Electrician Insurance: Electrical Contractor Insurance Cost & Quotes

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Working as an electrician or an electrical contractor isn’t a walk in the park. You might get hired for a home improvement project and lose money instead of earning it after getting sued by the contractor or homeowner. Employees might get injured while working. Tools and equipment might get lost or damaged. Get electrician insurance to protect yourself. Read this guide to know how this can help, how much premiums cost, and where to get the best coverage.

Electrician Liability Insurance

There are many instances where electricians have been held liable for the injuries or property damage of third parties. Here are some examples:

• A small electrical contractor in Oklahoma faced liability after a man died in Bricktown Canal due to electrocution

• An electrician in Perth faced a claim and got fined $2,000 after homeowners received electrical shocks caused by a defective wiring 

• An owner sued an electrician after his sushi restaurant got damaged in a fire caused by an overloaded circuit board 

A general liability policy, also referred to as electrical contractor liability insurance, covers claims for bodily injuries or property damage. This provides $1 million-$2 million you can use to cover these costs:

• Medical treatment of the claimant

• Reimbursement for the damaged property of the claimant

• Settlements

• Defense costs

• Court judgments

You get electrician liability insurance as a broad-form policy. And so, it can also do these things aside from taking care of claims for bodily injuries or property damage:

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

• Grant $300,000 coverage if a commercial space you’re renting is damaged by fire

• Grant $1 million-$2 million coverage for your liability over products and completed operations

Short-Term General Liability Insurance for Electrical Contractors 

General liability insurance for electrical contractors is available as a short-term policy, and can be used as a self-employed electrician insurance. With this policy, you can choose to get coverage for bodily injuries, property damage, and other covered perils for only hours, weeks, days, or months. Short-term general liability insurance gives $1 million-$2 million coverage for each claim. 

Errors And Omissions Insurance for Electrical Contractors

Aside from bodily injuries or property damage, there are also cases where electrical contractors committed wrongful acts, misdeed, or oversights while working. Here are some examples:

• A client filed a claim against a Los Angeles electrical contractor who left without finishing the project after receiving 90% of his payment

• A Niagara Falls electrical contractor was fined $537,500 for faulty electrical wiring that resulted in the death of a client

You can add an errors and omissions policy to a specialized electrician and electrical contractors insurance package. Errors and omissions insurance, which you can also find in solar contractor insurance bundles, provides $1 million-$5 million you can use to cover settlements, defense costs, and fines or penalties if a claim is filed for:

• Misrepresentation

• Breach of contract

• Faulty electrical wiring and use of defective materials

• Negligence 

• Failure to deliver services

• Failure to meet deadlines

Electrician Tools And Equipment Insurance

Similar to a paving contractor, handyman, gas engineer, CCTV installer, fire alarm installer, tiling contractor, or any other contractor, you can’t work without tools and equipment. Electrical tools and equipment aren’t cheap as they might cost $5,000 or more. 

Get tools and equipment insurance to cover drills, plier sets, and other tools and equipment for electrical work. This electrical insurance cover grants protection when your implements get lost or damaged due to:

• Theft

• Malicious mischief

• Mysterious disappearance

• Electrical breakdown

• Mechanical breakdown

• Electrical surge

• Electrical shorts

Tools and equipment insurance is available as a stand-alone policy that grants $10,000-$25,000 you can use to replace rented and owned electrical tools and equipment. You can increase the coverage up to $100,000 at an additional cost. 

Similar to electrical engineers, you can also get tools and equipment insurance as a floater to a general liability policy. However, coverage is very minimal, and you only get $2,500-$5,000. 

Commercial Auto Insurance for Electrical Contractors 

You use a commercial vehicle to go to project sites and haul equipment for electrical work. Because of this, you might need commercial auto insurance.

