General Contractor Insurance

Contractor insurance packages could protect your business from a variety of business risks, including financial losses related to:

Damage to someone’s property

A hammer slips and crashes through a living room window. Your liability coverage could help pay for its replacement.

Accidents that hurt someone

A homeowner trips over your extension cord, breaks their ankle and asks you to pay their medical expenses. Your business liability coverage could help pay for medical costs and legal fees.

Workplace injuries

Your employee needs medical care after they injure their finger with a drill. Workers’ comp coverage could help cover medical bills and lost wages while they recover.

Injuries and damage involving business driving

You get into a fender bender with your work truck. Commercial auto insurance could help pay for repairs and temporary rental vehicles.

Theft or damage to your tools

Motor failure puts your compressor out of commission. Tools and equipment insurance, an optional add-on to your general liability coverage, could help with costs.

Damage to your own property

A water pipe bursts in your office and floods the space. Property insurance may help cover replacement or repair costs.

Once you have a ERGO NEXT policy, you’ll have 24/7 access to proof of your insurance (also called a certificate of insurance, or COI) via web or app. Log in to your account, download your COI instantly or deliver it via email or text at no additional cost. Get unlimited certificates and add an additional insured as you need them.

Absolutely! We know this is a common need for contractors, so we’ve given you the power to create certificates of insurance and add additional insureds right from your customer account, 24/7, with Live Certificates. You can read more about our Live Certificates and how they work here. If your contractor needs special language on the certificate or other forms (called endorsements), please send a sample certificate to support@nextinsurance.com and an agent will be happy to review those requirements with you.

Yes, you can hire subcontractors under your insurance policy. ERGO NEXT requires your subcontractors to:

• Have legally-required licenses
• Carry their own business insurance with limits equal to or greater than your own
• Name you as an additional insured on their policy

You’ll need to keep this documentation on file in case of a claim.

Of course. In this case, we recommend filling out an application for our general contractor policy. Please review the subcontractor requirements carefully, so that in case of a claim, you’ll have all of the necessary paperwork.

Your business must have an active general liability policy with ERGO NEXT to get tools and equipment insurance. You can add tools and equipment coverage to your existing liability policy to help protect your gear if it is damaged or stolen. The easiest way to get an accurate quote for this type of coverage is to get a free, no-obligation quote.

This depends on your business structure. ERGO NEXT has coverage for independent contractors, freelancers, sole proprietors, LLCs, and more. If you’re a registered LLC or corporation, our policies may offer coverage for your reported W2 employees. And it could also extend excess or umbrella coverage over a subcontractor’s (a 1099 employee) own business insurance policy.

If you subcontract out your work, you could still need general liability coverage for these four reasons:

1. You may still be at risk of causing damage during a site visit, especially if you run projects that are remodels or additions, where a client’s property is potentially vulnerable.
2. You could still be at risk for personal and advertising Injury in your business advertising, which can include situations like accidental copyright infringement, defamation of character or some other form of non-tangible harm.
3. You could still be held responsible if you instruct your subcontractors to perform a task that results in an injury, especially if your instructions changed the actions or processes of your subs.
4. You could still be held responsible for certain actions of your subcontractors, as you were responsible for hiring them and overseeing them.

If you do minor repair or maintenance services, the ERGO NEXT handyman policy is limited to small jobs. It’s not a fit for work that might require a license, permit or inspection. If your operations scale larger, or if you have a specialty, we recommend taking a look at our general contractor policy. Note that all of our business insurance policies require that you have the legally required licenses for the work you do in your state. Be sure to check your local rules to make sure you’re compliant.

If your state requires a license to do a job, we do too. However, in most states where insurance is a requirement to get your license, you can buy your policy before you get your license on the condition that you agree to have all required licenses in place before working. If you’re not operating your general contractor business legally, it’s likely that an insurance claim won’t be covered. If your state doesn’t require you to carry a license for a line of work, you are welcome to apply for a policy.

It takes about 10 minutes to get a business insurance quote online with ERGO NEXT. We’ll ask a few questions about your business — like what you do, your location, what type of events you sell at, how many people you employ and the vehicles you use for work. You’ll choose your options and see prices. If you like what you see, you can buy online and get a certificate of insurance (proof of insurance) on the spot.

If you’re a policyholder, simply log in to your account and file a claim. We’ll contact you shortly to go over the details. Our support team is standing by to help.

We're sorry to see you go. But if you need to cancel your policy:

1. Log in to your account using your email or phone number
2. On the homepage of your customer account, click the arrow to the right of the policy you’d like to cancel
3. Click "Cancel coverage"

Once you follow the prompts and submit your request, we'll process the cancellation effective immediately. You’ll receive a confirmation email and a pro-rated refund within a few business days.