Pressure Washing Insurance: What You Need and What It Costs

The four policies most pressure washing businesses carry

Almost every pressure washing business in the United States runs on the same four-policy stack. Solo operators skip workers comp until they hire; everything else scales with revenue.

Premium ranges compiled from published quote-average pages at Insureon, Next Insurance, and Progressive Commercial for 2025 to 2026. Your quote will depend on state, revenue, payroll, claims history, and coverage limits. Get a live quote from a licensed broker before relying on any number.

General liability in detail

GL is the one policy no pressure washing contractor should work a day without. It responds when you damage a customer's property (broken window from over-pressure, ruined landscaping from SH runoff, oxidation lines on siding) or injure a non-employee (a homeowner slips on your wet flatwork). Most contractors carry:

• Per-occurrence limit: $1 million.
• Aggregate limit: $2 million.
• Products and completed operations aggregate: $2 million.

Commercial and HOA clients frequently require the $1 million / $2 million minimum and ask to be listed as an additional insured on the certificate.

What GL usually does not cover

• Damage to work you performed (that is Errors and Omissions or Professional Liability territory, and it is rarely bought at the solo level).
• Your own tools and equipment (that is Inland Marine).
• Damage to a vehicle you drive (that is Commercial Auto).
• Injuries to your own employees (that is Workers Comp).
• Intentional acts, mold liability (often excluded), lead-based paint work (excluded unless endorsed), and pollution beyond a limited sudden-and-accidental grant.

Read the policy exclusions carefully. Sodium hypochlorite runoff onto a neighbor's plants is a gray area on many GL policies. Ask the broker whether limited pollution coverage is included and to what sub-limit.

What drives your GL premium

• Revenue. The underwriting question is annual gross receipts. A solo operator at $60,000 in revenue pays less than a two-truck operation at $200,000.
• Services performed. Roof cleaning above one story, deck sealing (which introduces flammable stain and finish), and commercial work at height carry higher rates than residential flatwork.
• Claim history. A clean five-year history matters more than any single application answer.
• State. Litigation-heavy states (California, Florida, New York, Louisiana, Illinois) run higher premiums than the national average.

Workers compensation

Workers compensation is mandated by state law when you hire employees, with narrow exceptions for very small employers in some states. It pays medical bills and lost wages for a worker injured on the job, regardless of fault, and in exchange the employee usually cannot sue you for negligence. Solo operators without employees generally do not carry workers comp, though some subcontract certificates of insurance require it or a signed exemption.

How workers comp is rated

Premiums are calculated as: (Payroll per $100) × (Class code rate) × (Experience Modification Factor). Pressure washing crews are typically classified under the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) classification for building service or exterior cleaning. Actual code assignment depends on your state and the specific work being performed; your broker will confirm. NCCI publishes the underlying classification manual at ncci.com.

Rates per $100 of payroll for exterior building services classifications commonly land in the $4 to $9 range, meaning for every $100 of payroll you pay roughly $4 to $9 in workers comp premium. On a full-time employee at $45,000 annual payroll, that is $1,800 to $4,050 per year. Experience mod credits and debits change that up or down after three years of claim history.

State exemptions

A few states allow solo owners and closely-held small businesses to opt out of workers comp coverage:

• Texas does not require workers compensation for private employers at all, though most contractors buy it anyway or must file an alternative benefit plan. See tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer.
• Florida requires workers comp for construction employers at 1 employee, non-construction at 4 employees.
• Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina require workers comp at 3 employees for non-construction work; specific state rules vary and change.

Confirm with your state's Department of Labor or workers comp board before making a decision.

Commercial auto

Personal auto policies exclude claims that arise while a vehicle is being used for business. If you use a truck to haul a pressure washer, tank, and hoses to jobs, you need commercial auto. Standard limits mirror GL: $1 million combined single limit for bodily injury and property damage is common on a work truck.

Underwriters look at:

• Driver motor vehicle report history (MVR) for the past three to five years.
• Vehicle type and value.
• Radius of operation (a local 25-mile radius rates lower than statewide route work).
• Whether the vehicle is used for commuting only or hauls equipment to job sites (the latter always rates higher).

