Chimney Sweep Insurance
A chimney sweep business must be protected against possible lawsuits, commercial property theft or damage, and various other risks.
Written by
Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
Reviewed by
Cara Carlone is a licensed P&C agent with 20 years of experience. She has her P&C license in RI and TX and holds CPCU, API, and AINS designations.
Chimney sweepers inspect, clean, and repair residential and commercial chimneys. Chimney sweeping involves a detailed and sometimes dangerous process that can potentially cause damage to a home or building, and your business must be protected against this risk and others. Having the right chimney sweep insurance can help you prevent losses due to lawsuits, commercial property damage, theft, and more.
A local independent insurance agent can help you assess your risks and find the right insurance for a chimney sweep business. They'll get you matched to the appropriate amount of coverage. But first, here's a breakdown of chimney sweep insurance, what it covers, and why it's important.
What Is Chimney Sweep Insurance?
Chimney sweep insurance or chimney sweeper insurance is a special form of business insurance tailored to meet the needs of professionals in the industry. These policies consider the various unique risks faced by chimney sweeps, such as damage to customers' homes and possible resulting lawsuits. Without chimney sweep insurance, your business could have to pay possibly large financial losses out of its own pocket.
Why Do You Need Chimney Sweeper Insurance?
Chimney sweeping involves climbing ladders and scaffolding, working in cramped spaces, and inspecting the structural elements of a chimney, among other dangerous tasks. Meanwhile, you’re working on someone else’s property, exposing not only your business and your employees to danger but your clients, too. Chimney sweeper insurance protects your business from various exposures that come along with the nature of this work.
For example, if you cause damage to a client's property, it could cost you thousands of dollars in damages. If a third party sues you for causing them an injury or property damage, you’d be responsible for covering the cost of any medical expenses or property repairs in addition to your own legal fees. A lawsuit could financially devastate your business and even result in bankruptcy without the appropriate chimney sweep liability insurance.
In addition, you face property losses, such as to tools, equipment, and other valuable commercial property, from a variety of sources, including fire, theft, severe weather, and vandalism. Being a properly insured chimney sweep can help you prevent these devastating losses and others.
Why Chimney Sweepers Need Liability Insurance
Chimney sweepers must carry commercial general liability insurance (CGL), which protects against lawsuit expenses related to third-party injuries or property damage caused by you or your business. If, for example, a vendor slips and falls on your premises' floor while delivering supplies to your business, your CGL insurance could cover the cost of related medical care, as well as legal costs that could arise if the person sued you.
As a chimney sweeper, you face a variety of other liability risks as well. The equipment you use to clean chimneys may present an attractive nuisance to children, leaving you susceptible to lawsuits if injuries occur.
Also, the process of cleaning a chimney can result in property damage from soot and creosote entering the residence or building, causing damage and even an illness risk. You also have “completed operations” exposures that are covered by your CGL policy, which includes things like fire or carbon monoxide poisoning that occurs if your cleaning results in a blocked chimney. Some clients may even require proof that you have CGL coverage before they will work with you.
Chimney sweepers may also need the following additional types of liability coverage:
- Cyber liability insurance: This provides coverage in the event of a data breach involving your business and helps pay for the costs of notifying affected clients, as well as public relations and investigation costs, and more.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This covers your business if an employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices like sexual harassment or discrimination.
- Commercial umbrella insurance: This is also known as excess liability coverage, which provides supplemental liability protection beyond the limits of certain other liability policies.
An independent insurance agent will help ensure you build a complete chimney sweeper insurance policy.
Other Important Coverage Options for Chimney Sweep Businesses
You may also need additional coverage for your chimney sweep business. Talk to your independent insurance agent about your need for the following:
- Commercial property insurance: This covers costs related to theft, damage, or destruction of your business's buildings, inventory, tools, and equipment caused by covered disasters like fire and vandalism.
- Business interruption insurance: This provides a continued stream of income and continues to pay other expenses like employee payroll during temporary business closures due to covered disasters like a fire.
- Flood insurance: If you work in an area prone to natural flooding caused by heavy rainfall, snowmelt, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc., you may need to add flood insurance to your policy.
- Employee dishonesty and crime insurance: This protects your business from the costs of theft, dishonesty, and fraudulent acts committed by an employee or a criminal. It provides coverage for forgery, alteration, theft, unauthorized electronic funds transfers, credit card fraud, computer fraud, money order fraud, and counterfeit fraud.
- Inland marine insurance: This covers your business's tools, equipment, and supplies against damage, destruction, vandalism, or theft while they are in transit.
- Workers' compensation insurance: This covers costs related to employee injuries or illnesses caused by the job environment or work tasks. Coverage is mandatory in most states if your business has employees.
- Commercial vehicle insurance: This covers any company vehicles used for business purposes against incidents of damage, theft, lawsuits, etc.
- Hired/non-owner car insurance: This covers any employee's personal vehicles used for work purposes against damage, theft, lawsuits, etc.
Your independent insurance agent can also help recommend additional types of coverage your chimney sweep business may still be in need of.
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How Much Does Chimney Sweep Insurance Cost?
Your costs for chimney sweep insurance may vary depending on some unique characteristics of your business, such as the location, the number of employees, the value of your commercial property, whether or not you own your buildings, and how many vans or commercial vehicles you own and operate. Chimney sweep insurance could cost several thousand dollars per year or more.
The amount of coverage you need and the deductibles you choose may also impact your insurance costs. However, an independent insurance agent can help you find the most affordable coverage in your area that still gets the job done right.
The Benefits of Working with an Independent Insurance Agent
An independent insurance agent can work with you one-on-one to determine the types and amounts of coverage you need for your chimney sweep business. Your independent insurance agent can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can evaluate the cost and coverage options and make the best choice.
Most importantly, they’ll be there for you when claim time comes. They know the ins and outs of the process and will make sure your claim is handled appropriately.