CONTRACTOR INSURANCE · VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA
Insurance for contractors and trades, from one truck to a full crew.
General liability gets you on the job. Commercial auto, workers' compensation, tools and bonds keep you in business. Written from South Hill for framers, roofers, electricians, plumbers, graders and the people who do all of it.
THE FIRST THING TO KNOW
The certificate gets you on the job. The rest keeps you in business.
Most contractors call because a general contractor, a homeowner or a county permit office asked for a certificate of insurance. General liability is where that starts, and it is the right place to start. It is not where the risk stops. The truck, the tools in it, the helper on the ladder and the job that is half built when the storm comes through each have their own policy.
A contractor package puts those together so the pieces do not overlap and, more to the point, do not leave gaps between them. Bring us the contracts you sign and we will read what they require.
THE CORE
Four policies almost every contractor needs.
General liability
Injury to other people and damage to their property from your work, including after the job is done. The certificate everyone asks for.
Commercial auto
Trucks, vans and trailers used for the business. A personal auto policy is built for personal use and can decline a claim on a work truck.
Workers' compensation
Required in Virginia above two employees and in North Carolina at three. Many general contractors require it regardless.
Tools and equipment
Tools in the truck overnight, the compressor left on site, the mini excavator on the trailer. Called inland marine or contractor's equipment.
Limits on the general liability are written as two numbers. One million per occurrence and two million aggregate is what most contracts ask for, and a higher pair costs less than people expect.
ALSO ON THE LIST
Six more, depending on what you build and who you build it for.
Builder's risk
The structure while it is under construction, from the footings to the certificate of occupancy. Fire, wind, theft of materials. Usually one policy per project.
Bonds
License and permit bonds the state or county requires, and bid, performance and payment bonds on public and larger private work.
Commercial umbrella
A layer over general liability, auto and employer's liability for the claim that goes past the limit. Often required on larger contracts.
Business owners policy
For the contractor with a shop, a yard or an office: building, contents and business income packaged with liability.
Professional liability
For design build and anyone whose drawings, specifications or advice become part of the job. General liability excludes it.
Certificates from your subs
Not a policy, a habit. Collect a certificate from every subcontractor the way one is collected from you. In Virginia their people count toward your workers' compensation threshold.
WHO WE WRITE IT FOR
Who we write it for
● Framers, roofers and siding crews
● Electricians, plumbers and HVAC
● Excavation, grading, septic and well drilling
● Concrete, masonry and paving
● Painters, drywall, flooring and trim
● Remodelers and handyman services
● Landscapers, tree services and fencing
● General contractors who run all of the above
About subcontractors
If you hire subcontractors, their certificates are your problem. A sub without coverage becomes a claim on your policy, and in Virginia a sub's employees count toward whether you have to carry workers' compensation, whether or not the sub has a policy. Collect certificates, keep them, and ask for a new one every year.
THE STATE LINE
Licensing and workers' compensation in each state
Virginia
Contractor licenses are issued by DPOR in Class A, B and C by project size. The state does not require general liability to hold one, though permits, general contractors and many customers do. Workers' compensation is required with more than two employees, and Virginia counts your subcontractors' employees toward that number.
North Carolina
General contractor licenses come from the Licensing Board for General Contractors in limited, intermediate and unlimited classes. No statewide general liability requirement to hold one, though some cities set their own. Workers' compensation is required at three or more employees, and corporate officers count toward the three.
Licensing and workers' compensation rules are set by the states and change. Confirm with Virginia DPOR and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, or the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors and the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
QUESTIONS WE GET
Before you call
I am a one man shop. Do I need workers' compensation?
Virginia does not require it under three employees and North Carolina does not under three. The general contractor hiring you very often does, which is why a policy that covers no employees, sometimes called a ghost policy, exists. Ask before you bid.
My tools were stolen out of the truck. Which policy pays?
Not general liability and not the auto policy. Tools and equipment coverage, if you have it. It is the coverage contractors most often discover they do not have.
Who buys the builder's risk, me or the owner?
Either, depending on the contract. Read it before the footings are poured. If nobody buys it, a fire at the framing stage is nobody's claim.
Do I need a bond?
Some Virginia and North Carolina localities require a license or permit bond, and most public work requires bid and performance bonds. We write both, and the paperwork is easier with a clean policy history behind it.
Can you add a truck, a job or a certificate holder through the form?
Call the office. A certificate is quick. Adding a truck, an employee or an additional insured is a change in coverage, and coverage is not bound through the form or by email until somebody here has confirmed it.
Changing your coverage
For adding or deleting coverage, please call the office during business hours. Coverage is not bound through sending a request by email or using the contact form without explicit confirmation from an authorized agent or carrier.