Plumbing insurance encompasses a variety of policies designed to protect plumbers in case something goes wrong on the job.
This article details what plumber insurance is, what it covers, how much it costs and factors determining cost, and lists the top plumbing insurance providers.
What Is Plumbing Insurance?
Plumbing insurance is a type of coverage that keeps plumbers from paying out of pocket for legal fees, medical expenses, or repair costs due to accidents or property damage.
Insurance for plumbers is essential due to the inherent risks of the plumbing business, including property damage and bodily injury expenses and the potential for costly lawsuits.
Depending on your policy, plumbers insurance can cover:
- Medical expenses if the plumbing job injures a client or employee
- Legal fees for defending lawsuits against claims of negligence or business mistakes
- The cost of repairing stolen or damaged plumbing tools or equipment
- Expenses associated with a car accident when traveling for work
- Lost wages or disability benefits if your employee gets hurt while working
Items Not Covered In Plumbing Insurance
Some situations aren’t typically covered by plumbing insurance, including intentional damage, flood damage, and general wear and tear.
Intentional Damage
Plumbers business insurance doesn’t cover damage caused intentionally by you or your employees. So, while the viral revenge videos showing plumbers undoing their work due to nonpayment might be fun to watch, it’s better for your wallet (and your reputation) to have good insurance (and a solid contract) in place.
Flood Damage
Damage caused by flooding isn’t typically covered by plumbing insurance unless the flood is due to a mistake the plumber made while working on a project.
Wear and Tear
Plumbing insurance does not typically cover wear and tear of your plumbing tools and equipment from daily use.
What Types of Insurance Do Plumbers Need?
As the expenses of running your plumbing company can quickly add up, you might wonder: “Is plumbing insurance worth it?” While the answer depends on you and your unique business situation, you should ask yourself if you would be able to financially swing paying for medical expenses, repairs, lost or damaged tools, or defending lawsuits–or if those costs would be enough to put you out of business.
However, you can save money on plumbing insurance by only purchasing the coverage that you need. If you need multiple policies, insurance companies often offer you a discount if you bundle policies.
The right type of business insurance for plumbers depends on their particular business needs. For instance, residential plumbing insurance for a one-man business might include a general liability policy and tools and equipment insurance, while a plumbing company with multiple employees would likely want to add on workers’ compensation insurance.
Common plumbing insurance policies include:
- General liability insurance: Plumbing liability insurance helps pay for bodily injury and property damage expenses, as well as legal fees for personal injury claims.
- Professional liability insurance: Professional liability insurance (aka errors and omission insurance or E&O insurance) for plumbers helps protect you if someone accuses you of negligence or making a mistake. It can cover breach of contract, missed deadlines, and copyright infringement issues.
- Business property insurance: Business property insurance can help protect your company’s building and the tools and equipment it contains.
- Workers’ compensation insurance: Workers’ compensation helps cover medical expenses, lost wages, and disability benefits if an employee gets hurt while working. Many states legally require plumbers with employees to have workers’ compensation insurance.
- Product liability insurance: If you sell plumbing products to your customers (such as garbage disposals or water purifiers) you should consider getting product liability insurance, as it helps protect you if a product you sell causes injury or property damage.
- Tools and equipment insurance: This is a type of inland marine insurance that covers the cost of repairing or replacing your tools and equipment if they are damaged, lost, or stolen.
How Much Does Plumbing Insurance Cost?
Plumbers insurance cost depends on several factors, including your location, number of employees, the type of work you do, your claims history, and your coverage limits.
Let’s take a deeper look at each of these factors and how they affect plumbing insurance cost.
Business Location
Your location influences the cost of insurance. For example, your insurance premiums might be higher if your plumbing business is located somewhere with a high crime level or that is regularly affected by natural disasters.
Number of Employees
The more employees you have, the greater the risk of an accident that could result in injury or property damage.
Nature of Your Plumbing Work/Types of Projects You Work On
Plumbing companies engaged with higher-risk projects will generally pay more for plumbing insurance. For instance, a plumber who strictly works in residential homes would likely pay less for coverage than a plumbing business that works on government or industrial projects.
Claims History
The cost of plumbing insurance depends in part on your claims history. Typically, the more claims you have, the more your insurance will cost.
Number of Policies
If you only need one policy you will likely pay less than a plumbing company that needs multiple policies (although you can often get a discount for bundling policies).
Amount of Coverage
Typically, the more coverage you need, the higher your insurance premium. Larger plumbing companies or those with increased risk levels may require additional coverage in the form of endorsements or umbrella insurance (a policy that offers extra coverage once you exceed your policy limits).
8 Best Plumbing Insurance Providers
The best insurance for plumbers is customized to cover their unique needs. We rounded up the top eight plumbing insurance providers so that you can choose the right company to insure your business.
Next Insurance
Features
Next offers online quotes, transparent pricing, and insurance descriptions written in simple, easy-to-understand language. Plumbers have access to multiple business insurance policies through Next, including:
- General liability
- Professional liability
- Commercial property
- Tools and equipment
- Product liability
- Workers’ compensation
Pricing
Pricing depends on your unique company. Next offers Basic, Premier, and Deluxe coverage packages based on your needs. When we filled out a quote form for a plumbing business with six employees and a $250k yearly revenue that works on both residential and commercial projects, Next offered its Premier package for $1,694.03/month. Premier coverage includes general and professional liability coverage and tools and equipment insurance.
