Similar to working as an artisan or face painter, working as a painter comes with many risks. Painting insurance is a packaged insurance program that grants protection if you cause damage to a client’s house, spill paint, or have an employee fall from a height. This can also help cover losses if supplies you bought from the paint store get damaged or lost. Read this guide to know how this works, the cost of premiums, and the best companies.
No one will consider hiring a painter without insurance. You need general liability insurance and workers compensation insurance. Moreover, you must have these to comply with the requirements that authorities imposed.
In some states such as Oregon, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Utah, painters are required to have $300,000-$1 million general liability insurance for licensing purposes and before starting work.
Workers' compensation insurance, on the other hand, is a requirement if you have one or more employees.
Workers' compensation and general liability insurance are included in painting contractor insurance packages together with commercial property insurance, professional liability insurance, and more.
The next section discusses how these policies work.
“A New York painting contractor was sued for $18.4 million after an employee tore a hole in Picasso’s Le Marin artwork”-source
General liability insurance protects you against claims for bodily injuries or property damage that clients and other third parties file.
The general liability insurance for painters provides $1 million-$2 million minimum coverage for these costs:
Medical treatment of the claimant
Reimbursement for the damaged property of the claimant
Defense costs
Court judgments
Most underwriters offer painters liability insurance as a broad-form policy that provides these additional perks:
$2 million for products and completed operations
$1 million for slander, libel, and copyright infringement claims
$300,000 rented premises liability coverage
Non-owned/hired auto liability coverage
“A Cornell painting contractor was sued for $48,000 for not working on projects despite receiving pay upfront”-source
A comprehensively insured painter doesn't only rely on a general liability policy for protection. It’s also smart to include a professional liability policy in one’s insurance plan.
Professional liability insurance provides a minimum of $250,000-$2 million when clients file a claim and accuse you of committing negligence, misrepresentation, or breach of contract.
You can use the money from this painters insurance to cover settlements, defense costs, and court judgments. In fact, professional liability insurance might even provide a helping hand if licensing boards conduct an investigation or lawsuit against your business.
Painter insurance programs offer a tools and equipment policy as a stand-alone coverage or as part of general liability insurance.
Tools and equipment insurance provides $2,500-$5,000. You use this to cover repair or replacement costs if sprayers, ladders, lifts, drop cloths, rollers and brushes get lost or damaged because of:
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Mechanical breakdown
Electrical surge
Electrical shorts
A downtime provision might be included in your tools and equipment insurance. This reimburses expenses if you need to rent another contractor’s equipment while yours is being replaced or repaired.
There’s a lot of investment when running a painting business. It’s impossible to operate without an office, warehouse, and painting supplies.
Consider getting commercial property insurance for painting company. This reimburses losses if the office gets damaged or destroyed because of:
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Malicious mischief
Sinkhole collapse
Volcanic action
Lightning
Winds
Hail
Snow
Impact
Aircraft
Vehicle
You can also use commercial property insurance to recover losses if painting supplies and equipment get damaged or lost because of fire, theft, vandalism, and other perils we mentioned above.
Remember that you can’t use this insurance if damage or loss is caused by earthquakes, floods, mudslides, and landslides.
Commercial property insurance might also provide these additional perks, depending on which carrier your painting contractors insurance program comes from:
$5,000-$10,000 coverage for lost or damaged credit cards
$1,500-$2,500 coverage for lost or damaged locks and keys
$5,000-$10,000 for off-premises property
$10,000 coverage for accounts receivable
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Temporary suspension of business operations is one of the worst things that can happen to you as a painting contractor.
Your office can burn and you need to focus on rebuilding it before working again.
Business might do better than usual and you need to make your office bigger to cater the increasing number of employees.
Perhaps, you want to try working in another state. Because of this, you might have to close your business temporarily to relocate.
Business interruption insurance can help in these scenarios. While your business is closed and not making income, this painting business insurance provides the money for recovering lost earnings and paying mortgage, loans, taxes, utility services, payroll, and other operational costs.
You can get business interruption insurance as an add-on to commercial property insurance. It’s also possible to get this as a stand-alone policy that you can bundle with general liability and commercial property insurance in a business owner’s policy.
Commercial auto insurance is a must if you own a cargo van or flatbed truck that’s used for reaching different project locations.
