Handyman, and woman, businesses provide general maintenance and repair services to their customers. Generally those customers are home owners who do not have the time or skill to take care of home repairs themselves.
An estimated 91,000 handyman specialists work in the United States and most of those are independent contractors who work alone. Handyman businesses and franchise opportunities exist as well, and those outfits employee multiple maintenance and repair personnel. Whether you are a solo entrepreneur providing all services yourself, or you employee others to service a larger customer base, you will benefit from having handyman liability insurance.
General liability insurance for handyman contractors provides sole proprietors and small business owners with a number of different benefits. These benefits are designed to protect you professionally, and protect your business, if something goes wrong.
As a handyman, there are numerous potential risks you may encounter each day. These risks are higher for your profession because of the nature of your work. You travel to multiple client locations, access the inside and outside of clients’ homes, and provide maintenance and repair services of many different types. There are many moving parts, and this increases your chances of having something go wrong.
Handyman insurance helps you mitigate the legal and financial impacts of these risks.
Say, for instance, you are called by a client to come and clean their gutters. You take your equipment to the client’s location and proceed to provide the services as requested. While you’re working, the client knocks over your ladder and it hits them in the head. The injury causes them to need immediate emergency care at the hospital. That client will expect you to pay for transportation to the hospital, the emergency room visit, and any related medical care costs they may incur. Handyman insurance benefits you by paying for expenses related to these types of bodily injuries.
Likewise, a customer may call you repair a hole in their living room wall. While in the process of making these repairs, you accidentally damage electrical wires in the wall you’re working on. Property damages of this type are another benefit provided to you by handyman liability insurance. The policy will pay for repairs or replacement. When applicable, it will also pay for your legal fees, settlements, or judgements if you are sued for the damages.
As a handyman contractor, you may routinely sell products to your customers as part of your services. Maybe you recommend a specific type of paint, deck coating, or weed killer. When there is a problem with products you’ve recommended to customers, they are likely to blame you. Maybe a product is recalled due to defects, or maybe the customer simply has an allergic reaction to products you used. Handyman general liability insurance includes protection for services rendered and products. Whether there is a problem with services you provided after they’re finished, or there is a problem with products you used, recommended, or sold, this part of your policy will pay related reparations.
Another benefit of having handyman liability insurance is for personal and advertising injury claims. Personal injury claims are when a person or business accuses you of making them look bad. Maybe they feel you slandered them in your advertising, and they sue you for damages. Advertising injury claims can also include accusations of trademark or copyright violations too. You may use an image in social media marketing that the photographer claims you had no right to use. If you are innocent of these claims, your handyman insurance policy pays for the legal defense costs incurred.
As you grow your business, you may elect to rent or lease workspace to house your tools and equipment. Leasing business space puts the property owner at risk of loss if you or one or your employees causes damage to the property. Because of this risk, property managers generally require businesses to carry general liability insurance because it provides premises damages protection. This benefit in your policy ensures that the property owner will not be left to pay for repairs and replacements themselves if your company damages the property while using it.
As you can see, the many benefits of handyman insurance far outweigh the small cost of coverage. Contact your insurance specialist today to ensure you’re company is fully protected from these types of risks from the start.
