Commercial Insurance for Ontario Businesses

• Commercial general liability (CGL). Pays when your business is legally responsible for injury to someone else or damage to their property. It also covers legal defence costs. Common limits are $1 million and $2 million per occurrence.

• Products and completed operations. Covers claims that arise after you finish a job or sell a product, such as a fire traced to installed equipment.

• Commercial property. Covers the building you own or the contents, stock, tools and improvements you have in a rented space.

• Business interruption. Replaces lost income and pays ongoing expenses when a covered loss forces you to close for a while.

• Equipment breakdown. Covers sudden failure of machinery, electronics and systems that a standard property policy may not.

• Tools and equipment (contractors' equipment). Covers tools and equipment that move between job sites and vehicles.

• Installation floater. Covers materials and work you have installed but not yet handed over.

• Commercial auto and fleet. Covers vehicles used for the business. See our commercial auto pages for trades and fleets.

• Non-owned and hired auto. Covers liability when employees use their own vehicles or you rent vehicles for work.

• Cargo and goods in transit. Covers goods you carry for customers or for your own business.

• Professional liability (errors and omissions). Covers claims that your advice or professional work caused a client a financial loss.

• Cyber liability. Covers costs after a data breach, ransomware attack or fraud, including notification and recovery.

• Umbrella and excess liability. Adds liability limits above your primary policies.

• Tenant's legal liability. Covers damage you cause to the space you rent.

• Crime and employee dishonesty. Covers theft of money or property by employees and certain frauds.

• Directors and officers. Protects the leaders of non-profits and companies from claims about how they ran the organization.

• Pollution liability. Covers cleanup and claims from spills and contamination, which standard liability policies often exclude.

• Builder's risk and vacant building coverage. Covers buildings under construction or sitting empty.

You rarely need all of these. Our job is to recommend the ones that match your real exposures and leave out the ones that do not.

We place contractors and trades, home service businesses, landscapers and snow removal companies, restaurants and food trucks, retail and online shops, consultants and freelancers, health and wellness practitioners, workshops and manufacturers, and many more. See the full list on our business insurance by industry page. If you do not see your business, call us.

A certificate of insurance is a one-page summary that proves you have coverage. It is not the policy, and it does not add coverage. Clients often ask for:

• A minimum liability limit, such as $2 million

• Additional insured status, which names the client on your policy for the work you do for them

• A waiver of subrogation

• Proof that your policy is current

We can set up the right wording on your policy before the certificate is requested, so you are not turned away at the job site. Once your policy is in place, we can usually turn certificates around quickly.

Insurers price commercial policies on the details. Expect questions about:

• What your business does, and what it does not do

• Annual revenue and payroll

• The number of employees and subcontractors

• Your years of experience

• The location and condition of your premises

• Your claims history for the past several years

• Whether you use subcontractors, and whether they carry their own insurance

Complete and honest answers keep your policy working when you need it.

It happens more often than most owners expect. Insurers may decline or cancel because of claims, the type of work, a recent start-up, an older building or an incomplete application. Specialty markets take many of these risks. We look at why you were declined, fix what can be fixed, place the policy in the right market and plan for a move back to standard insurers when your record improves.

You can get insured before you have a track record. Bring a short description of the work, your experience, your equipment list and your expected revenue. Experience in the trade counts even if the company is new.

There is no single right number. These questions help:

• What is the largest claim your business could realistically face? A serious injury can cost far more than a property loss.

• What do your contracts require? Many general contractors and property managers ask for at least $2 million.

• What would it cost to replace your tools, stock and equipment today, not what you paid for them?

• How many weeks could you stay closed, and what would your costs be during that time?

• Would an umbrella policy be a cheaper way to add limits than raising every primary policy?

We walk through these with you and recommend limits you can justify to a client or a lender.

1. What exactly is covered, and what is excluded?

1. Does the policy cover work I do after the job is finished?

1. Are my tools and equipment covered in vehicles and on job sites?

1. Does the policy respond to claims about my subcontractors?

1. What is the deductible for each coverage?

1. Are there limits on certain services, such as snow removal, roofing or pollution?

1. Can you add additional insured wording and a waiver of subrogation for my clients?

1. What happens if I hire more people or take on a different kind of work?

1. Is business interruption included, and for how long?

1. How would a claim affect my renewal?