Workshop Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $7

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Suppose you run a workshop. In that case, you need workshop insurance to cover a number of risks you might face, including injury to visitors and members of the public, loss and damage or theft of equipment. This specialty cover offers protection against legal fees and compensation costs if employees and third parties were to make a claim against you or your business if, for instance, they were involved in an accident at the workshop. 

Workshop insurance is bought by businesses, including carpenters, joiners, cabinet makers,    mechanics,   as well as professionals offering commercial garage-keeping services, or electrical repair. If you require specific types of equipment or specialist tools to carry out your business, then it’s worth taking out workshop contents insurance in the event that these get lost, are damaged, or stolen. 

If your workshop is within your home, you ought to get home workshop insurance. If you are the only one working from there, you will be looking for a provider offering private workshop insurance. If you are working on a passion project, you will be shopping for hobby workshop insurance. For the handcrafted goods you make and sell, you are going to need insurance for running craft workshops. Finally, if you will be working on vehicles within your workshop, you are going to need automotive workshop insurance.  

The standard cover for workshops takes care of machinery, tools, and buildings. Specifically, it protects a range of tools and equipment as well as stock and work in progress against any form of damage. The cover is  tailored to meet your specific business needs. If you own the workshop building where you carry out your craft, then said building will be covered under the policy. 

As you shop for workshop insurance, you've got to consider exactly how reliant your workshop is. Specifically, you've got to consider if it is destroyed by a fire or malicious action and what costs and business expenses you will need to pay for you to get the workshop up and running. You can enable your cover to include business interruption insurance that protects you from continuing overheads at the time when you are grappling with the loss of income. 

Suppose you have a couple of employees working with you at the workshop. In that case,it's essential to have an employer's liability cover as part of your workshop insurance. This policy protects you and the workshop against personal injury claims from the employees if they suffered an accident while at the workshop or if said injuries resulted from your negligence. 

Consider a situation where you transport your tools and equipment from the workshop to the job site. These tools and equipment will not be covered within standard covers as this is not considered a standard offering. You will have to discuss with your provider if you can add inland marine insurance to the policy.

Workshop Liability Insurance

Let's examine a situation where a customer visits your workshop and trips over a toolbox left on the ground. As a result of said accident, they have to go to the hospital and get treatment. Thereafter, there's quite the likelihood that they will sue you.

Workshop liability insurance, particularly general liability insurance, covers you for these medical costs and legal defense fees. What's more, if you were to be ordered by the court system to pay further compensation, general liability insurance caters for said compensation. Overall, it prevents you from paying out of pocket for any of the expenses resulting from said unprecedented eventualities.

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Workshops

Consider a situation where an employee or a subcontractor gets injured while on the job or by poorly maintained equipment. Chances are that they will likely sue for damages.

Employers' liability insurance covers you from the legal defense fees and the compensation that you are likely going to have to pay as a result of the lawsuit brought against you or your business. Note that this coverage will often be included as part of workshop liability insurance, but you want to check with the provider before committing to a product.

Public Liability Insurance for Workshops

Chances are, if you have workshop insurance, it likely comes with public liability insurance. Still, you want to go a step further and get public liability insurance for workshops. This covers any physical injury that any public member might suffer or if the property is damaged due to your negligence. If legal action is taken against you by the third party, the public liability insurance for workshops covers any costs that arise from the resulting lawsuit.

The public liability insurance for workshops covers personal injuries or property damage. In a way, this works similarly to general liability insurance. But you need to understand public liability insurance is significantly different as it can’t be added with optional policies. In fact, many experts consider public liability insurance as a less comprehensive version of general liability insurance.

Workshop Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance is also a part of many workshop insurance plans. This is usually paired to general liability insurance for comprehensive protection. So what does professional liability insurance do? Allow us to explain.

You can commit errors while working. It’s also possible for you to do something that violates the standards of your profession. When a client sustains economic or financial losses because of these, professional liability insurance will cover attorney fees, administrative costs, compensation, and other legal expenses on your behalf.

