Welding and Fabrication insurance

Welding puts heat, sparks and molten metal next to other people's property. A fire started on a mobile job and a weld that fails later, like a trailer hitch or a stair railing, are the claims a welding shop plans for.

Averages are what Insureon's customers who are welders pay, from Insureon's cost page; most of its customers have fewer than five employees. Across all its small business customers, general liability runs $265 to $3,030 a year.

• Sparks from a mobile job start a fire at a customer's property
• A trailer hitch you repaired fails on the road
• A railing you built and installed pulls loose
• A helper is burned in the shop

Ask your agent, in these words:

• Would my policy pay if sparks from a mobile job start a fire at a customer's property?
• Would my policy pay if a trailer hitch you repaired fails on the road?
• Would my policy pay if a railing you built and installed pulls loose?
• Would my policy pay if a helper is burned in the shop?

A policy covers the work you describe on the application. Name each kind of work you sell, in the shop and on site, and ask whether any of it is excluded.

Welders, plasma cutters, gas bottles and a rig truck are worth listing on the tools policy.

Check your state's contractor licensing board before you take on structural or on-site work; some states and cities treat that work as contracting and ask for a license or insurance of their own.

Cities, commercial customers and your contracts can still ask for more than any state rule.

The SBA says every business with employees must carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. Insureon's average for welders is $175 a month, priced per $100 of payroll. A bond protects the state or the customer, not you; Insureon puts its yearly cost at a share of the bond amount:

General contractors, property managers, farms and commercial customers often ask for a certificate before you weld on their site. Keep a PDF on your phone so you can send it the day they ask.