Carpenter Insurance in Massachusetts
What is carpenter insurance?
Carpentry work presents certain unavoidable risks. Any number of things can happen on a job site, trucks can be involved in accidents, and plenty of other things can go wrong. Carpenter insurance may help protect carpenters working in Massachusetts from a range of risks.
Carpenter insurance provides tailored protections for professional carpenters. Policies normally provide protection when at a main location, at a job site, or driving between places.
What professionals in Massachusetts need to carry carpenters insurance?
Carpenters insurance is broadly recommended for most professional carpenters in Massachusetts. Commercial carpenters, residential carpenters, framers, and finish carpenters may all get a policy.
Most people who get this type of coverage do much of their work at job sites. Professionals who are mostly in a workshop, such as cabinet makers and woodworkers, will likely find that a slightly different policy better meets their needs.
What insurance coverages do carpenters insurance policies come with?
Carpenters insurance can come with a variety of protections, some of which are liability coverages and others that are property coverages.
Liability coverages are primarily for instances where a carpenter or their business is allegedly responsible for another’s harm. These can include:
- Commercial General Liability Coverage: Normally for common accidents that result in third-party property damage or third-party injury.
- Errors and Omissions Coverage: Normally for errors or mistakes that are made when giving advice to customers or contractors (E&O).
- Commercial Auto Coverage: Normally for a work van or truck that a carpenter uses, typically insuring against accidents and vehicle damage.
- Commercial Umbrella Coverage: Normally for expensive liability lawsuits that exceed the limits of another liability protection.
Property coverages are mainly for protecting what a carpenter’s business owns. Some examples are:
- Commercial Building Coverage: Might protect a workshop, storage facility, office, or other building that a carpentry business has.
- Commercial Personal Property Coverage: Might protect a carpentry business’s tools and supplies when kept at the carpenter’s location.
- Builders Risk Coverage: Might protect a carpentry business’s tools and supplies when they’re used or stored at a job site.
- Inland Marine Coverage: Might protect a carpentry business’s tools and supplies during transport between a main location and job sites.
- Business Interruption Coverage: Might protect against revenue losses resulting from certain disasters.
Do carpenters who drive their personal vehicles need commercial auto insurance?
Carpenters who drive their own, personal vehicle for work should talk with a knowledgeable insurance agent.
Sometimes a personal auto policy will cover basic work driving, but other times an endorsement or separate commercial auto policy might be needed. How best to insure a personal vehicle when driving for work depends on the vehicle’s use, vehicle’s registration, and personal auto policy’s terms.
A knowledgeable insurance agent can check these details, and recommend a course of coverage.
Do carpenters need their own insurance when doing subcontracted work?
When carpenters do subcontracted work, whether they need their own insurance depends largely on the general contractor’s insurance (assuming they’re insured).
A general contractor’s policy might cover subcontractors, either as a standard feature or by listing them as ‘additional insureds.” General contractors normally aren’t under any obligation to extend coverage, though, and some don’t have policies that give subs protection.
Additionally, any coverage that a general contractor does provide would typically be limited to work that’s done for that general contractor. Any other work would likely require different insurance, either through a self-purchased policy or another general contractor’s policy.
An insurance agent who specializes in carpenters insurance will be familiar with the complexities that subcontracting presents. They should be able to help carpenters assess their situation, and determine whether they should purchase a policy.
Where can carpenters in Massachusetts get carpenter insurance for their businesses?
If you need help insuring a carpentry business in Massachusetts, reach out to the independent insurance agents at PIKE Insurance. Our agents will make sure you find a carpenter insurance policy that’ll protect your business well.
