If you are a contractor in California and you aren’t sure what general liability insurance is or whether you need it at all, let me tell you something right away.
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You definitely do need it and there are some important reasons why. Before we get to those reasons, though, let us take a look at what general liability insurance for contractors actually is and what it covers.
What Is Contractors General Liability Insurance?
To put things simply, this insurance financially protects contractors from certain amounts they would have to pay in case any damage occurs on-site, or in case someone gets hurt and needs their medical bills paid. I am sure that this comprehensive definition has already told you what general liability insurance actually covers, but there’s no harm in making this perfectly clear. That’s just in case you aren’t sure.
Basically, this particular insurance covers some of the most common business risks, including customer injury, advertising injury, as well as property damage. It works towards protecting your business during lawsuits and allows you to qualify for contracts and leases. After understanding this, I suppose it will become clear to you why you might need general liability insurance in California, but if not, you should keep on reading. Below we will deal with the reasons why you actually need this coverage.
Why Do You Need It?
As it is perfectly clear to everyone, insurance never comes free of charge and this particular one is no exception to the rule. Yet, before you decide to pay for it, you probably want to know if it is worth it and why would you actually need it. In other words, you want to know the reasons why you need California contractors insurance before agreeing on giving your money away for it. So, let us check out those precise reasons.
- To Get Protected
This one should have been perfectly obvious, but it’s definitely worth emphasizing. Essentially, the biggest reason why you need general liability insurance is that you want to keep yourself protected from any expenses that might incur in the events of certain accidents on the site. This includes both injuries and property damage. I suppose you already understand why this type of protection is actually necessary, so there’s no need for me to dwell on it any further. Just keep in mind that these accidents are rather common and that you should get covered if you don’t want to end up paying for everything out of your pocket.
- To Get Jobs
You are probably aware of the competitive nature of every single market, including those in California. Contractors are doing their best to try and stand out and get hired, or live up to the expectations of their customers, so that they get rehired in the future or recommended to some other parties. Here is a simple question for you, though. Do you believe that people will be happy to hire you if they hear that you have no coverage at all?
In case you don’t know the answer to that question, let me help you out. The answer is no. In order to win more bids and stay competitive in the rather hectic market in California, you will certainly need to think about getting properly insured and thus succeed in attracting more clients, which is basically your ultimate goal. So, don’t put yourself in a situation where you are losing clients just because you didn’t want to do your research right and get the coverage that you absolutely need. Instead, get the coverage so as to stay competitive and win more bids.
- To Play It Safe
If this were some other state, I could just tell you that this insurance is required by law and that you have no other option than to get it. Yet, that is certainly not the case in California, since the law doesn’t require you to have general liability coverage in this particular state. Yet, contractors decide to get it in order to play it safe, simply because they don’t want to be liable for certain things that aren’t their responsibility and because, well, laws can change at a certain point.