Insurance

Since I’m new and trying to start my business what type of insurance do i need?

General liability insurance. We go through liberty mutual.

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Luke, I actually go through Liberty Mutual too. Do you guys use Joseph Walters Agency out in Ohio? I heard they are exclusive for window cleaners. I have a 2 million dollar policy that I pay about $125.00 per month for.

@Billwindow Hey there! I would carry at least 1 million in general liability. Don’t think of it as an expense, think of investment to a bunch of work you may have not been able to previously access. About 90% of the time I get asked if I have general liability. If you need it, see if you can get bonded as well, I know some places need you to be bonded too. You will stand out versus other cleaners who do not have general liability AND you can use that as leverage with bidding on new jobs. Also if you are claiming what you make, you can use that money as a deduction.

Workman’s Compensation you also need by law if you plan on hiring people on the table. When starting out though, you do not need it just for yourself but depending on where you live, you may be able to exempt yourself officially. Just worry about General Liability.

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Liberty Mutual is pretty good. I am jumping up to the 2million soon. I made the mistake for 1 to 200,000 and should of went running right out of the gate.

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You need a policy with a “Care Custody & Control” rider if you want the insurance to cover your work. General liability only covers the customer’s property in case of an accident but doesn’t cover your work. For example, with general liability, your ladder falls over and lands on the hood of the customer’s BMW, your insurance will fix it. But, if you accidentally use bronze wool on a Low-E coated picture window and ruin it, that’s on you.

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Joseph D Walters is a great agency, I pay about $125.00 per month, excellent policy. They have that care custody and control rider in the policy. They go through Liberty Mutual.

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Have you guys heard about Hiscox Business Insurance??? General Liability for $500.00/year??? I got quote with Joseph Walters, and it is 3X more.

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I have not heard. Do you have a link?

Yes I do. Tell me what you think, check it out!! https://www.hiscox.com/

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I will

Anyone have any luck with hiscox? I am thinking of using Verifly and Huckleberry. One is General Liability through an app. Similar to Esurance but you can buy insurance per job, per hour, per day, per X days, or per month. The other is online workers comp.

Here are two example quotes from Verifly for almost a year of insurance for window cleaners in San Diego zip code.

I used to have my general liability through hiscox but soon changed to a local insurance agency that could provide both liability & workman compensation which I needed to acquire large accounts. The only downfall to hiscox is their policies change based on state and they do not offer workmans compensation. I would strongly suggest bundling both your workmans comp and general to save a little ( We pay about $188 a month for both ).

$47 per month for me. I made sure I’m covered for my work (care and custody) and basic liability, the toughest thing for me to find coverage for was pressure washing but I got it. I use a local office in Johnson City, TN called Wideners. They set me up with Westfield insurance company. Of course this policy is 1million liability with no workers comp since I have no employees. Also, for a small one time fee, I can’t remember the exact term they use but I can add any company as a policy holder for companies who want to hire me as a subcontractor. They’ve been super easy to work with so far.

Yeah I have the same thing here in Central Florida. I used a local insurance office that ran a General Liability of $2 Mil, no workers comp, no employees, covers pressure wash and window cleaning. Written through Auto-Owners Insurance. I pay $495 a year. Though the local office does the subcontractor policy holders for free and will email them directly to the contractor.

I would, however, look into supplemental insurance similar to Aflac where it will cover lost wages should you have an accident while at work especially if you don’t carry workers comp. You can carry workers comp on yourself and many HOA’s will want you to carry it if you work on common areas for them as commercial jobs. More so for pressure washing than for window cleanings of community clubhouses, but if you can do both, you can make yourself stand out more.

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Mine is a 2 million aggregate. More than enough. Im under 50. Ya definitely want bailment bond too. 10k coverage is good.