So what are the perils covered by professional liability insurance? You can claim professional liability insurance when your workshop is sued for:

• Negligence

• Violation of fair dealing

• Violation of good faith

• Missed deadlines

• Breach of confidentiality

• Other acts considered errors and omissions

General liability, employer’s liability, and professional liability insurance aren’t the only policies in many workshop insurance plans. There are other policies that are useful or not, depending on your needs.

Commercial Property Insurance for Workshops

Workshop insurance plans have commercial property insurance as a common inclusion. Commercial property insurance mitigates financial losses if a business property, especially a building, becomes damaged or destroyed. All workshops need a building to operate. And so, commercial property insurance is an essential coverage. 

So what perils does the insurance cover? Commercial property insurance provides protection against fire, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, and other covered perils. Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

• If fire or extreme weather completely destroys your workshop’s building, commercial property insurance will recoup losses or pay for reconstruction expenses. The money you’ll receive will be equal to the actual cash value or replacement cost of the covered building

• Commercial property insurance will recoup the value of damages sustained by your workshop’s building due to fire, extreme weather, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils 

Inside your workshop are equipment and finished projects. You can insure those using commercial property insurance. However, doing so is only possible if you add stocks and contents coverage as well as business equipment and tools coverage to the policy’s terms.  

• Stocks and contents coverage-Stocks and contents coverage will refund the value of items not considered as business tools or equipment, which become lost, destroyed, or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils while in your workshop’s building 

• Business equipment and tools coverage-Business equipment and tools coverage will recoup your investment on workshop tools and equipment that got lost, destroyed, or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils 

Understand that commercial property insurance covers your workshop’s building even if it’s owned, leased, or rented. However, tools and equipment are only covered if they’re your possession. In other words, rented, leased, or borrowed tools and equipment aren’t covered. 

So how much does commercial property insurance for workshops cost? There’s no definite answer for this. But just for you to have an idea, the cost of commercial property insurance is determined by the value of the property to be covered and the amount of insurance money you want to receive from the policy. 

Workers Compensation Insurance for Workshops

Working in a workshop is very perilous. Accidents can happen and this can result in cuts, burns, lacerations, muscle strains, and other injuries. Workplace diseases might also be sustained. And so, it’s important to get workers comp if you have employees or even if you’re working alone.  Workers' compensation insurance will help you pay for the following:

• Medical expenses-If a workplace accident happens or an employee suddenly experiences the symptoms of a work-related disease, workers' compensation will cover ambulance fees, surgeries, therapies, and other related medical expenses 

• Hospitalization-You can claim workers' compensation insurance  to cover your own hospitalization or an employee’s hospitalization. Coverage applies regardless of how long you or an employee needs to be admitted 

• Medication-Workers compensation covers the cost of medicines you or an employee need to fully recover from a work-related injury or disease

• Rehabilitation-Workshop accidents can result in temporary or permanent impairment. In connection, the terms of workers' compensation insurance includes this peril. Particularly, you can use this insurance to cover therapist fees, equipment costs, and other rehab expenses 

• Lost wages-Workers compensation insurance is very useful if you or an employee can’t work due to a work-related injury or disease. It covers lost wages. Coverage for lost wages is a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of average weekly wage. This will be received until the amount or duration prescribed by the policy’s terms is satisfied 

• Death benefits-If you or an employee dies due to a work-related injury or disease, workers' compensation insurance will cover funeral expenses and provide an allowance to dependents. The allowance will be provided until the amount or duration prescribed in the policy’s terms is satisfied

Is Workers Compensation Insurance Important for Your Workshop?

