General Liability Insurance for contractors
Third-party bodily injury and property damage protection for your operations — and the important clarification that GL does NOT cover your tools. We coordinate your GL with a tools floater so the gap between them is closed.
What it covers
- Bodily injury to visitors, other trades, and the public
- Property damage caused by your operations
- Products-completed operations for finished work
- Defense costs and legal fees when you're named in a lawsuit
- Additional-insured status for GCs and project owners
- Personal and advertising injury coverage
Who it’s for
- Any contractor with third-party exposure
- Crews whose GCs require additional-insured certificates
- Operations bidding commercial or multifamily work
- Contractors who need to understand what GL does NOT cover
Why CCA
- GL placed clearly with the tools gap explained up front
- Additional-insured and waiver-of-subrogation endorsements fast
- Coordinated with your tools floater so liability and gear are both covered
Common questions about general liability insurance
No — and this is the most common and costly misconception in contractor insurance. GL covers third-party bodily injury and property damage, not your own tools or equipment. Stolen and damaged tools are covered under a tools & equipment (inland marine) floater. We build both so the gap is closed.
GL covers third-party claims — a visitor hurt on your jobsite, damage you cause to someone else's property, a completed-operations claim after your work is done, and the legal defense costs when you're sued. It does not cover your own injuries (workers' comp) or your own gear (tools floater).
Additional-insured status extends your GL to the GC for your operations, so if a third-party claim arises from your work your policy responds first. It's a standard contract requirement, along with a waiver of subrogation and primary/non-contributory language. We issue these routinely and fast.
Most contractors carry $1M per occurrence / $2M general aggregate for GL. Commercial and multifamily GCs often require $2M or $5M limits — we add an umbrella to reach them. We size limits to what your contracts actually demand.
GL is usually rated on payroll, subcontractor cost, or revenue, depending on the class. Accurate classification and documented loss control keep the premium fair. We document your real operation so you're not rated on a worst-case guess.
No. Independent subcontractors need their own GL and should name you additional insured. If an uninsured sub causes a loss, you can be pulled in. We help set up certificate tracking and additional-insured requirements so subcontracted work doesn't become your liability.
A tools & equipment (inland marine) floater covers your tools, scheduled at replacement cost, on the jobsite, in transit, and on your truck. We coordinate GL (for liability) with a tools floater (for your gear) so you have the right coverage in the right place — and no gaps.
Yes. Once your program is bound we turn around additional-insured certificates, waivers of subrogation, and primary/non-contributory endorsements — usually within minutes. GCs and project owners often won't let you start work without proof of coverage.
Most contractors pay $500-$2,500 a year for a scheduled tools floater, typically 1-3% of the total scheduled gear value, modified by deductible and theft-loss history. We quote the full program in about 15 minutes and show every market's price.
Yes. Contractors Choice Agency is licensed in all 50 states and writes tools & equipment programs for contractors from the highest-theft markets to the storm-rebuild surge zones.
About 15 minutes for a standard scheduled-tools program. Once bound, we turn around certificates, schedules, and additional-insured endorsements usually within minutes.
We write tools & equipment at replacement cost so stolen or destroyed gear is replaced new, not depreciated. ACV policies can pay pennies on the dollar for a $600 nailer — replacement cost keeps you working.
Yes — a scheduled tools floater covers theft from your truck, trailer, and jobsite, subject to the policy terms and deductible. Some policies carry a higher theft-from-unattended-vehicle deductible, which we review carefully.
Schedule anything of meaningful value — nail guns, miter and circular saws, lasers, generators, compressors, mobile equipment, and specialty gear. We help you build the schedule with make, model, serial number, and replacement value, and update it as you add gear.
Yes. High-value mobile equipment should be scheduled separately at agreed value so a total loss pays what it's really worth. Generic policies undervalue this gear — we list each unit individually.
Often, yes. We have excess-and-surplus (E&S) inland marine markets for contractors with loss runs, prior thefts, or cancellations that standard markets decline. Bring your loss runs and gear schedule.
If you haul material packages that could be lost, damaged, or stolen in transit or before installation, yes. An installation floater covers materials from the supplier's truck until they're installed and accepted — closing a real gap.
You reach a person with context, not a queue. We respond within 2 hours, help you document the loss (police report for theft, photos, schedule), and manage the claim with the carrier so it's paid correctly and you can replace gear fast.
Tools and equipment coverage lives in the inland marine market — a specialty class most generic agents don't understand. A specialty broker knows which carriers write scheduled gear at replacement cost and how to manage a tools-theft claim so it pays.
Pair it with related coverage
Ready to protect your tools and equipment?
Get a 15-minute quote from specialists who understand contractor gear — scheduled tools floaters, mobile equipment, installation floaters, equipment breakdown, and commercial auto.