Seeking business insurance

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I do cabinetmaking, refinishing and on site touch ups. I'm doing it part time but i still need to protect myself because the chemicals I use.... Should they get on a carpet, or god forbid someones house catches on fire or i start a flood from a screw I put into a water line....

What type of insurance do u small shops have? I also work out of my home and am spraying flammable chemicals. I do however have an explosion proof heater for the colder days.

What type of ins do u guys have for on the road and in the shop....shop meaning if mr house catches fire and ins co finds out i could be screwed.

james mcgrew

Member

We carry W Comp, Business general liability, Commercial Autos and stored materials along with shop contents tools etc.

Kilgore Trout

Member

You need to evaluate what you are doing in light of more than just insurance. Particularly zoning laws. You could have good insurance coverage, but if you are in violation of zoning or other laws, they will not pay. Get legit.

harold morantz

spaying flammables in your home?? Like the previous post said. Go legit or you could wind up in big trouble. you will not get insurance under your present situation. Many of us started in our garage and we feel for your situation, but you are taking some feally big chances. Harold.

Business insurance

I appreciate your feedback. I was "legit", as I had a 3,500 sq ft shop until the economy and my not willingness to do things for cheao, shut me down full time.

Moving forward, I'm asking a question about biz ins and I don't need a lecture on what you feel is right from wrong

Kilgore Trout

Member

Why not go back to when you were 'legit' and copy the types of insurance you had then? I am sure it is similar to what James M suggests.

My point is that even if you have full and wide coverage, paid in full, if you are in violation of even seemingly insignificant things, your claim will be denied. Read the policy. The fact you ask such a question here.......

Business insurance

Your comment doesn't even warrant a response other than the one I'm doing now.

james mcgrew

Member

Unfortunately None of us here can see thru a computer screen on a forum, the posters who offered some decent input are regular and reasonably decent contributors, I have been here with them for years. I can only imagine whatever caused your response but hey like I said its a computer screen. all of us used our real names it is easy enough to find our businesses and we post to help, sometimes we cannot see if the person is friendly or upset. I took your post to mean damage in peoples homes, personally I will not set foot in residential for no one, call me anything one wishes but hey "its my thing" on the issue of words,, one can have different views, I look at the word "Cheap" as a level of Quality not a price.

D Brown

General liability and completed products should cover you adequately .Talk to an insurance agent .Check on local rules as well.
You can get the general liability and such without covering your shop building if the zoning is wrong you would be covered when working elsewhere .

David R Sochar

Member

Your secondary responses contradict the open attitude in your first post. Why the angst? Don't like the responses? Want to shoot the messengers?

Spraying finishes in a residence where you live will cause real physical damage - slowly by inhalation, or quickly as in flash fire. No 'insurance' will help you thru either problem.

As you no doubt learned when you were "legit", any insurance agent will inspect the premises he is insuring and will base his rate on what he finds. It is his risk, he has the right to do this. If you deceive him ("No, no finishing in here, sir") and there is a claim, even if it has nothing to do with finishing, they will not pay.

You asked for advice from professionals and got it. The fact is you don't like what you hear, about insurance or what you hear from fellow woodworkers.

By the way, if you do blow up your own house/shop, you just lose (no matter whether it is a mortgage, rental or if you own it free and clear), and then have nothing to fall back on, so any lawsuit is a waste of time. If you burn down a client's house, they will try to sue, find you have nothing, and then probably go away. So.....why worry about it?

Business insurance

Thx Dbrown.

I'm really disappointed at how the quality of help on Woodweb has deminished over the years.

People make such ignorant assumptions about my situation. People think I'm just some idiot woodworker who doesn't know or understand any if this.

I've already been in contact with my insurance agent and can very easily be covered for my onsite work, along with should I happen to make my house go poof.

I merely wanted to see what other people are doing.

Obviously some people have nothing better to do with their time than to write me nasty private messages and assume I haven't done my homework. :-)

David B

Member

When I moved from a shared 2500 sq ft commercial space to a purpose-built shop behind my home not being able to get insurance was the biggest hurdle that almost killed the deal, even though I do no finishing and have no plans to. This was a few years after 9/11 and getting new insurance for anything was next to impossible. My commercial insurer told me flat out they would have to drop me if I became a residential based business. I was finally able to get my homeowners insurance company to insure both home and business since they also had a commercial line. After they inspected the new shop they raised my rates $3K per year since I was now in an all-wood building and, as they said, if the business burned down they would have to pay for the house too. Gulp.

We've since moved back into a larger commercial space and have separate insurance policies again. General liability and completed operations, business contents including in transit and at job sites, auto including non-owned autos, workers' comp, and a $2M umbrella policy. We do a lot of work in expensive homes and high-rises but with the type of work we do the exposure is relatively low, we're closer to delivery people or painters than carpenters in terms of risk to people and property.

I would think that if you come clean with your insurer they might offer coverage on your home that specifically excludes anything caused by spraying or storing flammable materials, especially if you've taken steps to minimize your exposure with proper flammable material storage and handling and decent ventilation. That way a least you'd be covered for all the normal risks that everyone else faces and you can take your own steps to minimize your risk of blowing yourself and your house up.

glen

Just contact an insurance broker and all of your questions will be answered. It is free and it will be cast in stone. If he says that you have no problem spraying flammables in a garage or in customer's homes then you are good to go. You know that is not going to happen.

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