide customers with proof that you’re protected.

Why choose Simply Business?

Simply Business is an online insurance brokerage that helps business owners find the insurance to protect their business best from top insurers. We’re growing quickly and are one of the fastest-growing providers of insurance for small businesses online. Did you know that thousands of customers come to us to protect their businesses?

So why should you choose Simply Business? Well, it’s simple:

We’re fast and affordable. Running your business should be your first priority–don’t sweat the small stuff. Our policies are fast, affordable, and ready when you are.

We’re flexible with coverage. Whether you need increased coverage because you bought new equipment or a COI, we’re here to help.

We get your business. Not all insurance is the same and we get that. Get the protection your carpentry business needs, when you need it the most.

You’ve worked hard to build your carpentry business. That’s why we offer the best coverage to protect it.

This content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, or any other form of professional advice.