An independent commercial insurance broker licensed in Massachusetts will review your bid's insurance requirements for free. The review is how a broker learns what to place if you win, so there is no fee. Morrow marks up the insurance section of Massachusetts bid packages in plain English. Who this is for: Massachusetts contractors and trades with a bid package due soon and an insurance section they have not priced.
The short version
- A licensed independent broker reviews bid insurance requirements for free. Morrow does this for Massachusetts bids.
- The review tells you three things: what you already meet, what you would need to buy, and what to add to your bid price.
- You do not buy the coverage before you bid. You need a quote in hand so your number is right.
- Massachusetts public bids also want a 5 percent deposit and, over $25,000, a payment bond. Those are bonds, not insurance, and they come from a different company.
- Send the package the day it arrives. A review takes about an hour once the broker has it.
Who reviews a bid's insurance section, and what does each one charge?
| Who | What they review | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Independent broker licensed in Massachusetts | Every insurance line: limits, extra wording, timing, and the price of each gap | Free. It is how they find out what to place. |
| Surety agent | Bid deposit, payment bond, and performance bond requirements | Free review. The bond itself has a price. |
| Construction attorney | The contract terms behind the insurance section, such as promises to cover the other side's losses | Hourly fee |
| The awarding authority or general contractor | Whether your certificate matches the spec after award | Free, but only after you have bid |
Many Massachusetts brokers handle both insurance and bonds. If yours does, one call covers the whole package. For the national view, see who reviews a bid's insurance requirements for free.
What should the review tell me before I submit my number?
A good review answers three questions in writing. What do your current policies already meet? What would you need to add if you win? What does each addition cost, so you can build it into the bid? Every dollar figure below is a national illustrative range, not a Massachusetts price, and moves with your trade, payroll, claims history, and insurer.
| Typical Massachusetts bid item | What it means | Illustrative cost to add |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000,000 per occurrence general liability, $2,000,000 for the year | The most the policy pays for one incident, and for the whole policy year | Often already in place. Doubling the per occurrence limit costs more, and how much more depends on your trade, revenue, and claims history. |
| Owner or general contractor as additional insured | Your customer can use your liability policy if they are sued because of your work | Often no charge with blanket wording, otherwise $50 to $300 |
| Waiver of subrogation on workers comp | Your insurance company agrees not to go after your customer to recover money it paid | About 2 to 5 percent of that job's workers comp premium |
| $2,000,000 umbrella | A second layer of coverage above your other liability policies | Roughly $1,200 to $4,000 a year for most trades |
| $1,000,000 commercial auto | Far above the Massachusetts minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident | Roughly $300 to $900 more per vehicle than a state-minimum policy |
See how to include insurance costs in your bid for the math.
What is different about a Massachusetts public bid?
Public building work in Massachusetts follows the state bidding law, and the procedure gets stricter as the contract gets bigger. Over $150,000 the full formal procedure applies, including filed sub-bids for certain trades. What matters for your insurance is the same at every level, and the two items below are what catch people out.
Two items on public bids are not insurance at all. The bid deposit is 5 percent of your bid, paid as a bid bond (a promise that you will sign the contract if you win), cash, or a certified check. On contracts over $25,000, the winner also posts a payment bond of at least half the contract price, so workers and suppliers get paid. A surety agent places both, and many brokers handle it in house.
One more Massachusetts trap. A contractor caught without workers comp can be barred from state and city funded contracts for three years. If you bid public work, keep workers comp in force from your first employee. See what happens without workers comp in Massachusetts.
Do I have to buy the insurance before I bid?
No. You need to know the price, not own the policy. Ask the broker for a firm quote on each gap with the bid due date noted. If you win, the broker binds the coverage, usually in one to three business days for endorsements and one day to two weeks for an umbrella. Buying before award means paying for coverage on a job you may not get.
What should I send the broker for a fast review?
- The insurance section or exhibit from the bid package, every page.
- Your current policies or declarations pages, plus any endorsements.
- The bid due date and the expected start date.
- The contract value and a one line description of the work.
- For public work, the bond requirements and your last two year-end financial statements. The bond company needs them to set your bonding limit, so send them even if they are rough.
With that in hand, most reviews come back the same business day. If the bid becomes a signed contract, see who helps you meet a contract's insurance requirements in Massachusetts.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A painting contractor in Springfield bids $180,000 on a school repaint in Chicopee. The package asks for $1,000,000 general liability, a $2,000,000 umbrella, a waiver on workers comp, a 5 percent bid deposit, and a payment bond on award.
What went wrong: He has general liability and workers comp but no umbrella, and he has never posted a bond. He almost skips the bid because the insurance section looks expensive.
What it cost: Illustrative numbers from the broker's review: the umbrella about $1,600 a year, the waiver about $300, the $9,000 bid bond at no charge from his surety, and the payment bond about $2,700. He adds roughly $4,600 to his bid and still comes in lowest.
The fix: The free review turned a scary page into four line items. He priced them, won the job, and had the coverage bound five business days after award.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who can review my construction bid's insurance requirements for free in Massachusetts?
An independent commercial insurance broker licensed in Massachusetts. The review is free because it shows the broker what to place if you win. Morrow prices each gap for your bid.
Q: How long does a bid insurance review take?
About an hour once the broker has the insurance section and your current policies. Most come back the same business day.
Q: Do I need to buy the insurance before I submit a bid in Massachusetts?
No. You need firm quotes so your bid price is right. The coverage is bound after award, usually in one to three business days for endorsements and one day to two weeks for an umbrella.
Q: What is the bid deposit on a Massachusetts public job?
Five percent of your bid, posted as a bid bond, cash, or a certified check. A bid bond comes from a surety agent, not from your liability insurer, so start that call early.
Q: The bid asks for a limit my insurer will not write. What now?
Tell the broker before the due date. Specialty insurers often write the higher limit, and the price belongs in your bid either way.
Q: What if I win and my certificate does not match the spec?
Send both to your broker the same day. Most gaps are closed by adding a page to your policy, and a page added after someone is hurt does not cover that injury.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Pricing every insurance line in a Massachusetts bid package before the due date is the most common thing contractors send us.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.