Commercial auto insurance grants protection while you’re using a vehicle for business purposes. This business insurance for electricians will :

• Provide $25,000 minimum coverage for the medical treatment of third parties who got involved in an accident you caused

• Provide $15,000 minimum coverage for properties you damaged in a vehicular accident

• Cover the repair or replacement of parts as well as labor costs if your vehicle gets damaged due to collision, fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils

• Provide $30-$90 reimbursement for vehicle rental expenses and public transportation costs while your car is being repaired

• Provide $25,000 coverage for your medical treatment and $50,000 for your property damage if you get involved in an accident that an uninsured/underinsured driver caused

Commercial Property Insurance for Electrical Contractors 

You can add a commercial property policy to electrical company insurance if you own, rent, or lease a dedicated commercial building, a condo, or a commercial space. 

Commercial property insurance allows you to recover reconstruction or building repair costs. This electrical business insurance will reimburse losses if your condo, building, or commercial space gets damaged or destroyed by:

• Fire

• Vandalism

• Theft

• Malicious mischief

• Sinkhole collapse

• Sprinkler leakage

• Civil commotion

• Riot

• Impact

• Aircraft

• Volcanic action

The limits of commercial property insurance vary. But to give you actual figures, the commercial property insurance for small-time electrical contractors grants $15,000-$500,000 replacement cost coverage. 

By the way, commercial property insurance also covers the electrical tools and equipment that get lost or damaged while on the premises of your building, condo, or commercial space. 

Inland Marine Insurance for Electrical Contractors 

Commercial property insurance doesn’t cover properties in transit. This is why it’s a good idea to get inland marine insurance as an electrical contractor. Inland marine insurance will reimburse your losses when:

• Electrical tools and equipment get damaged or destroyed after you get involved in a car accident

• Materials for electrical work get lost or damaged due to the negligence of the shipping carrier

• Materials and equipment for an electrical project got lost during transit due to theft, vandalism, malicious mischief, or mysterious disappearance

Workers Compensation Insurance for Electrical Contractors

Electrical work is perilous. There are many incidents where electricians experienced an accident and sustained injuries or even died. Here are some examples:

• An electrician,who was working at a construction site in Adelaide,died after falling into an electrical pit 

• An electrician working for a Colorado power company got shocked and sustained heavy injuries while working on a power line

• A 40-year old electrician died after getting electrocuted while installing a lighting for a Mexican restaurant in Melbourne

Consider getting workers' compensation insurance to cover costs if you or an employee gets injured at work. Workers' compensation insurance covers the following costs:

• Surgeries, EMT service fees, and other expenses for medical treatment

• Hospital bills such as room, food, nursing, etc. 

• After-hospital visits 

• Prescription medicines

• Rehabilitation and retraining

• Lost wages

• Funeral expenses and allowance to dependents

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Electrical Contractors

The worker's compensation insurance for electrical contractors comes with employment practices liability insurance. Employment practices liability insurance takes care of settlements, defense costs, and awards if an employee sues you after experiencing a workplace accident. 

Employer’s liability insurance provides a minimum $100,000 for each employee injury by accident, $500,000 for each employee injury by disease, and $500,000 for all claims filed by employees. 

Employment Practices Liability Insurance for Electrical Contractors 

Employment practices liability insurance provides $300,000-$1 million you can use to pay settlements, defense costs, and court judgments if an employee sues you for failing to promote, wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment,  negligent supervision, and retaliation. Most EPLI  policies cover claim from:

• Leased employees 

• Temporary workers 

• Full-time employees

• Part-time employees

• Seasonal employees

Electrician Insurance Cost 

So how much is electrician insurance? Expect to pay  $35 per month or $420 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance policy. 

But note that the electrician insurance cost isn’t the same for all customers. The figure we provided is just an estimate.  And so, it’s possible for your actual rate to be more expensive or cheaper. 

Insurance companies determine the electrical contractor insurance cost based on different factors. Namely, these are:

• Location

• Payroll

• Business history

• Claims history

• Business experience

• Number of employees

Of course, your choice of carrier also determines the electrician insurance cost. After all, the insurance company you decide to work with can have cheap or expensive rates. Here’s a table that gives you an idea of the rates of  the best insurance companies:

Always compare quotes to understand how much your premiums will cost. By comparing quotes, you get to see which electrical contractors insurance company provides coverage at a reasonable price. Start comparing quotes online by clicking the “Get Quotes” button on this page.