[LES]

I am trying to get started in NJ setting up a landscape construction company. The business is a sole proprietorship, there are no other employees, there is no machine equipment to insure. The company will be providing the services of hardscape and plantings...that's it no lawn maintenance no irrigation. I am trying to do this by the books so I am looking to obtain a NJHIC # before doing any work and I need to get a liability policy first in order to get that HIC#. After several hours of phones calls to multiple insurance companies and the State of NJ (yeah...big help they are). I am so glad we don't own a firearm I might have used it by now. Even inserting the bullet into my head manually would be less painful than talking to the dopes at NJ's Chamber of Commerce.
I only have one question no one can answer. So I am turning to you all for some insight:
Can I use a 500,000 dollar personal liability policy instead of a 500,000 dollar general contractor liability policy on my HIC application?
Even my homeowners' ins. co. can't give me a real answer. Please help if you can!!! Thanks!

[jwholden]

Why do you want to use a personal policy to run a business?

[TrickyDick]

I can't really answer your question except to say I would be shocked if that were allowable. The level of liability risk for an individual is nowhere near that of a contractor, even if the contractor is just one individual. I can't imagine personal insurance would cover something that happened in the course of doing business. I also don't know why your insurance company can't answer the question. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Stonehenge]

I have no idea whether you could use it, but I would bet that the insurance co that holds your homeowner's policy would not pay any claims having to do with your business, making you personally liable.

But I'm not sure why you would have a hard time getting business insurance. Unless there was already a track record that made you a bad risk for some reason.

[HRLand]

middletoninsurance.com

[Greensmith]

Did you download the HIC application? What does it say for the insurance policy? I think they required me to have a 1 Million Biz Liability policy when I applied a couple of years ago. I have to send in proof of insurance when I renewed but it was just the continuation of what I had so I can't remember sorry.

The policy wasn't that expensive even covering property/equipment and liability. Hell of a lot cheaper then damage from property or legal action.

[familyguy]

most commercial work will require a minimum 1 mil insurance to land work. (business liability insurance) which in ri costs a small percentage of your payroll (just u in this case) course their is a minumum to own a policy but it can't be more than 1k at the most. well worth the security and peace of mind though.

u really should be careful about trying to cut corners with things that can be difficult to understand like legal and insurance stuff. get an insurance agent you like and let them write you a standard policy for what you do. there have been many before you so it is a fairly common policy.