Using Short-Duration Insurance to Protect Your Freelance Handyman Business
What Type of Insurance Do You Need?
The type of insurance you choose will vary widely depending on the nature of your work and your business. However, most types of handyman insurance policies cover a few key elements such as:
- General Liability Coverage: protects you from any liability for injuries to yourself, your clients, or their possessions. A common example is a client tripping over a toolbox or cord and injuring their ankle or wrist. This coverage will help with their medical bills and limit the client’s ability to sue you and potentially go after your business and personal assets. General liability coverage will also cover damage to property, like paint spilled on a client’s carpet or a window that was broken during the repair process.
- Workman’s Compensation: protects both you and the people you hire to work alongside you. If you are injured and unable to work, this insurance policy will help cover your wages. If you take on an employee or hire another contractor for a large project, then this will also cover any injuries that they experience. This form of insurance is required in many states to protect employees.
- Equipment and Commercial Auto Insurance: covers any damage to specialty equipment or vehicles that you may use for the job. Fleet insurance will protect you in the event that you get into an accident in your work vehicle.
Some handymen need more insurance than others. For example, if you work with a team of contractors, then you may need workman’s compensation coverage. However, solo freelance repair workers may only need general liability coverage.
What Is the Difference Between Broad Coverage and Short-Duration Insurance?
The need for different types of insurance based on the work you do can get overwhelming – especially for freelancers who are new to the profession or who provide handyman services as a side gig.
Fortunately, there are options to fit your needs.
- Broad Coverage Insurance: is used over a long period of time – typically over the course of a year. You may pay a monthly fee to have the insurance regardless of the work that you do. This is a good option if you have an established business where you do the same amount and type of work each month. (For example, a house painter who typically takes on ten jobs per month.)
- Short-duration Insurance: is used for specific jobs that you accept. The coverage only lasts for as long as the work does. For example, if you respond to a plumbing emergency that takes four hours to fix, the insurance will only cover those hours. If you take on a week-long project, the insurance will cover the project from the start date to the last hour you need to work on it.
Short-duration insurance is ideal if you take on a wide variety of jobs that vary in size and frequency. For example, you will have different insurance needs if you work on two major projects in one month and then take on 20 different tasks the next month.
Short-duration insurance can also be an affordable alternative to general liability business insurance. This is because it takes a percent of your earnings rather than a flat fee, regardless of what you make.
How Can You Get Short-Duration Insurance?
As the gig economy continues to grow, more companies are working to support the freelance community and find convenient, affordable options for necessities like insurance.
Coterie simplifies insurance for businesses by allowing freelancers to get coverage for specific jobs and for the duration they need.
As a handyman, you can take advantage of our services by joining the HOMEE network of home professionals. HOMEE connects handymen with property managers and homeowners, offering home services on-demand. You can use the network to find work and automatically get short-term insurance for every job you take, so you can rest easy knowing that you and your business are covered.
Join HOMEE’s Pro Network today to gain new customers and win over homeowners in your area with your repair and maintenance skills.
