We carry it. $2/$4 mil. We previously had $1/$2 but upping it to $2/$4 cost us $50 a year. It's also a business owners policy so covers theft, electronic damage, damage to premises rented etc. We have a staff and office space. The GL policy is required by our property manager and is a common requirement for our contracts.

Our policy is ~$600 a year compared to ~$35k for our E/O.

Everyone that I know caries general liability insurance. In addition to the items listed above, it also covers your vehicles, rental cars, etc.

Mike Lambert

I'm not sure about vehicles. If you don't have any corporate autos you can probably buy a "hired / not owned" policy endorsement to cover driving personal cars. Once you have a corporate auto this is generally handled by corporate auto insurance.

Keep in mind I'm not an insurance agent or expert so check with someone who is to verify.

Same here. We have it. Covers us in case we do something stupid on a jobsite like back over a control valve or something similar.
Ours also covers non-owned vehicles...meaning if one of my associates is driving his/her car on a jobsite, it covers it.

My CGL costs less than $1000 a year.

i have engineers visiting sites and climbing on top of and around buildings routinely. i have this insurance. corporate auto too. i view insurance as a cost of doing business.

I also have general liability insurance for similar reasons to what Triangled, Ron, and jdgengineer have said. I can't remember the cost right now, but it is much more affordable than PL insurance.

Knock on wood I have never had to use the insurance. I was on the roof of a building with a client once, when a gust of wind blew our ladder down and it landed on someone's car parked close by. Luckily it was just a car and not a person that the ladder landed on, and luckily the ladder in question belonged to my client and not me, so his insurance covered the damage to the bystander's car. I assume this is the type of thing that a general liability policy would cover.

p.s. Lesson learned, I always tie off my ladder to the gutter now if there is one available.

I get the same request. I just send them my PL binder and it usually keeps them happy.
I don't carry GL or WC. The chance of me causing a problem on a job site is about nil and I am willing to take that risk.
I figure between my auto policy, my PL policy and my own pocket, I am covered.

My first client was a multi state contractor and corporate required that engineering vendors carry a $1 million GL policy (naming contractor as additional insured) and a PL policy. The GL is fairly inexpensive ($400 a year).

Quote (joehvac)

My first client was a multi state contractor and corporate required that engineering vendors carry a $1 million GL policy (naming contractor as additional insured)

My policy won't even let me do "naming contractor as additional insured". It is a ridiculous request that forces them to essentially sue themselves.

It's a pretty common request in contracts to have the client named as an additionally insured in GL and auto policies. Typically, you don't add additionally insured to you PL policy.