# Commercial Liability Coverage Amount



## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

I think those are the minimums I would carry.

More and more, higher limits are starting to be required for the larger jobs.


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## swimmer (Mar 19, 2011)

hardworkingstiff said:


> I think those are the minimums I would carry.
> 
> More and more, higher limits are starting to be required for the larger jobs.


I'm a one man, one truck operation and a customer wanted $5,000,000 coverage if I was going to install a 240V circuit for a copy machine in a 2 year old office building.


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## Semi-Ret Electrician (Nov 10, 2011)

swimmer said:


> I'm a one man, one truck operation and a customer wanted $5,000,000 coverage if I was going to install a 240V circuit for a copy machine in a 2 year old office building.


Just another nicklel over the $1M.

BTW did that customer sell insurance:laughing:


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## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

swimmer said:


> I'm a one man, one truck operation and a customer wanted $5,000,000 coverage if I was going to install a 240V circuit for a copy machine in a 2 year old office building.


I guess you won't be doing it. :laughing:

There was a lawsuit this year and the fuel contractor got a 1.5 million dollar judgement against him. You know what he did wrong? He didn't remove the hold open clip on the gas nozzle. Now, if he had a 1 million dollar policy, he's out over 1/2 million dollars.

A million just ain't what it used to be.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

Around here the average cost to build is between $500 to $1000 per sq. ft. A mill won't do you much good when the guy that works for you takes that one little shortcut to get home faster.

The commercial is even worse. Imaging shutting down the operations of HP, Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc......Yeah, they are going after your a**.

Insure up and charge for it. Just let the resi people know you provide better coverages than most resi guys....for their protection of course!


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Switched said:


> Around here the average cost to build is between $500 to $1000 per sq. ft. A mill won't do you much good when the guy that works for you takes that one little shortcut to get home faster.
> 
> The commercial is even worse. Imaging shutting down the operations of HP, Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc......Yeah, they are going after your a**.
> 
> Insure up and charge for it. Just let the resi people know you provide better coverages than most resi guys....for their protection of course!


You're right about that,they won't even give it a second thought..


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

It does make me wonder how the big guys insure. I imagine they have a certain amount that they self insure on, and then have some type of policy that covers beyond the first 1-5 mil range. Don't know though.

What about guys like Zog, Brian John, and the rest of you commercial only shops, what are your normal limits? 1, 2, or 5 mil?


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Switched said:


> It does make me wonder how the big guys insure. I imagine they have a certain amount that they self insure on, and then have some type of policy that covers beyond the first 1-5 mil range. Don't know though.
> 
> What about guys like Zog, Brian John, and the rest of you commercial only shops, what are your normal limits? 1, 2, or 5 mil?


I'll bet they can buy on a per job basis.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

Switched said:


> It does make me wonder how the big guys insure. I imagine they have a certain amount that they self insure on, and then have some type of policy that covers beyond the first 1-5 mil range. Don't know though.
> 
> What about guys like Zog, Brian John, and the rest of you commercial only shops, what are your normal limits? 1, 2, or 5 mil?


Large commercial guys I worked for were self insured to a certain extent, they had a very high deductiable.

Do to several jobs our limits just changed, I'll look today.


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## J C (Jul 11, 2013)

I have to carry $1mil liability and an umbrella policy to cover me up to $10 mil. I am due to renew and now am not looking forward to seeing how much $ they are going to jack this up. Insurance costs are a killer.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

I'm really curious about this. As the service portion of my business is growing, I am getting good cash flow, and would like to get more into some commercial and industrial work.

I know the insurance needs are going to be drastically different though so.....what are the GC's and Companies you do business with requiring you to carry?


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

I call my agent when I need additional coverage for a more liable job.


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## Semi-Ret Electrician (Nov 10, 2011)

HARRY304E said:


> I'll bet they can buy on a per job basis.


True, we had several jobs running at the same time, some in the $B, it would not make any sense to insure them seperately.

Looking back: Hoover Dam, Alaskan Pipeline, SF Bridge, hundreds of design/build grass roots Fortune 500 jobs 3 to 4 year each. Last one was over a million man-hours in the field, lasting 9 mounts.


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## J C (Jul 11, 2013)

Switched said:


> I'm really curious about this. As the service portion of my business is growing, I am getting good cash flow, and would like to get more into some commercial and industrial work.
> 
> I know the insurance needs are going to be drastically different though so.....what are the GC's and Companies you do business with requiring you to carry?


In general it is the building mgmt or owner that dictates the insurance levels (probably coming from their own insurance companies).

For the most part GC's 1-2mil in liability. The landlords often require the umbrella policy of 5-10 mil. However, one large GC I recently did a project had big insurance requirements and lots of special verbiage needed on my certificates of insurance to keep themselves protected.

In general, your rate will vary depending upon your annual payroll. One year I did particularly well, then they boosted my rate keeping it there despite business getting slow and having to lay off a few electricians. This rate stayed in effect until the following year's review. It did drop in cost but not as much as it had gone up...


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

J C said:


> In general it is the building mgmt or owner that dictates the insurance levels (probably coming from their own insurance companies).
> 
> For the most part GC's 1-2mil in liability. The landlords often require the umbrella policy of 5-10 mil. However, one large GC I recently did a project had big insurance requirements and lots of special verbiage needed on my certificates of insurance to keep themselves protected.
> 
> In general, your rate will vary depending upon your annual payroll. One year I did particularly well, then they boosted my rate keeping it there despite business getting slow and having to lay off a few electricians. This rate stayed in effect until the following year's review. It did drop in cost but not as much as it had gone up...


We carry 1 mil for the work that we have been doing, but will be going to 2 mil next month, just because some of the property management companies require it on the resi high rise buildings. They also require 1 mil on the auto policies. Strangely enough, you can't even park in the facility, so what does that matter. It is like you said, something that their insurance company requests.


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