General Liability Insurance for Contractors

General liability is the policy a GC, property manager or homeowner asks about first, and usually the first one a new contractor buys. It pays when your work injures someone else or damages their property: the dropped tool that cracks a countertop, the leak from a fitting you installed. It doesn't cover your own tools, your employees or the cost of redoing your work. This page covers what GL includes, what to check before you buy and how five providers compare. For workers' comp, auto, tools and bonds, see our full guide to contractor insurance.

What contractors need from general liability insurance

General liability is third-party coverage. It responds when someone outside your business is hurt, or their property is damaged, because of your work. For a contractor, that breaks down into a few practical pieces:

• Premises and operations. Damage or injury while you're working: a dropped tool cracks a granite countertop, a homeowner's kid trips over your hose.
• Completed operations. Damage that shows up after you've left. A water heater connection that fails three weeks later and floods a finished basement is the classic case, and it's the coverage trade businesses use most.
• Legal defense. The policy pays for your defense when someone sues over a covered claim, which can cost more than the claim itself.
• Personal and advertising injury. Narrower, but it covers things like a defamation claim over your advertising.

What GL won't cover catches new contractors off guard: injuries to your own employees (workers' comp), your trucks (commercial auto), your tools (inland marine or tools coverage), and the cost of redoing your own bad work. Many policies also exclude certain operations, like work at height or residential new construction, depending on the trade.

How the picks compare

NEXT is the easiest start for most trades: quote, buy and get a certificate online in one go. Hiscox is a strong alternative for lower-risk work and adds professional liability. Insureon is where a roofer or tree service should start, since one application reaches carriers that actually want that work. Thimble fits contractors who work job to job. biBERK is a useful direct-carrier comparison. Get at least two quotes with the same limits and endorsements, so you compare like with like.

Certificates of insurance, explained

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page summary that proves you have coverage: carrier, policy numbers, limits and dates. GCs and property managers ask for one before you start, often naming themselves as the certificate holder or additional insured. A certificate by itself doesn't add anyone to your policy; the additional insured endorsement does that, so if a contract requires it, make sure the endorsement is on the policy and not just typed onto the certificate. Online insurers like NEXT let you issue certificates yourself in minutes. Collect the same document from every sub you hire, and check the dates.

What to look for before you sign

• Your exact trade on the policy. A "general handyman" class may exclude electrical, plumbing or roofing work you do.
• Limits that match your contracts. Many GCs specify per-occurrence and aggregate limits; check before you buy.
• Additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and noncontributory endorsements, if your GCs require them.
• Completed operations coverage, so claims after the job is finished are covered.
• Exclusions for subcontracted work, height, or residential construction.
• Instant certificates. Waiting three days for a certificate can cost you the job.
• A clear claims process with a phone number and a human.

What it costs

There's no reliable average GL premium for "contractors," and we won't invent one. Here's what's published as of October 2026 and how the price changes as you grow.

	Solo contractor	5-tech shop	15-tech shop
Published floor	NEXT from $19/mo; Hiscox from $30/mo (low-risk classes)	Same floors apply, but quotes rise with revenue	Same floors apply, but quotes rise with revenue
What moves the price	Trade class and claims history	Revenue grows, contracts often require higher limits	Higher revenue, more jobs and subs, often an umbrella policy on top
Best way to buy	Online with NEXT, Hiscox or Thimble	Two or three quotes, including a multi-carrier agency	An independent agent or multi-carrier quote, reviewed yearly

GL is often rated on revenue, so a shop that doubles its sales should expect its premium to rise at renewal or audit. Higher deductibles lower premiums, and a clean claims record is the best long-term discount. Thimble publishes only a $17/mo starting figure, and biBERK and Insureon don't publish prices, so quotes are the only way to know.