for all you autopians thinking of starting up your own mobile service here's some insurance info for you. the type of general liability coverage you will most likely need is called Garage Liability. it will cover you for any accidents a person may have around your work area, you having to drive somone's car somewhere, you damaging the person's car with any of your supplies or tools - the basics. here in good ol' louisiana, if you're a one man operation it'll probably run you a little under $1000 - it also depends on the amount of coverage you're seeking. for myself and 2 employees with $300,000/$600,000 of coverage it runs me about $1500/yr. this DOES NOT include worker's comp. however, now that i've signed a contract with a large office building i'm being required to carry $2M worth of coverage General Liability, $1M Worker's Comp, and $1M Employer's Liability - this will cost me approx. $7000/yr. before your eyes pop out of your heads - this contract will instantly DOUBLE if not TRIPLE my current business; plus they've already offered me their other properties - 5 more parking garages. when i started out i didn't carry insurance until i started detailing the Ferarri Club of New Orleans. then i figured i'd better have coverage considering their car costs more than the house i live in - some 5x more. until then no one of my regular monthly customers ever asked if i had insurance, but i never take their car anywhere eventhough they trust me with it implicitly. taking peoples cars to another location is too risky a proposition for me. i don't want that responsibility - it's not my driving i'm worried about, it's the other people on the roads that worry me. have any of you seen the drivers in the New Orleans area? anyway, hope this helps some of you thinking about starting up your own business. btw, taxes are a whole 'nother ball of wax.
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