Benefits
Next’s well-designed, easy-to-navigate website, fast quotes, and industry-specific coverage options make it an excellent choice for plumbing businesses of all sizes. Its insurance packages are customizable after purchase.
The Hartford
Features
The Hartford offers customizable business insurance options specifically for plumbers. It recommends starting with its BOP, which includes general liability, commercial property, and business interruption insurance (which helps pay for lost income if your company has to close temporarily due to a covered event).
Pricing
You can start a quote online. However, if The Hartford can’t fulfill your insurance needs, it will suggest connecting with its partner Tivly, an online insurance agency. You can get a quote through Tivly by submitting your contact info or calling the company directly.
Benefits
The Hartford’s website includes a wealth of information about many insurance topics, including the average cost for different policies, which is always a plus. It can insure small and large plumbing companies alike. The Hartford also provides the option to include employee benefits as part of an insurance package.
Travelers
Features
Travelers offers many of the insurance options plumbers need, including:
- General liability
- Property
- Workers’ compensation
- Professional liability
Its INDUSTRYEdge program helps address coverage gaps for certain industries (including plumbing) by combining multiple policies in one.
Pricing
You can use Travelers’ online tool to find a local agent and get a customized quote.
Benefits
Travelers’ INDUSTRYEdge professional services program enables professionals in specific industries to combine essential policies, including general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, and umbrella insurance. It gives business owners access to specialized risk control resources, such as on-site assessments and a collaborative learning website.
CNA
Features
CNA has a wide range of insurance options suitable for plumbers, including:
- General liability
- Professional liability
- Property
- Workers’ compensation
- Equipment breakdown
Pricing
While online quotes are available for some industries, plumbers must call CNA (877-243-2930) or use its agent matching or agent search tool to connect with an agent and get pricing.
Benefits
CNA’s insurance products include CNA Connect–its business owners policy, and CNA Paramount, its commercial package. CNA Connect is designed for small businesses and has property and general liability coverage for over 600 classes of business and over 300 optional endorsements.
Midsize businesses may do well with CNA Paramount, which includes property, crime, umbrella, and customized and extended general liability coverage.
Gallagher
Features
Gallagher is an insurance brokerage that partners with top insurance carriers to provide the best coverage options to its customers. Its business insurance policies for plumbers include:
- Property
- General liability
- Workers’ compensation
- Professional liability
- Product recall
Pricing
You can fill out an online form with information about your company, and Gallagher will provide quotes from some of its carriers. For our fictitious plumbing business with $250k annual revenue and five employees, Gallagher gave us a quote from insurance provider Hanover for $7,827.99.
Benefits
Plumbers who are part of an association, franchise, or group may be eligible for group purchasing discounts, personalized coverage options, and the ability to conduct online customer service and sales transactions.
Gallagher also partners with other companies (such as UPS, Constant Contact, and Lenovo) to offer its customers perks and discounts.
Farmer Brown
Features
Farmer Brown offers industry-specific coverage options for a wide range of professions, including plumbers. Its small business insurance offerings for plumbers include:
- Inland marine (covers the cost to replace or repair equipment that is lost or damaged at your worksite or in transit)
- General liability
- Commercial property
- Workers’ compensation
Pricing
Farmer Brown gave us a quote of $2,595.68 (annual) for general liability insurance for a plumbing business with five employees making $250k/year and conducting both residential and commercial work.
Benefits
Farmer Brown advertises quick insurance, and if you fill out a form with your business information you can get an instant quote, which is a relief for busy plumbers. It also provides average costs for different policies, specifically for plumbers.
Business Insurance Center
Features
The Business Insurance Center offers the basic policies plumbers need, including general liability, property, and workers’ compensation insurance.
Pricing
You can fill out an online form or connect with an agent via chat to request a quote.
Benefits
The Business Insurance Center has an online quote request form, a 24/7 call center, and a live chat option, making it easy to get answers to your insurance questions.
Simply Business
Features
Simply Business is an insurance broker that offers many of the policies plumbers need, including general liability, workers’ compensation, and equipment and tools coverage. It matches customers with quotes from multiple insurers so they can choose from several coverage and pricing options.
Pricing
When we filled out Simply Business’s online quote form for a plumbing business located in Florida that focuses on residential projects, we were provided with the following starting prices:
- Workers’ compensation: $44/month
- General liability: $21/month
- Contractor’s equipment and small tools: $27/month
Benefits
When you visit Simply Business’s website it provides you with a form to get a customized quote for your line of work right away. It gives you starting prices for different policies (not including the required premium down payment). Its website is straightforward to use, and it explains and defines terms in a way that is easy to understand.
FAQs
What insurance is best for plumbers?
At a minimum, plumbers should have general liability insurance to protect them from paying out of pocket if a customer gets hurt due to their work or if they accidentally damage someone’s property. It can also help cover legal costs arising from personal injury lawsuits (such as if someone sues them for libel or slander).
However, depending on the nature of your business and whether you have employees, you may also want to get professional liability, business property, workers’ compensation, product liability, and tools and equipment insurance. Many insurance providers will bundle policies together to save you money and ensure complete coverage.