By having commercial auto insurance, you get assurance that costs will be covered if something happens to your vehicle while it’s used for work. The functions of this insurance are as follows:
Cover the medical treatment of persons who sustained property damage or bodily injuries in an accident your vehicle caused
Account for parts repair or replacement expenses if your vehicle gets damaged by a collision, fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils
Reimburse rental expenses by up to $90 per day capped at $1,500 max if you need to hire another contractor’s vehicle
Cover the driver and the passenger’s medical treatment if they get involved in an auto accident caused by an uninsured/underinsured vehicle
Commercial auto insurance isn’t a primary inclusion in exterior and interior painting insurance programs.
You can always choose to exclude this if you don’t use a vehicle for business purposes in the first place.
Aside from policy bundle discounts, there are insurance companies that further decrease your premiums if you get commercial auto insurance. Examples are Progressive and GEICO.
Painting contractors like you need to get workers' compensation insurance as soon as there are one or more employees.
Workers compensation insurance sees to it that you can provide adequate benefits if an employee experiences an occupational disease or injury.
You can use this insurance to cover the following costs on behalf of a part-time or full-time employee:
EMT services, first aid treatment, surgeries, and other costs for medical treatment
Hospitalization
Medication
Rehabilitation and retraining
Lost wages
Funeral expenses and death benefits in case of death
Note that workers' compensation insurance also grants legal protection.
When you have this insurance, employees can’t hold you liable for their work-related injury or disease. Note that this only applies if you’re in a state that grants an exclusive remedy to employers.
Sometimes, an employer can still be sued by employees even if he or she has workers' compensation insurance.
Because of this, painting contractor insurance programs allow you to get employer’s liability insurance.
Employer’s liability insurance grants $500,000-$5 million worth of coverage. You can use it to cover defense costs if an employee blames your negligence or misconduct for a work-related injury or disease.
Aside from workers' compensation and employer’s liability insurance, you might also need employer’s liability insurance.
Employment practices liability insurance grants protection when employees file a claim and accuse you of committing:
Discrimination
Sexual harassment
Exploitation
Failure to promote
Failure to pay wages
Stealing a portion of their pay
Wrongful termination
Other violations of employee rights
Employer’s liability insurance is rarely offered as part of workers' compensation insurance. This is commonly offered as a stand-alone policy.
It’s possible for you to incur losses due to the dishonest acts of employees. And so, it’s smart to get employee dishonesty insurance.
Employee dishonesty insurance reimburses the money that you lost when an employee or a group of employee commits these against your business:
Fraudulent refunds
Unauthorized use of credit cards
Misrepresentation of balance sheets and sales records
Theft of money and other securities
Social engineering
A $5,000-$10,000 worth of employee dishonesty insurance is included as part of commercial property insurance.
However, it’s best to get employee dishonesty insurance if you wish to get $100,000-$1 million worth of coverage from it.
Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Deductible | |
---|---|---|---|
General liability insurance | $44 | $528 | $500 |
Professional liability insurance | $55 | $660 | $1,000 |
Workers compensation insurance | $70.83 | $849.96 | $500-$2,500 |
Business owner’s policy | $49 | $588 | $500-$1,000 |
Commercial auto insurance | $63.41 | $760.92 | $1,000 |
Expect to pay $44 per month or $528 per year for a $1 million general liability policy. This painter's insurance cost estimate assumes that you have 5 employees and make $500,000-$750,000 per year. Get the cheapest painters insurance by:
Removing floaters if you don’t need them
Having high deductibles
Bundling two or more insurance policies
Availing commercial auto insurance discounts for safe driving, having a commercial driver’s license, having safety driving devices installed on the commercial vehicle, etc.
In connection, here’s a table showing the cost of the recommended carriers for getting comprehensive coverage:
Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Average Cost | |
---|---|---|---|
NEXT | $27.73 | $332.76 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for painting contractors |
CoverWallet | $30 | $360 | Painting insurance quotes comparison online |
Tivly | $33 | $396 | Comparing painting contractor insurance quotes over the phone |
Thimble | $37 | $444 | Short-term general liability insurance for painting contractors |
Hiscox | $40 | $480 | General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for painting contractors |
GEICO | $55 | $660 | Large painting businesses |
Instead of typing “painting insurance near me” into Google, simply click one of the 'Get Quotes' buttons on this page, complete the form, and compare painting business insurance quotes online from some of the leading companies in America.
