Flooring contractors typically need four coverages: general liability for injury and damage their work causes, workers’ compensation if they have employees or helpers, commercial auto for the work vehicle, and a floater for tools and equipment. Which of them a particular installer must carry depends on the state, the customers and the contracts signed, so treat the list below as a checklist to hold against your own jobs.
General liability: damage and injury your work causes
General liability is the policy that answers when a crew floods a subfloor, scratches a finished surface or leaves a hazard a visitor trips over. It applies from the first job, even for a one-person shop, because the exposure is a customer’s property and a bystander’s safety, not your payroll.
What it does not do matters as much. It does not pay to redo your own faulty work, and it does not cover your employees’ injuries or your tools. Our general liability page explains where the policy stops and why.
Workers’ compensation: for employees and helpers
Workers’ compensation pays medical bills and lost wages for employees hurt on the job, and it is separate from liability. It applies once someone is on your payroll, and in many states the rules reach further than owners expect. Because each state sets its own, our state pages lay the rules out one at a time, and the workers’ compensation page explains how the coverage works.
It does not cover the customer who is hurt, and it does not cover an owner who is exempt by state rule. Confirm how a helper is classified before the first day, since classification decides whether the policy responds.
Commercial auto: the work vehicle
The van that carries rolls of carpet, tile and saws to the job is a business vehicle, and a personal auto policy usually does not treat it as one. Commercial auto applies whenever the vehicle is used for work.
It covers the vehicle and the liability from driving it. It does not cover the tools stacked in the back, which is the next item on the list.
Tools and equipment floater: what travels with the crew
Saws, grinders, sanders, stretchers and meters spend the day away from your shop and are stolen from vans, which is why they have their own coverage. A floater follows the property wherever it goes; our page on tools and equipment coverage explains how machines and hand tools are listed, and how tool and installation floaters differ covers material bound for a job.
It applies to equipment you own. It does not cover liability, and it carries theft conditions that deserve a slow read.
Coverage you add as the business grows
Beyond the four, the list depends on exposure. A shop with stock needs property coverage for the building contents and inventory. A business with large contracts may be asked for an umbrella, and whether to add an umbrella is its own decision. A crew that advises on layout or does prep work may want to look at professional liability, because advice and layout errors are not always a general liability claim.
None of these is required for every installer. Add them when a contract asks or when a loss could outrun what you carry.
What changes the bill from one installer to the next
We do not publish premium ranges, since any range would be a guess about your business. What can be said is which inputs move the number. Payroll and its classification set workers’ compensation. Revenue or subcontract spending often sets general liability. The mix of jobs counts, since new construction, remodels, wet areas and commercial space do not carry the same risk. So do your claims history, your limits and deductibles, and whether subcontractors carry their own coverage.
For each driver in turn, see what moves the premium in the national guide.
What general contractors and customers add
The people who hire you add conditions of their own. A general contractor may require that it be named as an additional insured or that your coverage be primary to its own. These are endorsements, not separate policies, and each has to be on the policy before the certificate can show it.
Ask for the insurance exhibit before you bid, not after you win. A job whose terms your current program cannot meet is a job to price differently or pass on.
Using the checklist
Gather your states, the floors you install, headcount, payroll and revenue estimates and any contract language that names insurance. Then take the list to an agent who places flooring work every week. The hub page lays out the whole program, and the quote page takes the same details.