It’s that time of year: looking back on lessons learned in the preceding months, and planning ahead for an even more successful 2018.

That means it’s the perfect time of year to review your commercial insurance policies and making any updates necessary to protect your equipment, your workers, and your company as a whole.

Workers Comp Insurance

For contractors particularly, classification and workers comp issues can be a challenge. Like all business owners, you have your eye on the bottom line—but don’t make the mistake of trying to pay less for workers comp insurance as a result of misclassifying employees as contract workers. Ultimately, you will pay a far higher price.

Not sure how to classify your employees? Contact an expert—your attorney, your accountant, or your insurance agent—to get the professional insight you may need.

Equipment Protection

Do you need an equipment floater to protect your costly equipment? Or is an inland marine policy going to do the trick?

Construction equipment represents a tremendous business investment. You need to protect it from damage, vandalism, and theft. Your insurance agent can help you decide the best approach to protect your tools and machinery.

Business Interruption Insurance

Insurance is an investment, too, and you may try to keep costs down by avoiding policies that may seem less important to you. But the fact is, business interruption insurance could be vital if your business has to close down temporarily due to a property loss resulting from fire, storm damage, vandalism, or theft.

After all, you will still have to make payments for taxes, loan payments, suppliers, rent or mortgage, and other obligations. But with your income temporary slashed, how can you do that?

That’s where business interruption insurance comes into play. This type of policy provides the money you’ll need to deal with those types of expenses.

Not all business interruption policies are created equal. Some many also provide funds for some time after your business re-opens, until it reaches its pre-incident income level. And not every business needs business interruption insurance, since some business property insurance policies may include wording that covers loss of income. Review your current insurance policies to determine whether you should consider business interruption insurance—or give us a call. We’ll be happy to review your policies with you.

Builder’s Risk Insurance

Sometimes called “course of construction” insurance, this type of coverage insures buildings under construction—in addition to the equipment and materials used to build the project.

It’s an important coverage if you’re working with fragile materials—or in areas that are prone to severe weather. (This type of policy will probably exclude some acts of nature, such as flood or earthquake, however.) Some builders risk policies even cover theft of building materials. This policy may also cover damages resulting from negligent workmanship, flawed materials, or a flawed design. Coverage terminates when the building is completed or occupied.

Not sure whether builder’s risk overlaps with coverage you may already have through a bond? That’s where your insurance agent’s expertise can prove invaluable.

There’s no better New Year’s resolution than protecting your livelihood. Don’t let this year end, and the new one begin, without a thorough review of your commercial insurance policies.

ContractorHelpers.com is offered by Insurance Partners, Inc., which has specialized in contractors insurance for more than 35 years. If you have questions about your contractors insurance coverage, contact us.