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Check out the reviews below to know the pros, cons, and cost of the $1 million general liability insurance of the best insurance companies for painters.
Best overall
Get an online proof of insurance and send as a text message, email, or social media post
Fastest general liability insurance for painting contractors
Great customer service and reputation
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Outstanding value for money
Bundle two or more insurance policies and get a 10% discount
Couldn’t find any
NEXT’s painting business insurance offers commercial auto, workers comp, and general liability coverage with optional tools and equipment coverage. You get only one or all of these policies through NEXT’s basic, deluxe, and premiere insurance options.
The basic coverage option of NEXT only offers a $300,000 general liability insurance and a $1 million professional liability insurance. This is the cheapest option but isn’t the most comprehensive.
Deluxe offers the best protection. You get a $1 million general liability insurance, $1 million professional liability insurance, and a workers compensation insurance with $500,000 employer’s liability insurance from this. Equipment insurance, commercial property insurance, and commercial auto insurance can be added as optional policies.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for painting contractors
Average cost: $27.73 per month
Our rating: 8/10
Get covered online
Compare painting insurance quotes online
Cancel a coverage anytime without any charges
Intuitive online policy management
Not an insurance company but a broker selling the quotes of its partners
CoverWallet covers you through its insurance plan for painting and wall covering contractors, which consists of policies underwritten by its partners such as Chubb, Liberty Mutual, Hiscox, and more.
Your general liability insurance from this company has a $1 million per occurrence limit and $2 million aggregate. Moreover, this comes with $2 million products and completed operations coverage, $300,000 rented premises liability coverage, and $1 million advertising injury coverage.
CoverWallet’s professional liability insurance for painting businesses has a $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate limit.
You can insure your commercial property through this company’s business owner’s policy. CoverWallet’s BOP features a $1 million general liability insurance and a $50,000 commercial property insurance.
Best for: Painting insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $30 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Compare painting contractor insurance quotes over the phone
Responsive customer service
A partner of many reputable insurance companies
You need to call to get a quote
Tivly (formerly CommercialInsurance.NET) doesn’t have a painting contractor insurance program. However, you can get covered through its generic contractor insurance plan that offers general liability, professional liability, workers compensation, and other business insurance policies. You can also call Tivly now to talk with a representative and compare painting insurance quotes from partners over the phone.
Best for: Comparing painting contractor insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Short-term painting liability insurance
Quick to issue an estimate of your rates
General liability insurance comes with an equipment breakdown floater
You can’t reach customer service by calling
Thimble’s painting business insurance offers short-term general liability coverage that has a $1 million-$2 million limit.
You can also get annual interior and exterior painting insurance plans. These offer general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, and workers compensation insurance. Professional liability insurance is offered as an optional coverage if you get general liability insurance.
Best for: Short-term general liability insurance for painting contractors
Average cost: $37 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Worldwide coverage
Has a dedicated team of adjusters for fast processing of claims
14-day money-back guarantee
Doesn’t grant coverage if you work with buildings less than 3 stories high
Hiscox’s painting contractor insurance offers a general liability policy, which has a $300,000-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit. This can be upgraded to include a waiver of subrogation.
Hiscox doesn’t grant coverage if you provide painting services to buildings less than three stories high. However, it can hook you up with its partners, Insureon and Thimble.
Best for: General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for painting contractors
Average cost: $40 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Covers defense costs
Commercial auto insurance discounts
BOPs also available
Workers' compensation insurance for painting contractors comes with Berkshire Hathaway
GEICO stands for The Government Employees Insurance Company, and they’ve been in business since 1995, making them one of the oldest insurers in the United States. While the company is known for its witty commercials, they specialize in auto insurance, tackling more niche insurance types on a case-by-case basis.
GEICO offers general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, professional liability, and workers' compensation insurance for painting contractors. If your business profile doesn’t match its underwriting appetite, GEICO will offer a quote from Hiscox instead.
Best for: Large painting businesses
Average cost: $55 per month
Our rating: 6/10
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
It really can't get any better than this... wow