What Insurance Paving Contractors Need
You pave driveways, parking lots, walkways, patios, tennis courts, and other surfaces as part of your paving business. You could be working with asphalt, interlocking bricks, concrete, or paving stones.
Your paving business isn’t without risks. As a paving contractor, you know that dangers and mishaps can be part of your business. Protect it with a customized paving insurance package.
Are you a paving contractor in Toronto on Queen Street East, Parkdale Road, Islington Avenue, Humberline Drive?
Or is your paving or asphalt business located in East York, North York, Scarborough, Markham, Vaughan, Woodbridge, Brampton, or Mississauga?
Wherever your paving business is located in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or anywhere in Ontario, your Western business insurance expert will give you top-notch insurance advice and ways to save.
How will a customized insurance package protect my paving business?
As a paving contractor, you need to protect your paving business from the potential risks associated with its operations.
Without insurance, you would have to cover these costs on your own. Can you take on that kind of risk?
A customized insurance package for paving contractors can help protect you from these 3 common claims:
- Your paving machine unexpectedly spews hot asphalt and it lands on cars parked nearby cars and you get sued. Commercial General Liability Insurance can help cover legal costs.
- A customer complains that the paving job you did was of poor quality and the asphalt on his driveway has cracked. Product liability insurance will help cover legal costs and the extra labour to re-do the job.
- An employee steals some of your tools and equipment. Tools and equipment insurance will replace the stolen tools.
What kind of paving insurance package do I need?
You’ll need a paving insurance package to protect you and your business in the event of accidents, lawsuits, property damage, or employee injuries.
Go over the types of coverages you need in detail with your Western business insurance expert to make sure your paving business is covered for the risks that you face.
Here are the coverages that you will need for your paving business:
Commercial General Liability Insurance: If you’re on a paving job, it can be dangerous. If you were sued, commercial general liability insurance (CGL insurance) would help cover the legal costs to defend the claim against your business in court, as well as costs to cover damages to compensate third parties.
It’s recommended that you should have at least $2 million in coverage. The amount of CGL you need will depend on the size of your paving business and the work you do.
What kind of risks does commercial general liability (CGL) cover?
- Injury to another person 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
Tell us about your paving business and your Western business insurance expert will get you the
commercial liability insurance that you need at the right value for your business.
Commercial Property Insurance: Whether you rent or own your paving or asphalt business’s location, commercial property insurance can provide financial coverage in the case of a fire that destroys or damages your business property and its contents.
Commercial property insurance also protects your place of business or office and its contents from damage or loss related to severe weather, natural disasters, theft, and vandalism.
Product Liability Insurance: Paving sometimes has defects once the job is finished. Product liability insurance for paving contractors protects you as the insured against liability for death, bodily injury, or property damage resulting from defects in the pavement you've worked on
Mobile Property Insurance: If you regularly move equipment to various 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 and theft that could happen due to property not being stored in a secure location, while commercial property insurance covers property generally expected to be in a designated location.
Equipment Breakdown Insurance: This type of insurance provides coverage for property damage from the sudden and accidental breakdown of insured equipment not automatically covered by a standard commercial property policy.
Tools and Equipment Insurance: This type of insurance provides financial protection for any transportable tools or equipment that your construction business uses to complete their work projects.
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 and anything valued above $1,500 is considered equipment.
Leased, Rented, Borrowed Equipment Insurance: If your paving business leases, rents, or borrows equipment, this type of coverage provides financial support for loss or damage to that equipment you use.
Business Interruption Insurance: It supports you when your paving or asphalt business can’t operate due to a covered loss.
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
Business interruption insurance can be the difference between recovering from a loss and closing permanently.
Commercial Vehicle Insurance: When you or your employees are on the road travelling to a job site and anywhere in between, commercial vehicle insurance can help cover your vehicles in the case of an accident. Your personal vehicle insurance will not provide coverage.
Pollution Liability Insurance: It covers clean-up costs, third-party bodily injuries (such as a respiratory illness), or damage to a customer’s heavy equipment caused by pollution or toxic substances you use to do your work.
Cyber Liability Insurance: If your paving business has your customers’ names, addresses and credit card information stored in your computer system, you need cyber insurance. If your computer system is hacked, cybercriminals can steal this information and sell it.
How much paving insurance do I need?
It will depend on the size of your business and the kind work that you do.
That means it’s unlikely that all paving or asphalt businesses would pay the same rates monthly or annually.
Ask your Western business insurance expert to determine the right level of coverage for your paving business.
What do I do if my paving 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 repair anything immediately. Leave the physical evidence intact 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 paving or asphalt business the right insurance package. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the business insurance journey to protect your business.
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