Drywall Contractor Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $11

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Many things can go wrong when installing drywall. Employees can fall off the ladder. The finished drywall might get cracked or sunken and the client may request a refund. Of course, independent contractors, clients, and other third parties can get injured or have their property damaged because of your operations. 

You need protection just like HVAC contractors, roofing contractors, siding contractors, door installation contractors, fence installation contractors, carpentry contractors, and concrete contractors. Consider getting drywall contractor insurance. This is a specialized insurance product consisting of different policies that grant protection against lawsuits, business income loss, and other exposures. In this guide, learn how this can help, the cost of premiums, and the best companies.

How Much Insurance Does Your Drywall Business Need?

If you’re just an independent drywall professional, then you only need a $300,000-$500,000 general liability insurance. If you’re running a drywall installation business, consider getting $1 million-$2 million general liability coverage. 

As for commercial auto insurance, you’ll need at least the minimum amount of auto liability coverage mandated by the state where your business is at. For example, if you’re in California, you’ll need commercial auto insurance having auto liability coverage that offers $15,000 coverage per death/injury, $30,000 coverage per death/injury to more than one person, and $5,000 per property damage. 

How about commercial property insurance? How much do you need in coverage? When purchasing commercial property insurance, see to it that the coverage it provides is equal to the value of your commercial space. 

General Liability Insurance for Drywall Contractors

Just like EIFS contractors, paving contractors, general contractors, tiling contractors, bathroom and kitchen fitters, and paving contractors, drywall contractors also get general liability insurance. General liability insurance is a common inclusion in drywall contractor insurance plans. This grants protection against claims for bodily injuries or property damage filed against you by independent contractors, clients, and other third parties. Here are some situations where this is useful:

• An independent contractor falls from the scaffolding and demands compensation for injuries, pain, and suffering

• Your employee is working rashly. As a result, the client’s wall sustained damages

• A client slips and falls while exiting your office

• A ladder or scaffolding falls on a client, causing minor injuries

The general liability insurance for drywall contractors provides a $1 million-$5 million you can use to cover these costs every time a claim for bodily injury or property damage is filed by a third party:

• Medical treatment of the claimant

• Reimbursement for the damaged property of the claimant

• Attorney fees, court filing fees, and other defense costs

Bodily injuries and property damage aren’t the only exposures covered by general liability insurance. This drywall business insurance also provides these additional perks:

• $1 million for slander, libel, and copyright infringement claims

• $2 million for bodily injuries or property damage caused by your products and completed operations

• $300,000 coverage for water or fire damage to a rented commercial space

• $5,000-$15,000 medical payments coverage

• $50,000 for accidents caused by a hired/borrowed commercial vehicle

Is General Liability Insurance A Requirement for Working As A Drywall Contractor?

General liability insurance doesn’t only offer protection. It also helps you satisfy contract requirements as most clients will require you to add them as additional insureds. Landlords will also require you to do the same if you want to rent their property.

Drywall Contractors Errors And Omissions Insurance

Claims can also be filed because of issues with your service. After all, you make money with your expertise and skills just like swimming pool contractors, waterproofing contractors, plastering contractors, and flooring contractors. Because of this, it might be smart to get drywall contractors errors and omissions insurance.

Errors and omissions insurance for drywall contractors provides $2 million-$10 million you can use to cover defense costs, settlements, and court judgments if clients file a claim and accuse you of committing:

• Price fixing

• Misrepresentation

• Breach of contract

• Missed deadlines

• Breach of confidentiality

You get errors and omissions as a stand-alone policy. However, some insurance companies only make this available if you get their general liability insurance. This is understandable as these policies complement each other well.

Equipment Breakdown Insurance

You and your employees need ladders, T squares, cordless drills, and other implements to install drywalls. These are cheap on their own but are nonetheless expensive as a set. And so, it might be good to add an equipment breakdown policy to your drywall insurance package.

Equipment breakdown insurance will cover repair or replacement costs if your drywall installation equipment gets damaged or destroyed because of:

• Theft

• Fire

• User error

• Water

• Electrical breakdown

• Electrical shorts

You get $10,000-$25,000 coverage from equipment breakdown insurance. You can request to get more coverage if your business profile is good.

Equipment breakdown insurance can be purchased as a floater to general liability insurance. If bought this way, you only get $2,500-$5,000 from it.

Builders Risk Insurance for Drywall Contractors

Builders' risk insurance is useful if your drywall installation business is hired for big projects, say the construction of a mall, hotel, hospital, etc. The client might ask for this so that you can cover replacement costs if the materials and structures for installing drywall get damaged or destroyed because of:

• Fire

• Theft

• Winds

• Explosion

• Impact

• Operator error

• Vandalism

• Malicious mischief

Commercial Property Insurance for Drywall Contractors 

You need an office as a drywall contractor. It’s the place where you store equipment and important documents. The office also serves as a training facility for employees. 

Building an office and furnishing it takes a ton of money. This is why you need to get commercial property insurance. 

