HVAC Insurance For Businesses & Contractors
If you are opening an HVAC business, you will need HVAC insurance to protect your business and keep it running smoothly. This guide will go over what to know about heating and air conditioning insurance. We’ll discuss the types of HVAC contractor insurance, costs for HVAC business insurance policies, and more.
Why Do You Need HVAC Company Insurance?
Depending where you operate, you may be legally required to get HVAC company insurance in order to obtain and maintain your license.
In addition, there are a lot of things that can go wrong while you are doing your work. HVAC insurance can cover your costs and help you to stay in business.
Types of Insurance For HVAC Companies & Technicians
- General liability insurance: General liability insurance for HHVAC contractors covers damage to third parties and their property. So, if someone is injured while you are doing your work (not you or your employees), or your work or system damages the homeowner’s property, general liability insurance would help cover medical costs, legal costs, etc.
- Professional liability insurance: This type of insurance is also called errors and omissions insurance. It covers costs for damages or injuries that arise from negligence. If you give bad advice to a homeowner, for example, and this causes them to damage their system or their home, then professional liability insurance could help cover damages.
- Commercial property insurance: You can protect your commercial property using this type of policy. Remember, general liability insurance protects other peoples’ property, but not your own. That is why you need this type of coverage too.
- Commercial auto insurance: Cover your commercial automobile using this type of policy. You cannot use your personal auto insurance for this purpose.
- Business owner’s policy: This is a type of policy that rolls together multiple types of coverage. For example, it might include commercial property insurance and general liability insurance.
- Business interruption insurance: If something happens that makes it impossible for your business to operate for a while, you can use this type of policy to compensate for your losses.
- Surety bonds: You may need to have a surety bond in order to be licensed in your state. They are also commonly required for specific jobs. A surety bond can cover property damage in case of project issues. The project owner is the one who issues a surety bond claim, not you. But you are the one who has to get the surety bond.
- Inland marine insurance: You will need to transport HVAC equipment and tools regularly as part of your job. Inland marine insurance is the type of policy that protects this equipment while it is in transit. It is not covered by the commercial auto policy. This coverage will protect your tools and equipment if you need to store it at a job site too.
- Workers’ compensation insurance: You will need to get workers’ compensation by law if you have any employees (even just one). If your workers become sick or injured on the job, workers’ comp helps to pay their medical bills and cover their lost wages.
What Does HVAC Business Insurance Cost?
HVAC contractor insurance costs vary based on a number of factors. The average annual cost for general liability insurance for HVAC businesses is roughly $700. Here are some of the factors that can make insurance more or less expensive for HVAC pros:
- Types of policies you get: The more types of policies you need, the more expensive your overall cost will be.
- Payroll size: The larger your payroll, the more you will have to pay for workers’ comp.
- Type of work: Some types of installations may be riskier than others, which could impact insurance costs.
- Deductibles: Raising your deductibles can lower your monthly costs, and vice versa. There are pros and cons to both options, so you will have to decide based on your risk profile what makes sense for your business.
- Policy limits: Higher policy limits will result in higher monthly insurance costs. As with deductibles, there are risks to choosing lower policy limits, but it saves you money each month. So, it is again up to you to decide what is best based on your risk profile and tolerance.
- Claims history: If you have a clean claims history, underwriting will not see you as being as risky as if you had made previous claims. That means that you may qualify for better insurance rates.
- Location: Some geographical regions may have higher risk than others. For example, an area with high traffic may make commercial auto insurance more expensive than one that is less dangerous for driving.
- Discounts: Ask if you qualify for any discounts. This is common when you bundle more than one policy with the same carrier.
- Underwriting: Variations in underwriting guidelines can result in different quotes from different carriers, even with all other factors being the same.
Where to Get HVAC Business Insurance
Our recommended insurance agency for HVAC companies is Tivly. This company has extensive experience helping HVAC professionals and other contractors to find competitive quotes on HVAC insurance plans. Click below to get quotes on HVAC insurance for your company.