Some inexperienced contractors may think that their contractor general liability insurance covers all the likely risks that they may face in their work. Such contractors may not know that they may need riders or separate policies for certain risks that could have been excluded from the general liability coverage. This article discusses some of the additional risks for which you may need additional business insurance coverage.

Protective Professional Indemnity

It is wise for you to acquire some form of protective professional indemnity. This insurance cover protects you against any risks that may occur as a result of a professional subcontractor that you may have hired to perform some work at a site on your behalf. For instance, you may require an engineer to take charge of shoring an excavation site. Your general liability insurance may not protect you in case the excavation site walls cave in. Protective professional indemnity would be there for such an eventuality.

Mitigation or Rectification Coverage

Contractors can incur high costs to correct a mistake that is discovered when construction work is still going on. For example, a construction surveyor may discover that one internal wall is not as straight as it should be. The contractor then has to break it down and install it correctly. Such a cost is covered by mitigation or rectification insurance policies rather than contractor general liability cover.

Pollution Liability Cover

The recent awareness about environmental protection has created a new risk for contractors. They can be sued for any suspected release or dispersal of contaminants and irritants (such as dust, fumes, smoke and acids). Such a risk may be excluded from your contractor general liability cover. Get a separate policy or a rider to your existing policy so that such eventualities find you with an insurer who will meet the costs associated with this risk.

In-House Professional Services

The roles of contractors have now expanded to cover roles that were originally the preserve of professional entities, such as architects. For example, you may need to redesign a section of a property when a client requests for a change order. Any risk that results from the design services that you perform may not be covered by your general liability policy. A rider or separate policy covering those in-house professional services can come in handy in such situations.

Find an insurance adviser who will assess all the risks that you need coverage for before you take on any project.