Roofing Insurance Coverage Types Explained
Key takeaways
- A roofing insurance program is normally six separate policies, not one.
- Roofing contractor general liability starts at $3,100 a year for a roofer under $150,000 in revenue. Above that, carriers rate on revenue and the percentage drops as revenue climbs.
- Workers’ comp is the biggest line item for any roofer with a W-2 crew. Class code 5551 runs roughly $15 to $40 per $100 of payroll in the voluntary market, and past $80 in assigned risk.
- The exclusions page matters as much as the limit. Torch-down work, roofs above three stories, and open-roof conditions are all commonly carved out.
- An uninsured sub gets charged back at your roofing rate at audit. Collect the certificate before the crew starts, not after.
What a full roofing insurance program actually costs
A solo roofer running under $150,000 in revenue with one truck usually lands between $5,000 and $6,000 a year for everything. Add three W-2 roofers and a second truck and the number jumps past $35,000, almost entirely because of workers’ comp. A $1.5 million commercial roofer with five trucks and a six-person crew is generally in the $150,000 to $200,000 range.
That spread is not carrier greed. Roofing is rated on fall severity, and the payroll number drives the whole program.
| Coverage | What it pays for | Common limit | Cost for a small roofer |
|---|---|---|---|
| General liability | Third-party injury and property damage caused by your work | $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate | $3,100 and up |
| Workers’ compensation | Medical care and lost wages for injured employees | Statutory | $15 to $40 per $100 of payroll |
| Commercial auto | Trucks, vans, and trailers used for the business | $1M combined single limit | $1,300 to $3,200 per vehicle |
| Tools and equipment | Gear stolen or damaged off premises or in transit | $10,000 to $50,000 scheduled | $500 to $700 |
| Commercial umbrella | Claims above your GL, auto, and employers liability limits | $1M to $5M | $1,200 to $3,000 |
| Surety bonds | License bonds, bid bonds, performance bonds | Set by the state or the contract | 1% to 3% of the bond amount |
The six coverages roofers buy
General liability
General liability answers the claim when a homeowner’s car gets hit by a bundle of shingles, when a passerby is struck by falling debris, or when a client’s ceiling stains after a re-roof. It is the policy every GC, property manager, and permit office asks to see.
What it does not do is pay to redo your own bad work. The “your work” exclusion sits in every standard form. If flashing was installed wrong and water gets in, the resulting damage to the drywall may be covered while the cost of tearing out and redoing your flashing is not. That gap is why a written workmanship warranty matters as much as the policy.
Roofing GL is rated on revenue, payroll, or subcontracted cost, depending on the carrier, and we cover how the payroll basis works separately. Revenue is the most common basis for residential roofers. Whether the state technically requires the policy is a different question from whether you can work without it, and our page on that covers both.
Workers’ compensation
Roofing sits in NCCI class code 5551, one of the highest-rated classes on the books for workers’ compensation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 134 roofer fatalities in 2023, and 82% of them were falls. Carriers price that reality directly.
Two rules catch roofers every year. First, any employee who does any roofing work during the policy period has their entire payroll assigned to 5551, so a laborer who spends two days on a roof and fifty days in the yard gets rated as a roofer unless your time records prove otherwise. Second, a sub who cannot produce a valid certificate is treated as your employee at audit and charged at your rate.
California uses code 5552 instead of 5551 and requires roofing contractors to carry workers’ comp even with no employees. Delaware and Pennsylvania use code 659. Texas does not mandate coverage at all, which is why so many Texas roofers run a ghost policy to satisfy GCs. See our breakdown of Texas workers’ compensation law for how that works.
Commercial auto
A personal auto policy excludes business use. Once a truck is hauling tear-off debris or a trailer full of bundles, a personal policy carrier can deny the loss and cancel the policy.
Roofers pay more per vehicle than most trades because loaded trucks stop slower and roofing crews make more stops per day. Add hired and non-owned auto if crew members ever drive their own vehicles to a job or to the supply house. That endorsement is cheap and it closes an exposure most roofers do not know they have. You can price a truck on our commercial auto quote form.
Tools and equipment
This is inland marine coverage, and it follows your gear instead of staying at a fixed address. It covers compressors, nail guns, ladders, kettles, and hoists that get stolen out of a locked trailer overnight or damaged in transit.
Two things to check on the quote. Ask whether payout is replacement cost or actual cash value, because ACV on a five-year-old compressor is close to nothing. Then ask about the per-item cap. Many policies limit any single item to $2,500 or $5,000, which is a problem the day a $12,000 hoist walks off a site.
Commercial umbrella
Roofing claims run high because falls produce catastrophic injuries and roofs sit above expensive property. A $1 million GL limit disappears fast in a serious fall case. Commercial umbrella coverage sits above your GL, auto, and employers liability, and most commercial and institutional contracts now require $2 million or more. Our post on the mistakes contractors make with umbrella limits covers where those programs go wrong.
