For trades and subcontractors
Being named on someone else's certificate is not coverage. When a claim comes, the general contractor's carrier protects the general contractor.
Send my requirementYour trade and classification
Estimated annual payroll
The insurance requirement from your subcontract
Your state
Their policy responds to claims against them. It does not pay to defend you.
A general contractor's liability policy is written to protect the general contractor. If your work damages something, their carrier can pay the claim and then pursue you to recover it.
The subcontract almost always requires you to carry your own limits, name them as additional insured and waive subrogation in their favor. That is not paperwork for its own sake, it is how they keep their own program clean.
Carrying your own policy also means you keep your loss history. Without it, every claim you are involved in sits on someone else's record and you start from zero when you go out on your own.
High-frequency trades that most standard carriers still write with the right classification.
Mechanical trades where subcontracted work and completed operations matter most.
Heavier exposure, often placed with surplus lines markets.
Lower-hazard trades that usually price well with admitted carriers.
Paste the insurance section of your subcontract and we will tell you what it actually requires.