Commercial property insurance reimburses your losses and allows you to continue business operations as if nothing happened when the office gets destroyed or damaged because of:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism 

• Malicious mischief

• Civil commotion

• Sinkhole collapse

• Wind

• Lightning

• Hail

• Snow

• Impact 

• Vehicle 

• Aircraft

You can also use commercial property insurance to recover losses if the drywall to be delivered or installed gets damaged or destroyed due to the perils we mentioned above. Coverage also applies to computers, furniture, documents, and other valuable contents in the office. 

You get $10,000-$25,000 minimum building and contents coverage from commercial property insurance. Separate amounts of coverage might apply depending on where you get this insurance policy. Here’s an example:

• $10,000 for damaged or lost credit cards

• $1,000-$1,500 for damaged or lost keys and locks

• $10,000 for off-premises property

• $5,000 for accounts receivable 

Inland Marine Insurance for Drywall Contractors

You constantly transport equipment and materials as a drywall contractor. Because of this, it’s smart to get inland marine insurance. 

Inland marine insurance covers costs if the drywall to be installed, implements, and other business property gets damaged or lost during the trip because of:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Lightning

• Collision

• Rollovers

• Malicious mischief

• Mysterious disappearance 

You can get inland marine insurance as a floater to, commercial property insurance, or general liability insurance.

Workers Compensation Insurance for Drywall Contractors

Drywall installation is dangerous work. You or your employees can fall from a height while working. Equipment can also malfunction and cause injuries. Because of this, it’s smart to get workers compensation insurance. 

Workers' compensation insurance takes care of the resulting expenses when you or employees sustain an occupational injury or disease. Common costs covered by this insurance are as follows:

• EMT service, first aid treatment, surgeries, and other costs for medical treatment

• Hospitalization

• Medication

• Rehabilitation and retraining 

• Lost wages

• Death benefits and allowance to dependents in case of death 

Workers' compensation insurance is a requirement. You need to add this to your drywall installer insurance package as soon as your business has one or more employees. 

Failure to get workers' compensation insurance will result in an accumulating fine, a penalty twice you would’ve paid for workers comp premiums, imprisonment, or a stop-hold order. 

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Drywall Contractors 

Employees can sue you for their work-related injuries. They will cite negligence and demand compensation for pain and suffering. This is why employer’s liability insurance is often included as part of workers compensation insurance. Employer’s liability insurance provides $100,000-$5 million you can use to cover settlements, defense costs, and court judgments. 

Employment Practices Liability Insurance for Drywall Contractors

Negligence isn’t the only reason for employees to file a claim. However, employer’s liability insurance only covers such an exposure. 

Employment practices liability insurance takes care of other claims that employees might file against you. You can use this insurance to cover settlements, defense costs, and court judgments if employees accuse you of:

• Retaliation

• Sexual harassment

• Failure to promote

• Discrimination 

• Wrongful termination

• Other violations of employee rights 

Employee Dishonesty Insurance for Drywall Contractors

If not claims, then employees can create problems by committing crimes against you. Protect yourself against this exposure by getting employee dishonesty insurance. 

Employee dishonesty insurance reimburses your financial losses when an employee or a group of employees commits any of the following:

• Theft

• Fraud

• Misrepresentation

• Unauthorized use of credit cards and other company funds

• Social engineering

• Other covered perils

You can get employee dishonesty insurance as a stand-alone policy. However, some insurance companies include this as an additional coverage in commercial property insurance. You can only get up to $10,000 coverage if you avail the policy this way.

Commercial Auto Insurance for Drywall Contractors

It’s good to get commercial auto insurance if your drywall installation business owns commercial vehicles that employees can use to reach project sites and transport equipment and materials. 

Accidents can always happen while you’re using a vehicle for commercial purposes. This is the exposure that commercial auto insurance covers. It functions to:

• Cover the medical treatment of victims and legal defense costs if your drywall business’s commercial vehicle causes an auto accident 

• Account for the cost of repairing or replacing parts if your vehicle gets damaged because of a collision, fire, theft, vandalism, malicious mischief, winds, lightning, and other covered perils 

• Reimburse vehicle rental expenses or public transportation costs if your business’s vehicle can’t be used momentarily

• Cover the cost of gas delivery, tire delivery and replacement, towing, battery delivery and replacement, etc., if your commercial vehicle stalls on the road

• Cover the medical treatment of the driver and passengers if your drywall business’s vehicle gets involved in an accident caused by an uninsured/underinsured driver

You can insure multiple vehicles in a commercial auto insurance policy. In fact, discounts might be offered if you do this.

Drywall Insurance Cost

There's no standard cost for drywall contractor insurance as many factors affect policy rates. However, a $1 million general liability policy costs $28 per month or $336 per year. This drywall insurance cost estimate assumes that you have 5 employees and make $500,000-$750,000 per year. 

These costs can change at any time, and it's critical to speak to your insurance agent to get a specific quote for your tailored drywall installation and repair service insurance. Your insurance broker will ask you several questions to determine the costs:

• How many employees do you have?

• What's your company's location? What areas do you serve?

• What services do you provide? Do you only offer drywall installation or other contracting projects as well?

• How many accident claims have you filed?

• What policies do you need?

It's worth noting that the insurance carrier you choose also influences the policy rates you'll pay.  And so, here’s another table showing the pricing of the best drywall insurance contractor companies: