What Insurance Do Toronto Carpenters Need?
Your carpentry business is unique to you. You might do cabinets, trim, framing, stair railings, or some combination of all of them. No matter the type or size of your Toronto carpentry or woodworking business, you need the right carpenters’ insurance package.
You might have your own shop doing customized work, or you work in people’s homes and businesses, or on residential or commercial projects. You may be an independent contractor or run a large carpentry business. The right insurance protects you from risks you can face daily as a carpenter in Toronto.
Do you work as a carpenter in Toronto’s downtown core or does your carpentry business serve clients in one of Toronto’s many neighbourhoods.
Do you work in Scarborough, Etobicoke, North York, York, East York or are you in Bolton, Caledon, Hamilton, Markham, Vaughan, Newmarket, Aurora, Orangeville, Richmond Hill, or Milton?
Wherever you work as a carpenter in Toronto, Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or anywhere in Ontario, your Western Financial Group business insurance expert will give you top-notch insurance advice and ways to save on insurance for your carpentry business.
Why do I need carpenter’s insurance?
As a Toronto carpenter, you should have enough insurance to protect yourself from third-party injuries and property damage.
Who needs carpenter’s insurance?
- Residential and commercial carpenter
- Cabinet maker
- Framer or joister
- Trim carpenter
- Customized work carpenter
Carpenter insurance can help protect you from these 3 common claims:
1. A client comes to your Toronto shop to look at cabinets you are making and trips over a stack of plywood that wasn’t moved out of the way. The client hurts her back and decides to sue you. Commercial general liability insurance helps pay for legal costs and judgement and any medical costs.
2. After making customized cabinets, you stained them after they were put up in the client’s kitchen. The client says the smell of the stain made her sick and she sued you. Pollution liability insurance will help cover the lawsuit and any damages against you.
3. Your carpentry business’s computer system is hacked and your clients’ credit card information and personal information is compromised. Cyber liability insurance will help cover the cost of restoring your system and can help pay for notification expenses to inform your customers affected by the breach.
Did you know that a carpenter is a skilled trade in Ontario?
Here’s an insurance checklist for Toronto carpenters:
- Do you have the best business insurance rate that suits your carpentry business?
- Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for your business?
- Do you know the value of your equipment and tools and are they properly insured?
- Are you or your employees using personal vehicles for your work?
At Western, we are business insurance experts. We will save you time and money by doing the insurance shopping for you to find the right package at the right value for your Toronto carpentry business.
What kind of insurance does a Toronto carpenter need?
A carpenters’ insurance package is a package of coverages that will protect your business. It should include protection against on-the-job risks that you face, such as third-party bodily injury and property damage.
You may be asked for proof of insurance with prospective clients and many lenders will require it.
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance: This is the most important type of insurance that you need as a carpenter. Your work can be dangerous and third-party injuries can happen where you are working. Without CGL, you will pay costs related to third-party injuries or damage out of your own pocket.
If you were sued, commercial general liability insurance would cover the legal costs to defend the claim against your carpentry business in court, as well as costs to cover damages to compensate third parties.
What kind of risks does commercial general liability cover?
- Injury to a third party who is not your employee
- Damage to someone’s property
- Damage to rented property
- Medical bills if someone is injured
- Legal costs and settlement costs of liability lawsuits filed against you
- Liability lawsuits related to slander and libel
You should also make sure that any subcontractors you work with have CGL insurance. If a subcontractor damages property or causes a third-party injury at a job, you could be held liable. They should have their own liability insurance, that way if there is an accident it will be covered by their policy.
How much is general liability insurance for Toronto carpenters?
It’s recommended that you should have at least $2 million in general liability coverage, depending on the size of your carpentry business.
Tools and equipment insurance: This type of insurance is a must-have for carpenters.
It provides financial protection for any transportable tools or equipment that your carpentry business or woodworking business uses to do work.
Tools and equipment Insurance can provide reimbursement to repair or replace tools if they are lost, damaged, or stolen. Insured events apply to tools and equipment that are vandalized, stolen, lost, or damaged by fire or flood.
Any item valued at less than $1,500 is considered a tool. Anything valued above $1,500 is considered equipment.
This type of insurance can also be called equipment floater insurance instead of tools and equipment insurance.
Mobile property insurance: If you regularly move equipment to different work locations, mobile property insurance provides coverage for property that you don't store at a fixed location, or for equipment routinely taken offsite.
Mobile property insurance covers transit. It also covers heft that could happen due to property not being stored in a secure location, as opposed to commercial property insurance that covers property generally expected to be in a designated location.
Commercial property insurance: Commercial property insurance is essential for carpenters who operate their own shops.
It can provide financial coverage in the case of a fire that destroys or damages your shop and its contents.
Commercial property insurance also protects your shop, office or place of business and its contents from damage or loss related to severe weather, natural disasters, theft, and vandalism.
Pollution liability insurance: It protects your carpentry business against pollution risks while carrying out work tasks. Pollution liability insurance may provide financial coverage for clean-up costs, assessments, and civil penalties.
Cyber liability insurance
Small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Do you keep client information online and take online payments? If so, your Toronto carpentry business could be hacked by cyberthieves. Cyber liability insurance will help protect you.
Without cyber insurance, you will have to pay out of your pocket for the cost of restoring your system. You may also be liable for damages to third parties whose information has been stolen and you may have to pay for notification expenses to inform customers affected by a breach.
Business interruption insurance: This coverage supports you when your Toronto carpentry or woodworking business can’t operate due to a covered loss.
There are a number of losses that can force your carpentry business to shut down. Some examples include:
- Damage to your equipment from fire or vandalism
- A major reduction in revenue due to a client/supplier facing losses of their own
- A disruption in your supply chain
Business interruption insurance can help with expenses such as:
- Payroll
- Rent
- Utilities
- Property taxes
- Alarm monitoring
- Relocation of your business
This type of insurance can be the difference between recovering from a loss and closing permanently.
Surety bond: When you accept a job, you are obligated to complete it. A surety bond, or contractor bond, will pay your customer if your carpentry business does not complete a job.
You can obtain a surety bond for a specified amount from your Western insurance business expert.
Commercial vehicle insurance: When you or your employees are on the road travelling to a job site and anywhere in-between, commercial vehicle insurance may cover your vehicles in the case of an accident. Your personal vehicle insurance will not cover you in the case of an accident.
How much is carpenters’ insurance?
How much carpenters’ insurance you need and how much it will cost will depend on the size of your Toronto business and the work that you do.
That means it’s unlikely that all carpentry or woodworking businesses would pay the same monthly or annually for their coverage.
What do I do if my Toronto carpentry business has an insurance claim?
- Contact your broker immediately after any business-related mishap. Waiting to file a claim can confuse insurers about the severity of the damages to your business.
- Know your policy so that when you contact your broker you are familiar with what will be covered or not.
- Document the damage. Take photos right away and write down what happened.
- Do not throw away damaged goods after taking photos. Keep the physical evidence so that your adjustor can see it.
- Do not invite lawsuits. Don’t say anything that could be used against you, especially if you aren’t sure what happened.
- Be honest about what your damaged property is worth. Damaged commercial property is generally valued according to its actual cash value or replacement value.
Ask your Western business insurance expert to help you get the right coverage at the right value to protect the work that your Toronto carpentry business does.
Western Financial Group has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get your Toronto carpentry business the right carpenters’ insurance package. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the business insurance journey to protect your carpentry or woodworking business.
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