Get workers' comp in place for your 1099 workers or your first employee. We compare carriers for you.
A self-serve quote prices the payroll and class code you type in. It cannot know that your 1099 subs count against your exposure, that your crew is on the wrong class code, or that your mod is inflated.
Uninsured subcontractors usually roll up into the hiring business's workers' comp exposure at audit. If your subs cannot show their own coverage, you can be charged for them, sometimes at a higher class code than your own crew.
In California, hiring an employee makes workers' comp mandatory, with penalties up to $100,000 for going without. The online quote will sell you a policy. It will not tell you whether the class code it defaulted to is the one that governs.
The same payroll priced on the right class code, with a mod worked down over time, is a materially different number. A broker reads the audit worksheet. A form field cannot.
General liability answers injury to third parties and excludes your own workers. That gap is what workers' comp fills.
The policy that pays medical treatment and lost wages when an employee is hurt, and the one uninsured subcontractors get charged against at audit. California requires it from the first employee. Active C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and C-61/D-49 contractors must also carry it regardless of headcount; other qualifying licensees with no employees may file an exemption. Premium runs on payroll by class code, so the code printed on the policy is the number that decides the price.
Third party bodily injury and property damage on the jobsite, which is a different claim entirely from an injury to your own crew. General liability is also the policy owners and general contractors are named onto, so the additional insured endorsement is what clears the contract review. It does not answer employee injuries. That is what comp is for.
Property and general liability bundled onto one form for smaller contracting shops: tools and equipment at the shop, office contents, and the liability of the operation. Eligibility turns on class, revenue, and how much of the work you self perform. It never includes workers' compensation, which stays a separate policy in every case.
Trucks, trailers, and the vehicles your crew drives for the work, covered for liability and for physical damage to the unit itself. Hired and non owned coverage responds when an employee runs an errand in their own car or you rent a truck for a week. A personal auto policy generally excludes the business use, and that gap is where uninsured claims come from.
These details help insurers assess your business and price the coverage. Terms and available options vary by insurer.
They usually need it for themselves, and you need proof of it. If a sub cannot produce a certificate, an auditor can add what you paid them to your own exposure and charge you for it, sometimes at a class code more expensive than your own crew. Collecting certificates is not paperwork, it is premium.
For most businesses the obligation starts with the first employee. Active C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and C-61/D-49 contractors must carry coverage even with no employees; other qualifying contractor licensees may file an exemption. Going without once you are required to carry it is a criminal offense with penalties, and a stop order can shut the job down.
No. General liability answers injury to third parties, and it excludes your own workers. This is the gap that surprises people who bought a liability policy for a contract and assumed it covered everything.
Maybe, and it is worth reading rather than paying. Most surprise audits trace to a classification or payroll-allocation issue, or to uninsured subs being added, not to the rate. We read the audit worksheet and the mod worksheet before we shop the renewal.
We are currently licensed in California only. Start a quote if the business or risk is in California, and we will confirm eligibility before you spend time on it.
Tell us about the coverage you need and complete the application. We use those details to approach suitable markets and may ask follow-up questions. Requesting a quote does not put coverage in force.
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