What Every Excavation Contractor Needs To Know About Insurance
In Ontario, most excavation contractors will work primarily in excavation, grading and demolition. It will be your job to prepare sites for new buildings. There might be many times when you find yourself handling explosives to demolish buildings, digging up foundations, breaking concrete or simply just moving dirt to create a clearing. It doesn’t really matter what type of work that you are performing. What you need to know is that there are going to be risks involved with every type of job. These risks could destroy a business if you are not protected with the right coverage.
Know The Excavation Facts
In the country of Canada, there are nearly 30,000 different excavation contractors. These types of businesses employ almost 400,000 individuals and the industry is estimated to produce almost $60 billion in revenue each year. So, it is pretty easy to see why someone would want to get into the industry. However, there are unique risks that are faced in this type of work.
Liability Insurance Is A Must
If something goes wrong on a jobsite it could be potentially lethal for a business. This is why liability insurance is more important than ever. When you are building your insurance portfolio there will be certain liability policies that you will want to include.
- CGL Or Commercial General Liability Insurance – CGL is essential because is guards you and your employees against bodily harm and property damage liability issues. For instance, if you run your excavator into a customer’s car or home this policy will cover the damages. It will also cover medical expenses in the event that you actually harm an individual while on the job. Just keep in mind that this type of coverage might not cover certain demolition damage. This is something that should be discussed with your insurance agent.
- Commercial Auto Liability Insurance – Excavators are without a doubt large piece of machinery and it usually takes a large flatbed truck to get them from place to place. Driving one of these vehicles can be tricky and somewhat dangerous. Trying to navigate through sharp turns and bends can be quite tricky. This is why you will need to get covered with commercial auto liability insurance. This insurance will cover property damage, repair damage and medical expenses that are involved in any vehicular accident.
- Employment Practices Liability Coverage – Most business owners don’t think that employment practices liability insurance is something that they need, but it does offer quite a bit of protection. This policy will cover you in the event that a former employee tries to sue you for unfair or illegal business practice. For instance, any former employee could claim that you harassed them or wrongfully fired them. This policy will cover the court related fees, including the costs of hiring a lawyer.
Other Things That Need To Be Considered
If you are an excavator firm that offers demolition services things can get rather tricky in terms of insurance. There are tons of risks that are involved with demolitions. Not only are there increased risks of property damage, but also there are increased risks of bodily injuries. Therefore, there are many providers that will exclude demolition related expenses on their standard general liability policies. However, there are some providers in the Ontario area that will be willing to include demolition coverage if your company is willing to adhere to strict safety protocols.
An independent agent should be able to work with you and help you find a provider that offers demolition coverage. However, safety will still be a major factor. If at any point you fail to meet the safety protocols and conditions set by the provider, you will be denied coverage in the event that there is an accident.
You Must Include Workers Comp In Your Insurance Portfolio
If you are going to have employee it will be your sole responsibility to ensure their safety on the job. Sure, you can teach safety classes and go over safety procedures all day long, but there are going to be times when accidents happen. And, these are the times when workers comp insurance will come in handy. If you are working under another contractor they will likely require you to show proof of this type of insurance as well.
The contractor might also ask for a waiver of subrogation. This basically just prevents your insurance provider from making a claim against the contactor’s provider if an incident does occur. Workers comp insurance is particularly important when it comes to protecting your employees. It will offer compensation for medical treatments that are on-site related. It will also cover lost wages when the individual is out of work and it will even cover you in the event that the employee tries to sue.
You Must Include Property Coverage In Your Insurance Portfolio
The excavation industry requires a lot of equipment, property and tools. Not only will you be operating thousands of dollars worth of equipment, but also you are going to need the appropriate buildings to store them in when they are not in use. Without these buildings and your equipment, you would not be able to operate successfully. This is why you need to protect your property and your equipment. You can do just this with the following plans.
- Builders Risk Insurance – This is a specific policy that will protect your equipment when it is being stored on the job. For instance, if you leave your excavator overnight on the job site and it is stolen this policy will replace it.
- Inland Marine Insurance – This insurance will cover your equipment while it is in transit from shop to job or from job to job.
- Property Insurance – Property insurance will cover your buildings and the items that are stored within them. It protects against thefts, vandalism, fires and any act of natural disaster.
Building Your Insurance Portfolio With The Right Provider
Working with the right provider will help you better you build an insurance portfolio that can protect your business. Here at LiabilityCover we have highly trained agents that have in-depth known in the excavation industry and know how to safeguard against any threat that you might face.
