Contractors working nationwide
Every state sets its own licensing, insurance and workers compensation rules. Working across a state line means tracking all of them, and the gaps between them are where contractors get caught.
Your licence, your workers compensation and your payroll reporting. Licensing is state level and reciprocity is limited to a handful of states with comparable requirements. Workers compensation is written and regulated state by state, so a policy for one state generally does not cover an injury in another. Payroll has to be reported by state at that state's rates and classifications.
General liability is more portable than any of those, but the policy should still list where you operate. Assuming portability without checking is how a contractor ends up with a claim in a state the policy never contemplated.
Multi state contractors are audited more often and adjusted more heavily than single state contractors, for a straightforward reason. Payroll earned in one state reported under another state's rate understates the premium all year, and the correction arrives as one bill. Reporting by state from the start costs nothing extra and prevents the entire problem, which makes it one of the highest return administrative habits a contractor can have.
Eight coverages cover almost everything a construction business faces. They do different jobs, and buying one does not cover the others.
Third party injury and property damage caused by your operations.
Medical care and lost wages for your own injured employees.
Vehicles used in the business, including owned, hired and non owned.
Your tools and equipment against theft, damage and loss.
The project under construction, plus materials on site.
A guarantee of performance or payment, not a transfer of risk.
Extra limits above your underlying policies once those are used up.
Claims from design work and advice, which general liability excludes.
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Tell us your trade, payroll and the states you work in. A licensed specialist will come back with real numbers.
