Protect Your Work, Crew & Tools
Contractor Insurance in Minnesota
We are an independent agency in Willmar and Olivia that places contractor insurance through multiple carriers, so the limits on your certificate clear Minnesota's licensing requirement instead of matching whatever one company happens to sell.
Artisan Contractors
Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, and roofers.
General Contractors
Builders managing entire residential or commercial projects.
Remodeling & Renovation Companies
Contractors working on additions and upgrades.
Specialty Trades
HVAC installers, masons, flooring experts, and more.
Coverage Built Around the Job, Not a Standard Program
Johannes Agency has written contractor insurance out of west central Minnesota since 1992. We know what a Kandiyohi County remodel looks like, what rides in a trailer between Olivia and Willmar every morning, and how much has to get finished between frost out and freeze up. That is the account we build the policy around.
Because we are independent, we take your operation to several carriers and compare what each one will do with your payroll, your trades and your loss history. A one-truck painter and a general contractor running four crews and two trailers do not belong on the same program, and neither one should be quoted as though they do. Contractor coverage sits alongside eight other named industry programs and our
full range of business coverage.
The Six Pieces Most Contractor Accounts Are Built From
Contractor insurance can be tailored to your trade and project size, but most contractors need these standard coverages:
General Liability
General liability responds to claims that your work damaged someone's property or injured someone who is not on your payroll, and it is the coverage the state and the general contractor both ask to see.
Commercial Property
Covers the shop, the office, the storage yard and the equipment kept there.
Workers’ Compensation
Workers' compensation pays medical care and lost wages when an employee is hurt on the job, and Minnesota requires it as soon as you have employees.
Commercial Auto
Insures the
trucks and trailers that move your crew, your tools and your material between job sites.
Tools & Equipment Coverage
Tools and equipment coverage follows hand tools, power equipment and machinery on the job site, in the trailer and in transit, which is where most of it actually gets stolen or broken.
Builder’s Risk Insurance
Covers the structure and the materials while the project is going up, before there is anything to hand over to a homeowner's policy.
What Minnesota Actually Requires on a Contractor Policy
Residential building contractors and remodelers licensed through the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry have to meet set insurance minimums before the license is issued. These are numbers you can hold a quote up against.
- General liability of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate.
- At least $25,000 in property damage coverage.
- A liability policy covering premises, operations and products, and completed operations.
- Coverage written by a carrier licensed to do business in Minnesota.
- Proof of workers' compensation compliance submitted on a DLI-approved form with the application.
- The Department of Labor and Industry listed as certificate holder on the certificate you file.
A contractor whose gross annual receipts from residential work come in under $15,000 a year can apply for a Certificate of Exemption rather than a license. That threshold is easy to cross in one good season, so it is worth revisiting before you take on the job that pushes you over it.
Meeting the minimum and being adequately covered are two different questions. A $100,000 per occurrence limit satisfies the state; it does not go far on a house fire traced back to your work. We quote the required limits and then show you what the next limit up costs, along with the
current requirements published by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.
Need a Certificate of Insurance Before the Crew Shows Up?
A certificate of insurance is the one-page proof that your policy exists, who it covers, what the limits are and when it expires. When a general contractor, a property manager, a homeowner or the state asks for "your insurance," this is the document being asked for. It is not the policy and it does not change your coverage.
Three requests get confused with each other, and they are handled differently:
- A certificate names you and your limits and goes to whoever needs to see them. That is a phone call.
- Additional insured status extends your liability policy to cover the general contractor or property owner for claims arising out of your work. It is a policy change, it is a separate request, and a certificate alone does not accomplish it.
- The certificate filed with a license application lists the Department of Labor and Industry as the certificate holder, which is different from the certificate your general contractor wants.
Call the Willmar office at 320-235-2540 or the Olivia office at 320-523-1150 during business hours and a certificate goes out from the same people who wrote your policy. Tell us who needs to be named and whether additional insured status is part of the request, and we will tell you what it takes.
Questions Contractors Ask Us Before the First Job of the Season
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Is contractor insurance required in Minnesota?
For licensed residential building contractors and remodelers, yes. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry requires general liability of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate and $25,000 in property damage, plus proof of workers' compensation compliance. Workers' compensation is separately mandatory for nearly every Minnesota business with employees, licensed or not.
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How much liability insurance does a Minnesota contractor need?
The licensing minimum is $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate, with $25,000 property damage. General contractors and commercial owners frequently require more, often $1 million per occurrence, before they will let a subcontractor on the site. We quote both so you can see the difference in premium before you turn down work over a limit.
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Do I need a contractor license in Minnesota to remodel a bathroom?
Yes. If you hire subcontractors, you’ll want to confirm they carry their own liability and workers’ compensation coverage. Otherwise, you could be held responsible for their claims.
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Can I get a certificate of insurance the same day?
Usually yes. Call the Willmar or Olivia office during business hours with the name of the party that needs to be listed and we issue it from here. If the request also involves adding an additional insured, we will confirm what the policy allows before the certificate goes out.
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What does a general contractor need for insurance to get on a job site?
Most general contractors want a current certificate showing general liability at the limit named in the contract, workers' compensation, commercial auto if vehicles come on site, and themselves listed as an additional insured. Send us the insurance requirements page out of the contract and we will read it against your policy before you sign.
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Do subcontractors need their own insurance in Minnesota?
Yes, and collecting their certificates before work starts protects you directly. An uninsured sub's injury or damage claim tends to land on your general liability and your workers' compensation payroll audit. Ask every sub for a certificate showing general liability and workers' compensation, keep it on file, and check the expiration date against your project schedule.
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Does general liability alone satisfy a Minnesota license requirement?
No. The license requires general liability at the state minimums and separate proof of workers' compensation compliance on a DLI-approved form, even for a contractor with no employees, who files the appropriate exemption. Submitting only a liability certificate is a common reason an application comes back.
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What changes when my crew grows from one person to four?
Workers' compensation becomes the biggest line on your policy and your general liability rate moves with payroll and receipts. More trucks, more trailers and more tools spread across more job sites usually mean commercial auto and equipment limits need to move too. Tell us when you hire rather than at renewal, so the coverage matches the crew you actually have.
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What is the difference between general liability and builder's risk?
General liability responds when your work injures someone or damages someone else's property. Builder's risk covers the project itself, the structure and the materials, while it is under construction. A ground-up build or a large addition generally needs both.
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Can Johannes Agency insure a one-person operation?
Yes. Solo operators are a large share of the contractor accounts we write, and we place them through the same carriers we use for full general contracting crews. As the operation grows, the policy grows with it instead of being rewritten from scratch somewhere else.
Serving Minnesota and beyond
Talk to Someone Who Has Read a Minnesota Contractor Certificate Before
Bring us your current policy, the insurance requirements out of your next contract, or just the limits you were told to carry. We will tell you where you stand and what your options across our carriers look like. A person answers the phone at both offices during business hours.
Willmar 320-235-2540 | Olivia 320-523-1150
