What Insurance Do Alberta Flooring Contractors Need?
Flooring is essential to finishing a new home or a commercial project. When you’re installing flooring, you can face certain risks that could result in a lawsuit. As an Alberta flooring contractor, you need business liability insurance.
You need to protect your flooring business from any potential liability risks it may face on a daily basis.
Does your floor covering business serve commercial or residential clients in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, or Canmore? Wherever you are located in Alberta, Western Financial Group is a national insurance broker that has partnered with Canada’s leading insurers to meet your business insurance needs.
Our business insurance experts do the insurance shopping for you to get you a competitive commercial insurance quote that’s customized for your needs and your budget as an Alberta small business owner.
How will flooring contractor insurance protect my business?
Showing proof of insurance will give your customers confidence in your Alberta flooring business.
As a flooring professional, you know that accidents can happen. Your business could be held liable for accidents causing third-party property damage or injuries. When you have the right flooring insurance package it helps provide legal and financial coverage when something goes wrong on the job.
Here’s how a flooring contractor’s insurance package can help protect:
- A thief breaks into your flooring storage, stealing all of your tools and equipment. Your tools and equipment insurance coverage would help cover the costs to replace the supplies and equipment.
- You don’t properly dispose of residue and materials used after cleaning and restoring a hardwood floor in a client’s home. The client claims you dumped it down her sink, blocking it and taking the finish off it. She also says the odours made her sick. Pollution liability insurance could help with the client’s lawsuit of property damage and bodily injury.
- You’re driving to a job to install flooring and your van is rear-ended and the driver speeds away. Your commercial auto insurance would cover this scenario.
Who should get flooring contractor insurance?
- Carpet installation or replacement businesses
- Flooring installation and distributors
- Floor cleaners
- Stair installers
Here’s an insurance checklist for floor covering installers:
- Do you have the best business insurance rate that suits your Alberta flooring business?
- Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for your floor covering 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?
What do I need in my Alberta floor contractor’s insurance package?
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance
You work inside your clients’ premises and a client could get injured while you are installing flooring and sue you.
Without commercial general liability insurance (CGL), you would be responsible for paying any liability costs out of your own pocket if a customer were to get injured or her property damaged during a flooring installation. CGL insurance is also known as “slip-and-fall” insurance.
This type of coverage can also help protect your flooring business against allegations of false advertising, libel, or slander.
It would not be unusual to have $2 million or more in CGL coverage, depending on the size of your Alberta flooring business.
Of note: Your CGL coverage limit may only apply to your full-time employees. Check with your Western business insurance expert.
Tools and equipment insurance
This type of coverage replaces, or repairs damaged, stolen, or lost equipment and tools, accessories, or other property that you use in your floor installing business.
Anything valued at less than $1,500 is considered a tool and anything above that limit is considered equipment.
It can also be called equipment floater insurance instead of equipment and tools insurance.
Professional liability insurance
This type of insurance can help protect you from claims of negligence or failure to deliver a service as promised.
It’s also called contractors’ errors and omissions insurance. It can also help protect your flooring business or flooring restoration business from damage due to faulty workmanship or use of defective materials.
Cyber liability insurance
If your flooring business stores your customers’ names, addresses and credit card information digitally and your computer system is hacked, cybercriminals can sell this information.
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.
Pollution Liability Insurance
As a flooring contractor, this type of insurance helps protect you against claims of third-party bodily injury, third-party property damage or third-party environmental damage, including cleanup costs, caused by pollution conditions resulting from work that you do.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Your flooring business needs commercial auto coverage as part of your insurance package. Personal car policies will not cover your drivers or your flooring contractor business.
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance keeps your flooring company protected from property losses, such as theft or vandalism.
Property your flooring company may need to insure:
- Buildings and other structures
- Furniture, equipment, supplies
- Computers
- Documents such as payroll, accounts receivable
Business interruption insurance
If there is an insured loss at your flooring company that’s severe enough to prevent it from being open, the expenses associated with getting your business running again will be covered.
This type of policy usually covers vandalism, fire, wind, flooding, and other risks (make sure to understand what your policy covers). Your policy will help compensate you for lost income and expenses that you will need to continue paying even while you are unable to work.
Business interruption insurance can mean the difference between closing and not reopening.
How much insurance do I need as an Alberta flooring professional?
It will depend on the size of your flooring business and any past claims.
How much will it cost?
The cost of your flooring insurance package will also depend on its size, the type of work you do, number of employees and past claims.
What do I do if my floor installation 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 Insurance has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get your Alberta flooring company the right insurance package. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the business insurance journey to protect your small business.
