What Your Insurance Probably Does Not Cover

The gaps and conditions that turn a covered loss into a denied claim. Print it and read it once before you need it, not after.

The four that void claims

Voluntary payments	Paying someone or admitting fault yourself can void coverage for that claim. Let the insurer decide.
Late notification	Report incidents inside the policy window, even ones you do not intend to claim on.
Missed premium	Non-payment can cancel mid-term, voiding everything from the cancellation date.
Undisclosed change	New trades, heights, states, values or staff. Tell the broker or the cover may not answer.

Tools in a vehicle

Common exclusion	Theft from an unattended or unlocked vehicle, or with no evidence of forced entry.
What to do	Lock everything, every time. Photograph the forced entry before you repair it.
Get it in writing	Ask specifically whether tools left overnight in a vehicle are covered, and at what limit.
Value basis	Check whether you are covered for replacement cost or for what the tools are now worth.

Vehicles

Personal auto for work use	Often excludes business use. A claim while working can be denied on a personal policy.
Who is driving	Anyone driving for the business needs to be covered to do it.
Tools in transit	Usually not the auto policy. That is inland marine or tools cover.

What general liability is not

Not your own tools	That is a separate policy, usually inland marine.
Not your own bad workmanship	Repairing your own defective work is generally excluded.
Not your employees' injuries	That is workers compensation.
Not professional advice	Design or specification advice usually needs separate cover.

The audit trap

Subs without a valid COI	At audit, payments to them get reclassified as your own payroll, charged at the sub's trade rate, which is often the highest one.
So	Collect a certificate direct from their carrier before they start, and again at renewal.

Limits, exclusions and definitions differ by policy and by state. This card tells you which questions to ask; the answers must come from your own policy documents and your broker, in writing.

Sources: Your own policy schedule and wordings

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