Howdy folks, For all you fearless stud muffins out there who run a shop and a truck: Do you have “garage keepers” insurance for the equipment you work on in the shop? I’m thinking this is not for machinery, just for cars? Do you also have “inland marine” insurance for the mobile service truck(s)? I’ve just been running with 500K of general liability, and I’m thinking it’s not really enough. Thanks for any insights!
I run a 1M “garage policy” for my business. Covers my service truck and general liability. Different contractors have different requirements. One way to look at it is, if the worst thing happens, no matter how much you’ve got, they’re gonna get it all.
Not in the mechanic side of the business but I'd highly recommend an inland marine policy with the kind of $$ you mechanics have tied up in tools and special tooling. We currently carry a $20K misc tool rider on our inland marine policy. Back in the mid 2000's our tool trailer was hit on the job site - the bastards stole everything including our 10HP Honda engine on the portable hydroseeder. Insurance company wrote us a check for the max coverage at the time which was $15K.
Best to talk to broker about what you have and get them to recommend coverage, also if you email what you want covered in the event they screw up and miss something, you will still be covered.
Here in Alabama if it's not listed specifically on your policy it's not covered. Just renewed our GL, WC, Auto and Inland Marine last week. The policy was free but we had to pay $10K a piece for the 5 knock-off Yeti tumblers our insurance agent gave us with their name on them..
AFAIK .. Your general Liability only policy covers everyone else if you hit them, you break their machine, you run them over, you forget to replace the oil plug, etc. You are hanging out without any coverage or protection against loss. If your truck and or contents burns up, is stolen, wrecked, or otherwise lost to you... you're SOL.. Get yourself covered ASAP.
Thanks for the tips. I don’t really think I have an issue with the inland marine. They quoted me something like 350 bucks a year for $20K in coverage. I think that covers for loss, even like me losing something, which happens. So that alone is worth it. My real concern was the garage keepers. I don’t touch anything automotive, and everyone I talk to who has that coverage does work on automotive. In other words, nobody I spoke to, who just works on machinery and equipment (in the shop or in the field) has that coverage. My agent is trying to sell it to me, for a grand a year. That’s really the core of my issue. I’ve been in business for about 7 years, and I have insurance. I’ve been looking into making sure I have enough insurance without going overboard.
Ask your agent what your GL covers. GL should cover "completed work" but I don't know how that ties into repair work. For instance our GL will cover us if a pipe collapses in a parking lot and creates a sink hole under completed work. If we damage another trades work on a job it will cover that as well. $350 is pretty cheap for $20K coverage.
GL in a commercial business is far different than GL on an automotive policy. Basically it covers the liability of your business, assuming you tell your agent what you’re doing as far as the scope of you’re work, you should be covered. I’m not familiar with inland marine so I cannot speak for it. I believe my policy has 10K in tool coverage which wouldn’t put a dent in a full loss situation.
I would be screwed if so. When my truck was stolen I found out my broker never added $10k tool coverage to my policy, but they covered me because I had emailed proof I told broker to add it. Also found out I was driving my dump truck for around 6 months with only PLPD because again incompetent broker, good news is neither time was I back charged to the date I actually wanted the coverage, just the date it was found to be wrong. Considering GL seems to increase 15% every year, i'm not complaining about savings no matter how I get them.
One thing to consider with tool coverage is single item limit, I know mine is $2500, i'm assuming anything over that they want item specifically listed on policy with serial numbers.
You are in Canada, I am in Alabama - completely different set of rules and regs. Good for you for being covered.
I have a few things that would cost over 2500 to replace, but not a whole lot. The welder (Lincoln), the hose crimper (weatherhead), lathe (atlas) to name a few. I actually think that's about it, I could certainly itemize those
Inland marine is cargo insurance.
True in addition to a lot of other stuff too - "Regardless of the term “marine,” an inland marine insurance policy typically covers property on land. Inland marine insurance is an offshoot of ocean marine insurance coverage. Originally, insurance companies offered “ocean marine” insurance to protect owners from losses of goods shipped by water in the event the ship sunk or was seized by pirates. Over time, individuals and businesses began shipping cargo beyond the major port cities and required protection from losses of goods while in transit over land. With the creation of inland marine insurance, insurance companies began offering protection for goods shipped beyond the major bodies of water and port cities. Today, inland marine insurance provides coverage for a broad range of miscellaneous types of property in transit and onsite." https://www.thehartford.com/marine-insurance/inland-marine-insurance
When I first started working on appraisals of personal property we were told people put riders on their current insurance policy to cover the expensive stuff in their homes. When I started doing the study work for insurance adjusting I found that to be false for the most part in the state that I work, Washington State. Art, jewelry, firearms, tools and tooling, collectibles, fine furniture and so on have a separate Inland Marine policy written and many times will require an appraisal by a third party expert before coverage is applied. The appraisal will confirm existence, assess condition factors, describe the asset in writing usually with photos, research the most common markets and provide an opinion of value. Business insurance may have different language or procedures in that type of policy for coverage on personal property. I have been in court because an agent didn't get the serial numbers on the contract and there was a theft. The insurance company denied coverage because of the missing number and the owner had to go to court to force the insurance company to pay for the loss. It was an important lesson to the owner and to me that agents are never to be trusted, insurance companies will do what ever they can to limit losses and that owners will need to provide as much information as possible when insuring their iron. Bill of sales, ID numbers, general descriptions and photographs of the property may be necessary to back up an insurance claim. I also learned that lots of adjusters and "appraisers" will low ball pay off offers in order to continue working for the insurance companies.
As a follow up, I did get the inland marine. I called out specifically the expensive stuff like the welder, compressor, hydraulic kit, hose crimper, crane, etc. They had a stipulation about what being "permanently attached" meant. So, when in doubt, I called it out, make model and serial. With everyone stealing everything in sight these days, it made me feel a little better. Now, let's see how fast that good feeling goes away the next time I get ripped off, and they don't pay squat. Also see how fast my payment goes away I didn't go for the garage keepers. That seems like it's just for cars. I spoke to a few local shop owners, if they didn't work on automotive stuff, they didn't have garage keepers.
I have full insurance on my service truck and liability on my older second service truck( it sits at the house, can't find help). I have a million $ GL policy and I just recently had to get the Garage Keepers Policy..( Cover Wallet Inc.)..for $100K of insurance, for my shop. Its for one of my bigger customers (they required it) it doubled my insurance cost to have it. I work on mostly dirt equipment and some of there little Isuzu trucks. So yes it will cover construction equipment. Hope it help....Good luck