Best Handyman Insurance

The unique job you do comes with many risks. As a handyman, there is a significant risk to both your health and your customers’ property — and with that risk can come to some major financial threats as well. 

Handyman insurance is important to those who do handyman or intermittent contracting work, as it’s basic insurance coverage for the risks that come with the tasks you perform on a daily basis. Depending on what you do as a handyman, you’ll be able to customize your policy to get maximum coverage at the most affordable price. 

Compare Handyman Insurance

Protecting your business as a handyman or general contractor begins with the right insurance policy. Benzinga offers insights and reviews on the following handyman insurance policy providers. Begin your research with the links below. 

Try Simply Business

Simply Business offers a comprehensive suite of business insurance that specializes in making it easy to insure your business. Whether you’re looking for construction workers' insurance or liability insurance for your startup, Simply Business even helps you find the right insurance for a handyman at the right price. Don’t turn to a thousand different carriers when you can get help from Simply Business.

Tell Simply Business a little bit about your business and you'll get almost-instantaneous affordable quotes from top insurance providers to protect your business and safeguard yourself. You can also look into workers’ comp, business owner’s plans, additional liability insurance, commercial auto and more that will cover everyone on your team, and you can get covered in accordance with state law without overspending. 

Building your business is hard enough. Let Simply Business make it easier. Get a quote from Simply Business today.

What is Handyman Insurance?

Handyman insurance is a customized business owners insurance policy (BOP) for contractors. This type of insurance is general liability that provides coverage for the legal and financial liabilities that come with accidents that result in property damage or bodily injury. 

Most insurance companies allow you to combine your general liability protection and property insurance into a single BOP at a more advantageous rate than you’d see if you purchased both policies separately. Investing in a BOP instead of two individual policies also allows you to pay a single premium for all your insurance coverage, which makes your plan more manageable. Depending on the insurance provider you work with, you might also receive business interruption protection with your BOP or have the option to add this coverage when you sign on for coverage. 

It’s no secret that things can go wrong on any type of job site. After all, who do your clients call when something unexpectedly breaks down or gets damaged on their property? But what about when things go wrong for you? This type of contractor insurance can help protect your business by helping to cover legal expenses, property damage costs and court-ordered judgments you might run into over the course of your work. 

Benefits of Handyman Coverage

Handyman insurance offers various benefits, including peace of mind for you and your customers. You’ll be able to go into each job knowing that if a mistake is made and you end up damaging your customer’s property, you won’t need to settle damages out of your family’s household finances. Having a comprehensive handyman insurance policy also puts customers at ease — and you’re much more likely to be hired for that construction job if you have construction insurance. 

Handyman insurance also allows you to protect your assets. Most handymen are sole proprietors, which means their personal assets are linked to the business. If were to be sued by a client, your business can get shut down — but you can also jeopardize your household finances and assets as well. Handyman coverage ensures you won’t be dipping into your personal assets to keep your business afloat if you run into legal expenses or if property is damaged. Handyman insurance offers coverage for legal expenses that can come with a lawsuit, including damages and attorney fees.  

What Should Handyman Insurance Cover?

One of the major perks of handyman insurance is that you can customize the policy to fit your exact line of work and the risks that come with it. However, no matter what you do, you might want to make sure you have coverage for the following if they apply to you.

Bodily injury: Bodily injury liability coverage compensates you in the event that someone is injured because of your work or as a result of your ongoing work. For example, imagine you left your toolbox out while you went to eat lunch. Your client doesn’t see the open toolbox on the ground, trips over it and ends up spraining his ankle. If the client decides to sue you for the cost of his medical bills, your handyman insurance can help cover both court-ordered judgements as well as legal expenses. 

General liability: General liability is the typical catch-all coverage that comes with handyman insurance. It provides coverage for all the baseline risks that come with the job, including bodily injury, property damage and personal or advertising injury. This coverage is the minimum, so depending on what exactly you do, you’ll likely need some added coverage to increase your policy limits. 

Umbrella coverage: Umbrella coverage helps when you need to pay expenses above and beyond what your policy covers or when an accident occurs that isn’t covered by your basic policy. Some risks this may include are customer property damage, product liability and libel, slander and copyright infringement. If you knowingly use a trademarked phrase for your marketing, this coverage will protect you from the legal and settlement costs that may come with it. 

Property damage: Property damage liability coverage can include damage to your property or damage to your client’s property, though more often than not it’s used for your client’s. Accidents happen, and the last thing you want is to have to pay for damages out of pocket because you made an honest mistake on a job.  

Equipment damage: Just as with property damage, accidents can damage the equipment you need to do your job. Sometimes your equipment will fail and become damaged while you’re working. This coverage will ensure that breakdowns don’t set you back and you’ll be able to pay for the equipment to be fixed or replaced so you can get back to work.  

Commercial auto: Odds are you’re using a car to get to and from your handyman jobs, which means that you might need commercial auto insurance to fully cover your vehicle. This coverage can help pay for any issues that arise while you’re using your car to get to and from a job, which might not be covered under your standard auto insurance policy. 

Workers’ compensation: This portion of the coverage is only necessary if you have employees. Any accidents that can occur to you, can also occur to your employees, so you want to make sure they’re covered for injuries incurred while completing their work. Depending on the state that you live in, you might be legally required to purchase workers’ compensation as soon as you hire your first full-time or part-time employee. 

Business interruption: Business interruption coverage offers coverage for when something prevents you from doing business as usual. It replaces income lost during the halt of all business because of physical loss or damage. For example, if you own a restaurant and your kitchen catches fire, you might not be able to provide services to customers while the facility is being repaired. However, your business interruption insurance can help you cover these lost wages. 

Finding A Handyman Insurance Policy 

If you’re a general contractor, you might assume that you don’t need to invest in a full business owner’s policy. The truth is that you face the exact same risks as larger business owners that provide handyman services. If you’re operating your business without the right insurance protections, you could be putting both your livelihood and your personal finances at risk. Be sure to begin shopping for insurance policies as soon as possible to be sure that you’ve got coverage before you need to use it. 

Frequently Asked Questions