Workers' compensation is important for your workshop. It will help you retain talents and take care of employees. But most importantly, this insurance policy enables you to operate without infringing labor laws. All states except Texas require all workshops having one or more employees to get workers' compensation insurance. The penalty for non-compliance varies but will always be either of these:

• Imprisonment in the county jail - only applies on states treating the failure to get workers comp insurance as a criminal offense

• A fine equal to twice you would’ve paid for the premiums of workers' compensation insurance

• A fine multiplied by the days your business didn’t purchase workers' compensation insurance for employees

• A stop-hold order

• Revocation of exclusive remedy - in select states, employers with workers' compensation insurance can’t be sued by employees who sustain a work-related injury or disease  

Inland Marine Insurance for Workshops 

If you deliver a finished product, then your workshop insurance can be added with inland marine insurance. Inland marine insurance will recoup the value of a product that gets lost or damaged during transportation. Coverage applies if you deliver the product yourself or pass the task to a motor carrier.  Inland marine insurance doesn’t apply if a product is lost or damaged while being transported in a ship. To get covered against such peril, you need to purchase ocean marine insurance. 

Business Interruption Insurance

Consider a situation where you have to pause business operations for a while to improve the building of your workshop, install new equipment, or relocate. Your business won’t generate income but you still have to pay for operational costs. Business interruption insurance can help with this. 

Forklift Insurance 

Consider getting forklift insurance if you’re using a forklift. This policy consists if numerous coverages such as:

• Liability insurance - Forklift insurance comes with its own general liability coverage. And so, when your forklift causes personal injuries or property damage, your forklift’s liability coverage can cover the cost instead of your workshop’s primary general liability insurance policy

• Equipment breakdown-Equipment breakdown coverage in forklift insurance will cover expenses if your forklift becomes damaged due to use, fire, vandalism, and other covered perils 

• Personal accident insurance-If the forklift causes an accident resulting in the driver getting injured, personal accident insurance will cover medical expenses. 

• Forklift theft coverage-The forklift of your workshop can get stolen by a stranger or an employee. This is why tailored workshop forklift insurance comes with theft coverage which covers the cost of damages, recoup the value of the lost forklift, or provide an immediate replacement 

Workshop Owner’s Garage Liability Insurance

Insurance companies will offer garage liability insurance if you’re running a workshop that provides body customization services to motor vehicles. Garage liability insurance will cover personal injuries or property damage resulting from the activities carried out in your workshop. Particularly, it will cover the medical expenses of injured third parties or refund the value of damaged properties.  

Workshop Garage Keepers Insurance

Garage keeper insurance is another related policy to garage liability insurance. Again, this is only useful if your workshop services motor vehicles. In case the vehicles kept become damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, garage keeper insurance ensures that you can pay for the losses of the owners. Understand that this policy and the one above are common inclusions in garage workshop insurance policies.

Different Types of Specialized Workshop Insurance Plans 

Car Workshop Insurance

Car workshop insurance is a policy for workshops providing automotive services. Common policies included in automotive workshop insurance are commercial property with equipment insurance, general liability insurance, garage liability insurance, and garage keepers insurance. 

Craft Workshop Insurance

Craft workshop insurance is a tailored coverage for crafters having their own workshop. General liability insurance with product liability coverage, commercial property, workers compensation, and equipment breakdown insurance are the most common inclusions. 

Home Workshop Insurance

No insurance companies provide tailored home workshop insurance. The same is true for hobby workshop insurance and private workshop insurance. Coverage is only available to workshops used for commercial purposes. Nonetheless, what you can use as a home, hobby, or private workshop insurance policy is a homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s insurance has a personal articles policy and you can insure workshop equipment using that. 

Workshop Insurance Cost

Wondering how much does workshop insurance cost? On average, workshop insurance liability insurance costs $96 per month or $1,152 per year.

As always, the insurance premiums you pay depend on your business's risk factors, including the size and location of your workshop.

Here's a breakdown of the average cost of the best workshop insurance companies in the market. 

Insurance Claim Workshop: How to Get Your Insurance Money?

Making an insurance claim workshop depends on the procedures implemented by the carrier you choose to work with. But generally, there are two paths you can take - work with an insurance agent or file the claim online.