Some of your concerns about California contractor liability insurance may be answered here. The general purpose of liability insurance is to protect the policy holder from the possible financial repercussions that the nature of their business may unwittingly incur. Those seeking California contractor liability insurance include any company or individual whose nature of business may be held responsible for both immediate and possible future perils to the general public or to the clients and third party members with whom that company is contracted. An example of this might be a construction company who has installed a ceiling beam that they didn't realize was faulty, only to have that beam crack and fall a few months later, causing physical injury to a person and physical damage to the structure. A California contractor liability insurance policy would, under normal liability conditions, pay the medical bills and any other damages entitled to the injured, and give a nice cushion against expensive and potentially devastating negligence trials.
Operating without California contractor liability insurance is a risky and irresponsible move and, though the expense of carrying it can seem a bit rigid, the possible consequences for you of not carrying it are for more steep than you may want to imagine. Most policies will allow for an ?additional insured? endorsement or special wording that will cover specific clients who may be effected by the actions or working conditions of your or your company, and this is another example of a good practice. When you have any situation in which a person might be injured as a result of your actions it is of utmost importance that you protect yourself, your company and any clients that seek protection and defense under your policy.
When seeking a contractor liability insurance policy you will be quoted an aggregate liability limit which will be a statement of the maximum amount of monetary damages your company will be covered for in one year under that particular policy. You will also be informed of the amount of coverage your company is covered for per claim, or per occurrence. Be sure to know exactly what your rights are, what exclusions exist in the policy and what type of litigation assistance you are entitled to should an unfortunate event occur. While the building and development trades have declined recently in California any activity carries tremendous risk that makes liability insurance not only necessary but imperative. Another detail that you may want to consider is that no matter how competitive your prices are a growing number of prospective clients will not hire a builder who doesn't carry California contractor liability insurance. The dangers are just too great to rely on homeowners policies or license bonds for coverage and you should obtain the protection that a specialized policy is designed to afford.