Insurance built around the way your shop actually works: trucks, crews, GC contracts, and certificates you need yesterday.
Contractor insurance with your business in mind.
MJH Insurance is a local agency in Gardner, Kansas. We work with mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, glass, and specialty trade contractors across Johnson County and the Kansas City metro. We look at the whole account (general liability, commercial auto, umbrella, workers’ comp, tools and equipment, and bonds) so the pieces fit together and line up with what your contracts ask for.
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Or email .
Who we work with.
We’re a good fit if you’re:
- A mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical contractor
- A glass, glazing, or specialty trade contractor (fire protection, insulation,
- flooring, drywall, painting, cabinetry and millwork, concrete finishing, and similar)
- A remodeling or light-commercial contractor doing artisan-level work
- Running roughly 3 to 15 trucks, with crews in the field every day
- Regularly asked by GCs, property managers, or owners for certificates,
- additional insured endorsements, and specific limits
Not sure if you fit? Call anyway. If your type of work isn’t a good match for us, we’ll tell you straight.
Sound familiar?
“The GC needs a certificate by 7 a.m. or we’re not on site.”
Bids get won and lost over paperwork. Our certificate standard: same business day for requests received by 2 p.m. CT on a business day.
“Their contract says ‘primary and non-contributory, waiver of subrogation, per-project aggregate.’ Do we have that?”
Contract insurance language is dense. Send us the insurance requirements before you sign, and we’ll compare them to your current policies and endorsements. We review the insurance requirements; for indemnity and other contract terms, talk with your attorney.
“Our workers’ comp audit came back with a bill we didn’t see coming.”
Audit surprises often trace back to payroll classification, missing subcontractor certificates, or payroll estimates that didn’t keep up with growth. Planning during the year can help reduce them.
“We just added two more trucks and a new hire who’s 22.”
Fleet growth, driver records, and how vehicles are used all affect your commercial auto. We’ll help you keep the policy in step with the business.
“The job needs a bond and I’ve never applied for one.”
Many public and larger private jobs require bid, performance, or payment bonds. We work with surety partners to help you apply. Approval is up to the surety. We can walk you through what sureties typically look for and what to have ready.
“Our tools and equipment live in the trucks.”
Tools and equipment that move from job to job are often insured separately from the office property policy. Ask us how your current policies handle them.
The core of a contractor account.
Coverage depends on your policy, its forms and endorsements, and your operations. The descriptions below are general and educational, not a statement of what any policy covers.
- General liability (often packaged with property): Typically responds to third-party bodily injury and property damage claims arising from your operations and completed work, subject to policy terms and exclusions. Many GCs set minimum limits and ask for specific endorsements. More on general liability.
- Commercial auto: For the vans, pickups, and box trucks your crews drive. Pay attention to how vehicles are listed, who’s driving, and whether hired and non-owned auto coverage fits employees who use their own vehicles on company errands. See business auto and fleet insurance.
- Umbrella / excess liability: Can add limits above your general liability, auto, and employer’s liability policies. Many GC contracts require umbrella limits above your primary policies, and the amount varies by contract and project.
- Workers’ compensation & employer’s liability: Generally addresses job-related employee injuries as provided by state law and the policy. Kansas has its own rules on which employers must carry it, and they can change, so ask us how they apply to your business.
- Inland marine: tools & equipment: Often called a “contractor’s equipment” or “tools floater,” and designed for tools and equipment that travel between the shop, the trucks, and job sites. What’s covered, and the deductibles, depend on your policy.
- Builders risk / installation floater: Depending on the form, can cover buildings under construction or materials you’re installing. Who buys it (owner, GC, or sub) is usually set by contract. Trade contractors often look at an installation floater for their materials before they’re installed.
- Contractor bonds: License and permit bonds, plus bid, performance, and payment bonds. A bond protects the project owner or obligee, not you, so it works differently from insurance. We work with surety partners to help you apply. Approval is up to the surety.
- Other coverages to ask about: contractors pollution liability, professional liability for design-assist work, cyber, employment practices, and commercial crime. Whether any of these make sense depends on your work and your contracts.
Interactive Graphic
Click it. Read it. Cover it.
- Click on the hotspots.
- Discover your risks.
- Get the right coverage.
Commercial General Liability Coverage
Risk Factor
As a contractor, your business may be susceptible to many risks, such as claims due to bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, and more. And, if you hire other contractors to perform work on your behalf, you can be held responsible for any damage they cause on the job.
