Must-Have Insurance Liability Coverages for a Pest Control Business
Posted on Jun 23, 2020Liability insurance protects businesses of all types from claims that happen from normal business operations. For a pest control business, though, there are additional liabilities to consider. It’s important to make sure you have the right kind of liability insurance protection to meet your needs today, and as your pest business grows.
Pest Control Business Liability Risks
All businesses face some liabilities as they go about their operations. If you’re in the pest control business, you face a few additional pest control liability insurance needs that other companies don’t always encounter.
These are things traditional business liability insurance might not routinely provide coverage for, such as:
- Auto accident risks. Pest control employees travel from one job site to the next, spending a lot of their days in vehicles carrying chemicals and pesticides that can cause additional damage in accidents.
- Pollution possibilities. Most pest control companies utilize chemicals that can be harmful pollutants if not used in a precise way, in specific amounts, or as otherwise prescribed by the manufacturers. Failing to do so can result in pollution, your business may be responsible for (legally and financially).
- Workers injured or becoming ill on the job. This is a considerable liability for businesses – especially if it is discovered that you didn’t employ effective safety measures.
- Property damage. This refers to damage your employees and inspectors may cause while investigating properties. Your employees must sometimes crawl around in crawl spaces, attics, and various areas inside the home to see where a vermin might be congregating and multiplying. They can sometimes cause damage to the house during their investigations.
Sometimes it is the unintended consequences of employee actions (or inactions) that can do the most damage. Fortunately, there are types of liability insurance products your pest control business can purchase to help protect you from these actions.
How Liability Insurance Can Protect Your Pest Control Business
These are some of the insurance products you can purchase for your pest control business and information about how they can protect your business from the types of actions listed above.
- Pest inspection damage liability insurance. This offers protection if you or your employees damage property while inspecting or treating for termites. Not only does it help to cover the costs of the repairs, but it also covers the costs of your legal fees and any settlements for damages reached in the case as well – up to your plan limits.
- Pollution and fumigation liability insurance. You use many chemicals as part of your business. If a pesticide or other chemical becomes part of a pollution event, through an accident, mistake, etc., this type of insurance protection covers your business.
- Auto liability insurance. While not unique to pest control businesses, this liability protection is essential to your business because your employees spend so much time on the road, traveling from one job to the next. Plus, if accidents occur, there are additional risks and dangers, because of the chemicals you carry.
- Care, custody, and control liability insurance (similar to professional liability insurance). This protects you if you or your employees mishandle or misapply the chemicals under your care in a manner that causes harm or damage. You are tasked with safeguarding these materials. However, mistakes and accidents occur. When they do, this protection helps you deal with the fallout of these accidents and errors.
- Workers’ compensation insurance. While not explicitly intended to provide liability protection for businesses, that is part of what workers’ compensation does for your business. By providing for lost wages and medical expenses related to on-the-job accidents, injuries, and illnesses, you are creating a layer of protection for your business. If death occurs on-the-job, the family or designated survivors of the employee will receive death benefits as well.
- Umbrella and excess liability insurance. While all of these liability insurance protections are important for your pest control business, there may be occasions when they are not up to the task. Judgments may exceed the limits of your coverage. This is where umbrella and excess liability protection kicks in, offering coverage beyond your current plan insurance limits.
Most pest control businesses need all of these types of liability insurance to have sufficient protection. Work with a trusted, independent insurance agency, like Otterstedt Insurance Agency to help determine the best amount of coverage at the right cost, and if you have additional liability needs to consider.
Contact Otterstedt Insurance Agency Today
Because every business is unique, even within the pest control industry, you may have specialized pest control public liability insurance needs, besides general liability insurance.