Surety bonds
Bonds are not insurance. They guarantee your performance to somebody else, and if the surety pays out, you repay the surety. Most states require a license and permit bond to hold a roofing license. Federal construction work over $150,000 requires performance bonds and payment bonds under the Miller Act. Commercial roofing contracts often require them too.
Roofing insurance cost by risk tier
Underwriters sort roofing contractors into rate bands before they look at your numbers. Where you land depends on what kind of roofs you work on, how high you go, and whether your crew is W-2 or subbed.
| Risk tier | Profile | GL rate on revenue | Full program at $400,000 revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Residential repair and re-roof, steep-slope shingle only, nothing above two stories, no hot work, five years clean | 1.50% to 1.58% | $12,000 to $22,000 |
| Medium | Residential re-roof plus light commercial, occasional low-slope, some sub labor, one small claim in five years | 1.58% to 1.66% | $22,000 to $40,000 |
| High | Commercial flat roofs with torch or kettle work, roofs above three stories, heavy sub use, prior fall claim or storm-restoration litigation | 1.66% to 1.70%, or excess market pricing | $40,000 to $75,000 |
The program totals assume a W-2 crew. A roofer who runs entirely on properly insured subs can sit well below the low end because there is no payroll to rate. That is also the arrangement carriers audit hardest.
What roofing general liability costs by revenue
These are the rate tiers behind our roofing contractor insurance quotes. Every tier carries a $5,000 self-insured retention and a $3,100 minimum premium.
| Annual revenue | Rate | Example premium | Down payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $150,000 | $3,100 flat | $3,100 | 33% |
| $150,000 to $500,000 | 1.60% of revenue | $400,000 revenue = $6,400 | Standard terms |
| $500,000 to $1,000,000 | 1.30% of revenue | $750,000 revenue = $9,750 | Standard terms |
| Over $1,000,000 | 1.10% of revenue | $1,500,000 revenue = $16,500 | Standard terms |
The percentage drops as revenue rises because fixed underwriting and policy costs spread across a bigger base. The dollar premium still goes up at every tier.
For comparison, Insureon reports a median of $3,200 a year for roofing general liability at $1 million per occurrence with a $1,000 deductible. The floor above is priced in line with the national market rather than under it, which matters because a quote well below $3,000 for a roofer usually means a limitation buried in the form.
How roofing work type changes the rate
| Work type | Rate pressure | Primary driver |
|---|---|---|
| Steep-slope residential shingle | Baseline | Highest volume, best loss data, most carriers write it |
| Metal standing seam | Slightly above baseline | Panel handling injuries, wind-uplift disputes on install |
| Tile and slate | Above baseline | Material weight, breakage claims, higher property values underneath |
| Commercial TPO and EPDM, mechanically fastened | Moderate increase | Larger deck areas, crane and hoist exposure, business-interruption claims from leaks |
| Low-slope with torch-down or hot kettle | Highest increase | Fire exposure; many carriers exclude hot work outright or require a written permit program |
| Any roof above three stories | Highest increase | Fall severity; several carriers decline above 30 or 40 feet |
| Storm and insurance restoration | High increase | Claim disputes, assignment-of-benefit litigation, out-of-state crews |
If your operation spans several of these, price the program against what you actually did last year rather than what your license permits. Underwriters ask for a work-mix percentage, and getting it wrong on the application is grounds to reprice at audit.
Roofing rates by state
State pricing moves on hail and wind losses, litigation climate, labor costs, and how the state handles roofing licenses. The rates below apply to the $150,000 to $500,000 revenue tier.
| State | GL rate | Premium at $400,000 revenue | What drives it |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1.70% | $6,800 | Litigation costs, labor rates, mandatory comp for roofers |
| Florida | 1.70% | $6,800 | Hurricane exposure, roof claim litigation history |
| New York | 1.70% | $6,800 | Labor Law 240 puts near-absolute liability on height work |
| Louisiana | 1.68% | $6,720 | Hurricane frequency, high claim severity |
| Colorado | 1.66% | $6,640 | Front Range hail, one of the worst hail loss states in the country |
| Oklahoma | 1.66% | $6,640 | Hail and high wind frequency |
| Illinois | 1.64% | $6,560 | Comp costs, Chicago-area labor rates |
| New Jersey | 1.64% | $6,560 | Density, litigation, coastal wind |
| Georgia | 1.60% | $6,400 | National baseline |
| Texas | 1.58% | $6,320 | Heavy hail exposure offset by a competitive carrier market |
| Ohio | 1.56% | $6,240 | Moderate weather exposure, stable loss history |
| Indiana | 1.52% | $6,080 | Low litigation costs, low comp rates |
Workers’ comp swings much wider than GL does. Illinois files roofing at about $30 per $100 of payroll for 2026, which puts a $100,000 payroll roofer near $30,000 for comp alone. Indiana runs closer to $6,000 on the same payroll. If your crews cross state lines, that difference is worth planning around before you bid.