Inland marine (equipment coverage)

Inland marine, despite the name, covers movable tools and equipment (in this trade, primarily your pressure washer, tank, hoses, and surface cleaner) whether they are on the truck, on the job, or in your garage. A typical policy covers scheduled equipment on an agreed-value basis with a small deductible.

Scheduling means you list each item with serial number and value. Practical minimum scheduled equipment for a solo route business:

Total scheduled equipment often lands between $3,500 and $7,000 for a starter route business. Inland marine premiums scale roughly with schedule value at about 1 to 2 percent per year.

Add-on coverages worth asking about

Care, custody, and control

Standard GL excludes damage to property in your care, custody, or control. If a customer hands you a $2,000 wood carving off the porch to keep out of the way and you drop it, GL likely will not pay. A CCC endorsement or a small property floater fixes this.

Limited pollution

The unlimited-cost horror story in pressure washing is chemical runoff into a stormwater drain or a neighbor's koi pond. Most GL policies grant only limited pollution coverage for sudden accidental releases. If you soft-wash roofs regularly, ask your broker about a dedicated Contractor Pollution Liability endorsement or standalone policy.

Umbrella

An umbrella policy sits on top of GL and commercial auto and provides an additional layer of coverage after the underlying limits are exhausted. A $1 million umbrella typically runs $500 to $900 per year for a small contractor and is required by many commercial and property-management clients.

Roof-cleaning endorsement

Many carriers exclude or sub-limit roof cleaning above one story unless it is specifically endorsed. If you clean any two-story or steeper-pitch roofs, tell the broker up front. The premium adjustment is small; getting caught with an excluded loss is fatal.

Where to buy

Three routes:

• Digital-first brokers. Insureon, Next Insurance, and Simply Business quote GL online in minutes. Fast for a straightforward solo GL policy. See insureon.com pressure washing and nextinsurance.com pressure washing.
• Independent local brokers. Slower to quote but usually better for stacking GL, commercial auto, inland marine, and workers comp with one carrier and one certificate.
• Direct writers. Progressive Commercial writes commercial auto and small-business GL directly. See progressivecommercial.com cleaning.

Compare at least two quotes on identical limits before you buy. Ask each carrier to show the exclusion list, not just the declarations page.

Certificates of insurance

Commercial customers, HOAs, and property managers will ask for a Certificate of Insurance (COI) before scheduling. The COI is a summary of your policies produced by your broker. Standard requests:

• GL at $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate.
• Additional insured endorsement in favor of the property owner and property manager.
• Waiver of subrogation on workers comp (if you have employees).
• 30-day notice of cancellation.

Your broker issues COIs from their agency management system in minutes at no charge. Keep the request template your customer sends so you can request the exact wording.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Under-declaring revenue. Insurers audit. Understating gross receipts to lower your GL premium triggers a back-billing at audit and can void a claim.
2. Skipping commercial auto because you drive a personal truck. A denied claim leaves you personally exposed for the full loss.
3. Buying the cheapest GL without reading exclusions. Roof cleaning above one story and chemical pollution are the two most-often-excluded scenarios.
4. Not raising limits when you take a commercial contract. A $50,000 job for a national property manager may require $2 million per occurrence and a $5 million umbrella. Confirm the required limits before you bid.
5. Assuming your subcontractor is covered. Get a COI from every subcontractor listing you as additional insured before they set foot on a job site.

Related guides

• State-by-state pressure washing licensing
• Pressure washing cost in 2026
• Sodium hypochlorite safety
• Our sourcing methodology

Sources

• Insureon, Pressure Washing Insurance. insureon.com pressure washing.
• Next Insurance, Pressure Washing Business Insurance. nextinsurance.com pressure washing.
• Progressive Commercial, cleaning business insurance. progressivecommercial.com cleaning.
• National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), classification manual. ncci.com.
• Texas Department of Insurance, Employer Workers Compensation. tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer.
• US Department of Labor, Workers Compensation overview. dol.gov workcomp.
• US EPA, NPDES stormwater program. epa.gov/npdes.
• OSHA, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M, Fall Protection. ecfr.gov 1926 subpart M.