BROKLY

Insurance for painters — what to carry, and what it costs

Published 2026-06-11 · by Brokly

Wall-covering installation is rated separately in NCCI states (class 5491 Paperhanging, not 5474) and isn’t in these figures; California’s WCIRB instead folds wallpaper installation into the painting classification (5474/5482).

Direct answer: insurance for painting contractors starts with workers’ comp — required in nearly all states — with 4 more coverages matched to the trade below. For a typical painting business that’s ≈$2.1k to ≈$9.6k/yr depending on the state (filed rates $2.35–$13.84/$100 payroll, 2024).
Pick your state — the statute, modeled costs, and the full coverage guide ↓

What painting contractors carry — at a glance

Workers’ comp is governed state by state — pick your state in the table below for the statute and the modeled cost. The rest is the trade’s exposure map.

Workers' compensation

Injury coverage for a crew that works from ladders and scaffolds — and construction carve-ins start the mandate at one employee in some states.

Typically covers

  • Medical bills for a work injury, at rates the state sets
  • Part of the injured employee's lost wages
  • The employer too: covered employees generally can't sue over the injury

Typically doesn’t

  • Injuries outside work
  • Independent contractors, in most states
  • Lawsuits that get around the can't-sue trade-off — that's the employer's liability part of the same policy
Required in nearly all states≈$3.5k/yrtypical painting business · median stateCosts by state →
Commercial auto

Liability and property-damage protection for the vans and trucks that haul crews, ladders, and paint between job sites.

Typically covers

  • Liability when a business vehicle injures someone or damages property
  • Accidents in vehicles titled to the business, driven by employees for work
  • The liability minimums states set for business vehicles

Typically doesn’t

  • Your liability when employees drive their own cars for work — that's hired and non-owned auto; the employee's own car stays on their personal policy
  • The freight or goods being hauled — that's cargo or inland marine coverage
  • Damage to your own vehicle, unless physical damage coverage is added
Required if…Requirements by state →
Contractor license bond

A financial guarantee tied to the license itself — not insurance for the business — that some states and cities require on file before licensing a painting contractor.

Typically covers

  • Customers or the state, if you break the licensing board's rules
  • The licensing requirement itself — where a board demands a bond, no bond often means no license

Typically doesn’t

  • You — the surety collects any payout back from you
  • Injuries or property damage from your work — that's general liability
  • Big-job performance disputes — a performance bond is its own instrument
Required if…Requirements by state →
General liability

Third-party injury and property damage — overspray drifting onto a customer's property mid-job, or harm your completed work causes after the crew has left.

Typically covers

  • Injuries to customers, visitors, and other third parties
  • Damage your operations cause to someone else's property
  • Legal defense for covered claims

Typically doesn’t

  • Your employees' injuries — that's workers' compensation
  • Mistakes in professional advice or design — that's professional liability
  • Redoing your own faulty workmanship itself
Worth a lookWhat it covers →
Tools & equipment

Inland-marine coverage for the sprayers, ladders, and prep equipment that ride in the van and sit on job sites.

Typically covers

  • Tools and equipment that travel — in trucks, on job sites, between locations
  • Theft from a vehicle or job site, a common loss
  • Rented or borrowed gear, when it's listed on the policy

Typically doesn’t

  • Gradual wear and breakdown
  • Tools that stay at your shop — that's commercial property
  • The vehicles themselves
Worth a lookWhat it covers →

Exact terms live in the policy — these are the typical boundaries.

Sources: NAIC — Small Business Insurance (retrieved 2026-06-11) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commercial property insurance guide (retrieved 2026-06-11) · Washington State Department of Labor & Industries — Register as a contractor (retrieved 2026-06-11) · Texas Department of Insurance — Commercial general liability insurance (retrieved 2026-06-11) · NAIC — Glossary of Insurance Terms (inland marine) (retrieved 2026-06-11)

Workers’ compCommercial auto · benchmark comingContractor license bond · benchmark comingGeneral liability · benchmark comingTools & equipment · benchmark coming

What workers’ comp costs a typical painting business

Modeled annual premium for each state’s most common painting business size, from that state’s own filed rate and observed payroll. All 51 states: rates & costs →

Least expensive states

Most expensive states

Modeled — not quotes: each figure prices that state’s most common painting business size band from the state’s own observed payroll (CBP 2023), so dollar order can differ from rate rank.

Pick your state — what’s required there, and what it costs

Every linked state has the full guide: what the law requires there, the coverages that fit, and modeled costs — built from 30,927 painting contractors across 26 states (CBP 2023).

† state-fund jurisdiction — workers’ comp is purchased through the state, not a private market. Unlinked states lack a published rate or a defensible business-size cohort.

Sources: Oregon DCBS workers' compensation premium rate ranking study, June 2025 (calendar-year 2024 rates) (as of calendar year 2024, retrieved 2026-06-04) · US Census County Business Patterns 2023, state file (Painting and wall covering contractors (NAICS 238320)) (as of 2023, retrieved 2026-06-05)

Frequently asked questions

What work does class 5474 cover?

Painting work is NCCI class 5474 (Painting NOC, ‘not otherwise classified’) — the general classification for interior and exterior building painting that isn’t assigned a more specific painting class.

Why does my state matter so much?

Workers’ comp is state law — the employee threshold that triggers it, the rates, and the market structure all differ by state. That’s why every state above gets its own guide.

Someone asked me for a certificate of insurance — what is it?

The one-page proof your coverage exists — landlords, general contractors, and client contracts ask for it routinely, and it’s often the reason painting contractors buy insurance in the first place. Certificate of insurance, explained →

Stay informed

We’ll notify you when we’re ready to benchmark your coverage.

No spam — one email.