Exclusions that void roofing claims
These are the provisions that come up most often on roofing forms, and the ones worth reading line by line before you bind.
Open roof and tarp warranties
Many roofing GL forms require that no roof be left open overnight, or that any open section be tarped and secured to a written standard. Leave a deck open through a storm and the water claim is denied, whatever the limit says.
Hot work exclusions
Torch-down, kettles, and heat welding are excluded on plenty of forms. Some carriers will endorse them back with a fire-watch requirement, usually 60 minutes after the last torch shuts off.
Height limitations
A form may cap covered work at two or three stories, or at a specific height in feet. Roofers who take one taller job a year are the ones who discover this after the fall.
Subcontractor warranties
The policy may require that every sub carry limits equal to yours and name you as additional insured. Fail the warranty and the carrier can deny a claim arising from that sub’s work.
Residential new construction exclusions
Common on hard-market forms, and easy to miss if most of your work is re-roof rather than new builds.
Certificate lapse
A certificate of insurance is a snapshot of one day. If a sub’s policy cancels mid-job, your GC will still hold you responsible for the work.
When a loss does happen, our guide to the roof insurance claim process walks through documentation, adjuster contact, and settlement review step by step.
Costs that show up after the quote
The premium on the quote is rarely the final number. Four things move it.
Audit true-ups come first. GL and comp policies are estimated at bind and audited at expiration. Report $300,000 in revenue and finish at $500,000, and you owe the difference. Sub payroll without certificates gets added at your rate, which is the single most expensive audit surprise in this trade.
Then minimum earned premium. Most roofing GL policies keep 25% to 30% of the premium if you cancel early, so switching carriers mid-term rarely saves what it looks like it will.
Installment and financing fees run $5 to $15 per payment on direct bill, and premium finance on a larger program adds interest on top.
Certificate and endorsement fees show up on some programs. We do not charge for a contractor certificate of insurance, and you should ask before you bind whether yours does.
How to bring a roofing premium down
Your experience mod is the biggest lever you have. Three years of claims drive it, and it multiplies the entire comp premium. Frequency hurts more than severity, so the small strains and lacerations that never get handled properly are the ones costing you money at renewal.
Payroll records are the second lever. Clerical (8810) and yard (8227) payroll can be separated from roofing payroll if you have dated time records to back it up. Without them, everything gets rated at 5551.
Certificates should be in hand before the first day of work rather than at invoicing. Ask for limits matching yours and additional insured status on every sub.
A documented fall protection program that matches OSHA 1926.501 earns schedule credits, and the training records are often what gets a roofer accepted into the voluntary market instead of assigned risk.
If cash flow allows it, moving your GL deductible from $1,000 to $5,000 typically cuts 10% to 15% off the premium for a roofer with clean loss runs.
Putting GL, auto, and tools with one carrier lines up the renewal dates and keeps one adjuster on a loss that touches two policies. Our page on general contractor insurance costs covers how bundling plays out across the wider trade.
Frequently asked questions
How much is roofing insurance per month?
General liability alone runs about $258 a month at the $3,100 floor. A roofer with three W-2 employees is realistically at $2,500 to $3,500 a month across the full program, because comp on $160,000 of payroll at $20 per $100 is about $32,000 a year on its own.
Do I need workers’ comp if I have no employees?
It depends on the state. California requires roofing contractors to carry it with or without employees. Texas does not require it from anyone. Most other states require it once you have a single employee, and many GCs require it regardless of what the state says.
Does general liability cover my own faulty work?
No. The “your work” exclusion removes the cost of redoing the roof. Damage the faulty work causes to other property may be covered, subject to the rest of the form.
How fast can I get a certificate of insurance?
Same day in most cases, and usually within the hour once the policy is bound. Certificates are free.
What happens if my subcontractor has no insurance?
Their payroll is added to yours at audit and rated at 5551, and their claim can come back to your policy. On $80,000 of uninsured sub labor at $20 per $100, that is a $16,000 audit bill.
Is a $1 million limit enough for roofing?
For residential repair work, often yes. For anything commercial or above two stories, most contracts now require $2 million, and a $1 million umbrella over a $1 million GL usually costs $1,200 to $3,000 a year.
Does my policy cover storm work in another state?
Only if the policy is written on a multi-state basis and the state is listed. Chasing storms across a state line on a single-state policy is one of the fastest ways to end up with no coverage on the biggest job of the year.
What is a self-insured retention?
The amount you pay on a claim before the carrier’s obligation starts. Ours is $5,000 across every revenue tier, and it is part of why the roofing rates above are competitive.