Solution
Commercial general liability insurance is an absolute necessity for every contractor. This type of protection provides broad coverage for premises, operations, products, and claims to third parties or property when you are deemed responsible and liable. It will also pay to defend any covered lawsuit or action regardless of its merit.
Commercial Property Coverage
Risk Factor
When a fire, theft, or another type of disaster strikes, your commercial property and everything within it can suffer a significant loss. This can have a detrimental effect on your business.
Solution
Commercial property insurance can help protect the property your business owns and leases, including things like equipment, inventory, furniture, and fixtures. Whether you own your building or lease your workspace, commercial property insurance can be purchased separately or can be combined with other necessary coverage to protect your business’ physical assets.
Contractors' Equipment Coverage
Risk Factor
You’re constantly moving your tools from one job site to another, exposing your contractor business to potential loss due to damage or theft. And without your specialized tools and equipment, your job site may come to a screeching halt.
Solution
As a contractor, you need contractors' equipment insurance - a policy specially designed to protect your tools and equipment on the move. The policy will cover equipment for a variety of losses, including fire, explosion, vandalism, theft, collision with other equipment or objects and overturning. Unlike standard commercial property insurance policies, contractors' equipment insurance often covers losses caused by floods and earthquakes.
Builders Risk and Installation Insurance
Risk Factor
A building under construction is not covered under a standard building insurance policy or a home insurance policy since it is not a complete structure. As a contractor, you may be responsible for unique loss exposures related to buildings under construction such as the theft of building materials and high valued equipment such as generators and compressors.
Solution
Builders risk and installation insurance provides coverage for homes or buildings while undergoing construction, until they are completed. The policy covers the contractors’ interest in materials at the job site before they are installed, construction materials in transit designated for the contractors' equipment insurance–a policy specially and the value of the property being constructed until it is completed.
Workers’ Compensation
Risk Factor
If one of your employees receives an injury or becomes ill due to a work-related occurrence, you are required by law to have the proper coverage in place.
Solution
Workers' compensation protects your employees should a job-related injury or sickness occur during the course of employment. This coverage is required by law and may vary by area, so be sure that you understand your obligations for all physical locations where your business operates in and all physical locations where you hire your employees.
Business Auto Insurance
Risk Factor
As a contractor, you have many exposures associated with your business vehicles–owned or leased. With a fleet of cars, trucks, vans, or other types of vehicles used in the course of business, a single accident can potentially put your contractor business in financial jeopardy.
Solution
Business auto insurance provides coverage for vehicles owned or leased by a contractor and provides coverage for bodily injury, property damage, and other exposures, and could include comprehensive and collision coverage as well.
Hold Harmless / Additional Insureds
Risk Factor
If you are performing as a contractor on a construction project where other contractors and vendors are involved, you could be held liable for any damages or injuries caused by the other contractors or vendors, leaving you with costly legal fees and settlement costs. Your business needs to be protected against the risk of some other company, vendor or subcontractor causing damage to people or property of your mutual customer.
Solution
Consider having a contract in place with each entity that includes a hold harmless agreement in your favor. A hold harmless agreement provides that the entity will hold you harmless for any injuries or damage caused by their negligence. In addition, the contract should require that the entity list you as an additional insured on their policy. This may provide you with coverage under their policy for injuries or damage they cause if you are named in a lawsuit.
Commercial Umbrella / Excess Insurance
Risk Factor
Losses and lawsuits are quite common in the construction business, and settlements can be substantial. If your business is found to be responsible for damage or injury on the job site, you could be facing a large liability loss that exceeds the basic limits of your standard policy.
Solution
You should consider purchasing a commercial umbrella insurance policy which provides higher limits, typically between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000, and often broadened coverages. Coverage is extended over various policies, including general liability insurance, business auto, and directors and officers liability insurance.
Certificates, additional insured & waivers: the paperwork that wins jobs.
Most trade contractors don’t lose sleep over the policy. They lose sleep over the certificate. Here’s what to know.
- A certificate of insurance (COI) is a snapshot, not coverage: A COI summarizes the policies you have as of the date it’s issued. It doesn’t change or add coverage. If a GC asks for something your policy doesn’t include, adding words to a certificate won’t fix it; the policy itself generally has to be endorsed.
