Why Small Business Owners Need to Have Proper Liability Insurance for Painters

Painting is one of the most popular business industries in the world. But like any other business out there, painting has its share of risks. Some of these risks are minor but others are serious and can have a negative implication towards your painting company.

To protect your painting business against such risks, you must ensure that you get proper liability insurance for your painters. Small businesses in particular will need liability insurance because of their limited budget. But generally, every business in the painting industry needs liability insurance for its painters.

In this article, you will discover some of the major reasons why you should have proper liability insurance for your painters as a small business owner.

1.  To Protect Your Business Assets

Painting companies need to obtain general commercial liability insurance policies to protect their business assets. This kind of insurance will protect your business from property damage and bodily injury claims. For instance, when your employee spills turpentine or some paint on a customer’s floor covering, general liability insurance will cover the cost of replacing or cleaning these floor coverings. And if the homeowner slips and falls as a result of the spill, the insurance will protect the employee from the injury claims.

In general, the insurance covers all the costs related to the claim and that includes the cost of defending the lawsuit. In addition, the insurance pays for the damages not exceeding the coverage purchased. Any damages that go beyond the coverage amount must be paid by the company even if it means that you have to liquidate your business for you to do so.

2.  To Protect Your Personal Assets

If you are running a C corporation, an S corporation or a limited liability company, then you know that you and your business separate legal entities. What this means is that your personal assets are not in any way affected by your business losses. For example, if you have to pay for damages that exceed the coverage purchased, your personal assets are safe even if the coverage and the business are not enough to cover the damage.

But this is not the case if you are running a sole proprietorship. In this case, you and your business are not separate legal entities. What this means is that you are personally responsible for the losses that your business makes. So if your business is not enough to pay for the damages, you will have to give up your personal assets to pay for the remainder. For this reason, you need to ensure that your insurance policy is sufficient enough to protect both your business and your personal assets.

3.  You are Responsible for Your Employees

As a painting company, you can be held responsible for any accidents that your employees cause away from the business premises. For this reason, you may want to protect your business from different types of risks that your business is susceptible to. For instance, an employee driving a company car/motorbike presents a risk to your business if they are involved in a road accident. Such a situation is not covered in the general liability insurance policy. This means that you will need additional liability insurance such as the automobile policy to cater to the damages and/or injuries as a result of the accident.

4.  To protect your Job Opportunities

When homeowners hire uninsured painters, they risk exposing themselves to expensive mistakes. For instance, if an uninsured painter suffers an injury while on the job, this is a liability to the homeowner. Additionally, if a painters company does not have insurance for its painters, it means that the company does not have a regular painting staff. This could also mean that the painters are inexperienced such that the company cannot guarantee the quality of work the employees will provide. No one wants to risk all that and that's why homeowners will always ensure that they confirm the liability insurance before they can hire your services.

What this means is that companies that have their own insurance have the advantage of getting hired over the companies that do not insure their painters. You will need a continuous flow of jobs to ensure the continuity of your business. Additionally, companies that are interested in government painting projects are required to be fully insured and bonded before they can bid for the jobs.

Conclusion

If you are in the painting business, it is for the sole reason of earning profits and growing a huge business. But this will not be possible if you are always defending lawsuits and paying for damages and injuries with your profits. At the end of the day, this might lead to bankruptcy. This is why you will need TradeRisk painters insurance to prevent this from happening.