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Pest control comes with its own unique risks, and those risks demand their own unique insurance policy. Some providers won’t even cover pest control contractors simply because there’s so much that can go wrong, even with the most expert, experienced contractors. Niche providers are familiar with the risks that pest control contractor insurance needs to cover, but these providers often don’t have quite the economic weight with which to inspire confidence in their customers.

In short: It’s tricky getting adequate pest control insurance coverage. You need a provider that has the financial muscle to back you, but with attention to detail and knowledge of the industry. Here are just a few of the things that need to be covered:

Pollution Coverage

No matter how environmentally sound your product may be, there’s a stigma that surrounds the compounds used by exterminators. With pollution insurance, it’s not just about staying covered, it’s about giving your customer peace of mind: If something happens, we have the financial backing to fix it. Carrying pollution coverage is as much about covering your own risks as it is about sending the right message to the people you service.

Pest Inspection Damage Liability

Some of the risks involved in pest control have nothing to do with poisons and traps, and everything to do with the simple act of inspection. If you knock a lamp over in your own home, you buy a new lamp. Knock a lamp over in a customer’s house while looking for mouse droppings, and you’ve got a liability problem on your hands. Every part of the process needs to be covered, from inspection to extermination.

Worker’s Compensation

There’s no such thing as a job where employees never get hurt. With pest control, you have your people carrying around heavy tanks of poisons, placing traps, and sometimes getting face to face with dangerous animals. Your provider needs to understand the unique risks faced by your employees when they’re ridding a home of unwanted guests.

General Liability

If you’ve worked in pest control for any amount of time, then you’ve learned that the job comes with all of the risks you’d expect to come with trapping animals and getting rid of bugs, and a whole lot of risks that you’d never see coming. You need general liability coverage in just about every field, but few jobs bring as many unforeseen liability issues as pest control.

You know when you have to get a big, heavy sofa out of the home, maybe you have to squeeze it through a tiny door and down two flights of stairs? It’s a task that feels Herculean, impossible, a full week’s workout in a half hour. There is the moment of triumph afterwards, but the process itself can feel like you’re only making an inch worth of progress at a time. If you work in moving, then you know that this is an everyday experience for professional moving companies.

The real tricky part is that a mover has to get a sofa out of one home, and into another one, usually in a single day, and without doing any damage. Throwing a couch out is tricky enough, but you don’t need to worry if it gets a little banged up on the way out of the house. Not to mention, the mover doesn’t get to say “Well we don’t really need this anymore, let’s toss it!” when something won’t fit in the car.

The US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (trying saying that three times fast) has ruled that a moving company is responsible for the value of each and every item they transport, so in this industry there’s no getting away with “Hey, you knew the risks.”

The level of responsibility a mover takes can change depending on what level of coverage the customer has selected. With “released value” the mover is only responsible for a certain amount of money per pound, per object, usually around sixty cents. This can be a good deal for the mover, as a $500 chair might only cost the mover $10 if they break it. Full value covers property for the full value.

If your state allows, you may want to consider selling insurance from your own provider so that your customers are completely covered should something go wrong, and you have less risk on your own part.

It’s worth noting: Moving can be stressful for many people, and that stress can manifest in strange ways. It’s not unusual for a mover to deliver a coffee table without a scratch on it, only to be told that they’ve ruined it beyond repair. This is why some movers don’t touch a single thing until they’ve taken a few shots of it with their cell phone. Think of it as insurance on your moving company insurance. You don’t want to be held responsible for a dent that was already on that fridge when you got there.

Coverage is incredibly important when it comes to moving, because you’re not just covering yourself and your own people, you’re covering your customers’ property, as well.

Fitness instructors are a unique case in the insurance world. An individual who sustains an injury in a grocery store might not have anyone to blame but themselves, an employee who doesn’t follow proper safety protocol might not be eligible for worker’s compensation, but if you’re a fitness instructor, whether you work in a gym or with clients at their own homes, your client’s body is your place of business. Even in the most demanding blue collar job, your aim is to reduce physical effort so as to minimize the risk of injury. When exercising, you could say that injury is the whole point: You don’t build muscle without breaking it down through exhaustive, rigorous activity.

A good trainer knows how to tax their customers in the correct way. But, there are those moments where a customer might have failed to mention that old knee injury they sustained in high school, or they might push themselves a little too hard without giving you a chance to rein them in, or maybe they simply slipped a little while lifting a heavy weight. Whatever the cause, the fact is that any serious fitness program carries with it the risk of injury. A person working with an instructor is less likely to suffer a serious injury than someone who’s just “winging it,” but the risk can never be completely eradicated, and that’s where fitness instructor insurance comes in. On top of this, you have liability concerns like damage to the premises (one of the reasons some personal trainers won’t do house calls). If someone sets a weight down a little too hard, you might be looking at hundreds of dollars in repairs to the flooring. There is even a chance that you may be held responsible for a manufacturing error on the part of the companies where you buy your equipment.

In short: Every risk you take running a business, multiply them by about ten, and that’s the liability issues you’re looking at when your job is helping people pursue their fitness goals. “Comprehensive” is the magic word when setting up your policy, whether you’re insuring your own home-call business or buying gym instructor insurance for a full staff. Study your policy, and make sure every possibility is covered, because it’s not just your business that’s at risk, you’re also taking responsibility for the body and the health of every single customer that you or your employees work with.

When it comes to driving your own personal car, you can get away with minimum insurance. If you’re a safe driver and can cover minor issues out of pocket then you might as well save a few bucks on all that extra coverage. When it comes to driving as part of your job (and not just getting there and back), going the extra mile can give your customer a sense of comfort that will keep them coming back, especially when it’s customers that you’re transporting. This is especially true when it comes to chauffeur insurance. People rent limousines not because they need to get from point A to point B, but because they want to do it in style and luxury, and what’s more luxurious than peace of mind?

Remember that driving a limo isn’t the same as driving a taxicab. Even if it’s not one of those impossibly long stretch limos that require a degree in engineering to maneuver around a street corner, you’re going to have people drinking in the backseat, you’re going to be carrying a party around town, and your passengers probably aren’t going to be wearing seatbelts. A limo is a transport service, but it’s also sort of like a nightclub on wheels.

The best way to protect your clients is to be very picky about who you hire to drive your limos. A taxi driver has to be concerned with getting to their destination quickly, a limo driver needs to be able to do it with a soft touch. If you’re in a limo, you’re not in a hurry, you want to glide into an event in style. Nobody’s ever gotten into a limo and said “…and STEP on it!” Limo driver liability will cover your drivers in the event of injury and damages, but it won’t help if your driver simply doesn’t know how to maneuver the car with a certain degree of grace.

Briefing your clients on limo safety can help, too. For instance, we always see people sticking their heads out the sunroof in movies, but it’s not always such a great idea in real life. You never know when you’re going to catch a mouth full of bugs trying that or go bouncing out onto the roof when the car hits a bump. Not to mention, it’s illegal in a lot of places (yes, including Las Vegas), and while your passenger is likely to be the one getting hit with the ticket, you don’t want them having a bad experience in your car, even if it’s not your fault.

Limo insurance is there to cover your financial risks, but it’s your job, and the job of your drivers, to make sure your passengers have a smooth ride. Luckily, everything that makes a limo ride a little more safe can go a long way towards making it more luxurious, as well.