- Additional insured (AI): Many GCs and owners ask to be named as additional insured on your general liability, and often on auto and umbrella too. That’s done by endorsement, and endorsements differ: some apply only to ongoing operations, some include completed operations, some apply automatically when a written contract requires it (“blanket”), and some name specific parties. Ask us which version your policy has.
- Waiver of subrogation: A waiver means your insurer agrees not to pursue the GC or owner to recover a claim it paid. GCs commonly ask for waivers on general liability, auto, umbrella, and workers’ comp. Whether your policy allows one, and whether it costs extra, depends on the policy.
- Primary & non-contributory: This language asks that your policy respond before the GC’s own policy and not seek contribution from it. It needs to be supported by your policy endorsements, not just typed onto a certificate.
Our approach.
- Send us the insurance section of the contract or the GC’s requirements sheet before you sign.
- We compare it to your current policies and tell you what appears to match, what doesn’t, and what it would take to close the gap, if your insurer offers it. We review insurance requirements; we don’t provide legal advice.
- Once the coverage is in place, we issue certificates as requests come in: same business day for requests received by 2 p.m. CT on a business day.
Request a certificate: use our certificate request form or email with the certificate holder’s name and address, the project name and address, and any special wording the GC requested. Or call .
Why a local agency.
- We’re in Gardner. 345 N Moonlight Rd, right off I-35 and close to the industrial and residential growth along the Gardner/Edgerton corridor.
- You work with people who know your account. Sean Halpin and our Gardner team handle your policies, so when a GC has questions about your certificate, you’re calling people who already know your business.
- We look at the whole account. General liability, auto, umbrella, workers’ comp, equipment, and bonds reviewed together, so limits and endorsements line up with your contracts.
- Year-round help, not just at renewal. New trucks, new hires, new contract requirements, and audit prep.
Serving Johnson County and the Kansas City metro.
We work with contractors throughout Gardner, Olathe, Overland Park, Lenexa, Shawnee, Edgerton, Spring Hill, De Soto, Lawrence, and the wider Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line. If your crews work in Missouri as well as Kansas, tell us. Multi-state work can affect workers’ comp and other coverages.
A note on local licensing: many cities in the area require contractors to hold a license and show proof of insurance, and some trades need additional certifications. Requirements vary by city and trade, so check with the licensing authority where you work. We can provide the certificates of insurance they ask for.
Find your trade.
Mechanical, HVAC, plumbing & electrical
Glass, specialty trades & remodel
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a different policy for every GC I work for?
Usually not. Many contractors keep one set of policies and add endorsements, such as blanket additional insured or blanket waiver of subrogation, that may apply to multiple GCs when a written contract requires it. Some GCs ask for specific wording or limits that need a policy change. Send us their requirements and we’ll compare them to your policy; coverage depends on your policy’s terms.
How fast can I get a certificate of insurance?
Same business day for requests received by 2 p.m. CT on a business day. Email team@mjhins.com with the certificate holder’s name and address, the project details, and any wording the GC requires, or call 913-856-0002. If the GC’s wording needs a policy endorsement, allow extra time for that change.
What's the difference between additional insured and waiver of subrogation?
Additional insured status extends certain coverage under your policy to another party, such as the GC, subject to the endorsement’s terms. A waiver of subrogation means your insurer gives up its right to recover a paid claim from that party. They’re separate endorsements, and GCs often ask for both.
Does my general liability cover my tools?
Generally no. General liability addresses liability to others. Tools and equipment are usually insured under an inland marine (contractor’s equipment) policy or a property policy, depending on how coverage is written. Coverage depends on your policy, so ask us to review your setup.
I'm adding trucks. When should I review my commercial auto?
Before the new vehicle goes on the road. Call us when you buy or lease a vehicle, hire a new driver, or start using vehicles differently, such as longer hauls or towing trailers.
Can you help with contractor bonds?
Yes. We work with surety partners to help you apply. Approval is up to the surety. We can explain the common bond types (license and permit, bid, performance, and payment) and what sureties typically review.
Let’s look at your whole account.
Send us your current policies and one recent GC contract or insurance requirement sheet. We’ll walk you through what lines up, what doesn’t, and where you might have gaps. No pressure, just a straight answer.
Request a commercial coverage review.
Call
Talk with Sean Halpin:
· · 345 N Moonlight Rd, Gardner, KS 66030
Coverage descriptions on this page are general information only, not a statement of coverage or legal advice. Coverage depends on your policy, including its terms, conditions, exclusions, and endorsements, and is subject to underwriting approval.
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