What Insurance Do Toronto Excavation Contractors Need

What Insurance Do Toronto Excavation Contractors Need?

July 25, 2024 / 5 mins read

The risks that come with your job as a Toronto excavation contractor are usually below ground. Insurance for excavation contractors protects your business from liability risks, lawsuits, accidents, and mishaps.

Your work could be working on an excavation, demolition, or grading project and each of these has the potential for something to go wrong. Excavation insurance is a package of customized insurance coverages for your Toronto excavation business.

If you own an excavation business in Toronto, Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or anywhere in Ontario, your Western Financial Group business insurance expert will give you top-notch commercial insurance advice and at the right value for you.

What kind of work by Toronto excavators needs insurance?

  • Demolition
  • Grading
  • Road construction
  • Site preparation for construction projects
  • Bridge excavation
  • Basement excavation for residential projects
  • Dredging
  • Trench excavation
  • Mining

Examples of how excavation insurance protects you:

  1. You damage a neighbouring house while excavating a residential basement. Your commercial general liability insurance can help pay for the costs to fix the damaged property.
  2. Your client and supplier list and their financial information are hacked by cyber thieves and sold on the dark web. Your cyber liability insurance coverage can help cover the costs of repairing your computer system and any legal fees.
  3. A thief vandalizes the office of your Toronto excavation business and then sets it on fire. Your commercial property insurance can help pay for the cost to repair your damaged office and replace its contents.

How much does Toronto excavation contractor insurance cost?

There isn’t a set price to insure a Toronto excavation business.

The following factors are usually considered when determining the cost of your Toronto excavation contractor insurance:

  • Your location(s)
  • The kind of excavation/construction work you do
  • Your equipment
  • Annual revenues
  • Number of employees
  • Any past claims

What’s in an insurance package for Toronto excavation contractors?

Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance

Excavation sites can be hazardous. CGL insurance is essential for your Toronto excavation business because a supplier/customer or member of the public could get injured or their property damaged.

If you were sued, commercial general liability insurance would cover the legal costs to defend the claim against your Toronto excavation business in court, as well as costs to cover damages to compensate third parties.

What kind of risks does commercial general liability insurance 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

Without CGL insurance, you will pay costs related to third-party injuries or damage out of your own pocket. Can you afford that as a Toronto excavation contractor?

Ask your Western Financial Group business insurance expert how much CGL insurance you need to protect your excavation business.

Tools and equipment insurance

Any item valued at less than $1,500 is considered a tool. Anything valued above $1,500 is considered equipment.

Tools and equipment insurance provides financial protection for any transportable tools or equipment that your Toronto excavation contractor business uses to do work.

Tools and equipment Insurance can provide reimbursement to repair or replace tools and equipment 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.

Mobile property insurance

If you regularly move equipment to different work locations as part of your Toronto excavation business, mobile property insurance provides coverage for property that you don't store at a fixed location, or for equipment routinely taken off site.

Mobile property insurance covers transit. It also covers theft 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.

Equipment breakdown insurance

Equipment breakdown insurance provides coverage for property damage from the sudden and accidental breakdown of insured equipment not automatically covered by a standard commercial property policy. You’ll need to have a list of the equipment at your business and how much it’s worth.

Commercial property insurance

It provides financial support to replace or repair your Toronto excavation business’s office or equipment storage warehouse if it is damaged by a flood, fire, or severe weather. It also covers vandalism and theft.

Commercial property insurance also covers the building’s contents such as computers, furniture, tools, equipment, and inventory. Commercial property coverage also extends to protect others’ property that is under your care.

Cyber liability insurance

Do you keep client information online and take online payments? If so, your Toronto excavation business could be hacked by cyberthieves. Cyber liability insurance will help protect you financially from a cyber-attack.

Without cyber insurance, you will have to pay out of your pocket for the cost of restoring your computer 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 your Toronto area customers affected by a breach.

Pollution liability insurance

Excavation work can be exposed to environmental liability claims. Pollution liability insurance covers clean-up costs, third-party bodily injuries (such as illnesses due to your excavation work), or damage to a nearby property caused by pollution or toxic substances from the excavation site.

Commercial vehicle insurance is important: When you or your employees are on the road travelling to a job site in Toronto 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 if the work is related to your Toronto construction business.

Here’s an insurance checklist for your Toronto excavation business:

  • Do you have the best Toronto business insurance rate that suits your work?
  • Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for you?
  • Are you or your employees using personal vehicles for work?

What do I do if my Toronto excavation contractors 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.

Western Financial Group has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get your Toronto excavation contractors business the right commercial insurance package. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the commercial insurance journey to protect your Toronto business.

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