Final Verdict
When it comes to picking the best business insurance for carpenters, the right fit depends on the type of coverage you want and your preferences. Our review found that Nationwide offers the best general liability insurance for carpenters and the best BOPs. However, if workers’ comp is your top priority, CNA offers the most competitive policies, especially if you only have a few employees.
If you want the best customer service, Acuity has a relatively low complaint rate and numerous employee medical benefits other insurers don’t offer. Finally, if you’re struggling to qualify for coverage, RLI had the highest acceptance rates for new workers’ comp applicants.
More Ratings of Top Commercial Insurance Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
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Carpenter liability insurance covers you in case someone sues your business because of damages caused by your work. Damages include property damage caused by you and your employees as well as injuries you may cause to someone who doesn’t work for you. To cover employee injuries, you need an additional workers’ compensation policy. You can find a policy’s coverage amounts by getting an online quote or talking with an insurance agent.
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Carpenter liability insurance costs $85 per month, according to Insureon. Workers’ compensation insurance for carpenters costs, on average, $282 per month. The actual amount your insurance will cost depends on many factors, like the type of insurance you want, the insurer you work with, your location, and your number of employees.
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If you have employees, every state except Texas requires your carpenter business to have workers’ compensation insurance. Your clients may also require you to have liability insurance, depending on the contract terms. If you lease a physical location, your property manager may also require you to have a general liability policy.
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If you’re a self-employed carpenter, you need liability insurance to protect your business against lawsuits. You may need insurance to protect your equipment and vehicles, too. If you have employees, you would need to cover them with workers’ compensation insurance in case they get injured on the job.
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General contractor insurance policies usually have higher coverage limits than carpenter insurance and cost more. This is because general contractors could be supervising more projects and have more equipment versus a carpenter. That said, both types of policies cover similar risks like liability and property damage.
Methodology
For this review, our researchers collected data on seven of the top carpenter insurance companies in the country. First, we researched their general liability, workers comp, and BOP insurance policies. We then rated them across a number of categories.
Quote Rate (40%)
Qualifying for carpenter insurance quote is not guaranteed, especially if you’ve had claims in the past. Some insurers are much tougher than others. We pulled the rate at which a company provided a quote for all types of insurance through Insureon’s marketplace. Insurers with higher quote rates scored higher.
NAIC Index (30%)
To measure customer satisfaction, we pulled the complaint index for each insurer from the National Association of Insurance Commissions (NAIC). The NAIC builds this index to show how many complaints an insurer receives versus the average insurance company, adjusted for market size. Therefore, a lower NAIC index meant fewer complaints than average, which meant happier customers. This led to a better score for our review.
Average Premium (20%)
Since price is a factor, we checked the average premium quote by insurers for each type of carpenter insurance. The data came from Insureon. Insureon did not release the exact policy specifics and coverage amounts for each policy. For this reason, the average premium quoted was not the most important factor for scoring.
AM Best Rating (10%)
AM Best is an independent rating agency. It measures the financial stability of insurance companies to give them a letter grade from D (Poor) to A++ (Superior). If an insurance company runs into financial trouble, it could struggle to pay its carpenter insurance policy claims. For this reason, companies with a higher rating receive a higher score in our review.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.