Get rated in the right trade category and report your sales honestly. Then buy only the limits your contracts and license require, and have a broker try the standard market before anyone sends you to a specialty insurer. Texas sets a license minimum for only a few trades, so nearly every limit on your policy comes from a contract rather than the law. Who this is for: Texas contractors whose general liability renewal jumped, or who were told the specialty market is their only option.
The short version
- Your trade category and your reported sales set most of the price. Check both before you shop.
- Collect certificates from every sub you pay. Uninsured sub costs are often charged to you as if they were your own work.
- Buy the limit your contracts and Texas license require, and use an umbrella for anything higher.
- Stay in the standard market. In Texas a specialty market policy adds state tax and filing charges on top of a premium that already runs higher.
What sets the price of general liability for a Texas contractor?
General liability pays if your work injures someone or damages property that is not yours, including damage that shows up after the job is done. Four things set the price.
| Price driver | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Trade category | Roofing, framing, and demolition cost several times what painting or electrical work costs | Make sure the category matches what you do most |
| Sales or payroll | Premium is a rate times your yearly sales or payroll | Report accurate figures, and update them when work drops |
| Subcontractor costs | Money paid to subs with no certificate of insurance is often charged to you at your own rate | Collect a certificate (a one page summary of their policies) from every sub before they start work |
| Claims history | Five years of losses, from your loss runs, the claims report your insurer issues | Close small claims fast, and explain large ones in writing |
Texas pricing also reflects two things you cannot change. Texas leads the country in hail damage and in very large jury verdicts, and insurers price both in. Those are reasons to shop harder, not reasons to accept the first number.
How much general liability does Texas make me carry?
For most trades, none: Texas has no statewide general contractor or roofing license. A few licensed trades do have minimums. In the table, "per incident" is the most the policy pays for one incident, "per year" is the most it pays in a policy year, and "completed work" covers damage that appears after the job is done.
| Texas license | Per incident | Per year | Completed work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical contractor | $300,000 | $600,000 | $300,000 |
| Class A air conditioning contractor | $300,000 | $600,000 | $300,000 |
| Class B air conditioning contractor | $100,000 | $200,000 | $100,000 |
| Responsible Master Plumber | At least $300,000 of commercial general liability on file with the plumbing board | ||
| General contractor, roofer, most other trades | No state license, so no state minimum | ||
Your contracts will almost always ask for more, usually $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 per year. Buy that. The price difference from the license minimum is small. When a contract asks for more, an umbrella (a second layer of coverage above your other liability policies) is usually cheaper than raising the base policy. License detail is at contractor license insurance requirements in Texas.
How do I keep my general liability in the standard market?
Surplus lines insurers are specialty insurance companies that write what standard ones will not. In Texas their policies carry about 4.9 percent in tax and filing charges on top of a premium that is usually higher. Read more at surplus lines explained. Some trades belong there. Many Texas contractors land there for avoidable reasons.
| Why contractors end up in the specialty market | How to avoid it |
|---|---|
| A thin application with no description of the work | Write one paragraph on what you do, where, for whom, and what you sub out |
| A small share of high hazard work, such as occasional roofing | Report it honestly, and ask whether a standard insurer will take it as a side line |
| One insurer declined, so the agent went specialty | Have a broker send it to several standard insurers whose appetite (the businesses they actually want) includes your trade |
| A lapse for nonpayment | Ask for a payment plan before the policy cancels |
What wording should my policy include at no extra charge?
An endorsement is a change added to your policy, usually one extra page. Texas general contractors ask for the same few, and a well chosen policy includes most at no extra charge.
- Blanket additional insured (your customer can use your liability policy if they get sued because of your work) for ongoing work. Often free. Coverage that keeps going after the job is finished is a separate grant, and so is adding an owner or lender you did not contract with, so ask your broker to confirm in writing which of the three you actually have. See blanket versus scheduled additional insured.
- Primary and noncontributory (your policy pays first and your customer's does not chip in). Usually free.
- Waiver of subrogation (your insurer agrees not to go after your customer to recover money it paid). Often free.
- Per project limit (your yearly limit resets for each job). Costs a little more. Buy it only when a contract asks.
The national checklist is at how to find cheaper general liability insurance for contractors, and the whole package view is at how to find cheaper contractor insurance in Texas.
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 Class A air conditioning contractor in Houston renews general liability at about $9,800, illustrative, with $1,000,000 per incident and $2,000,000 per year limits. The policy sits with a specialty insurer, with another $480 in Texas tax and filing charges on top.
What went wrong: Three years earlier one standard insurer declined because the application mentioned roof-top duct work with no detail. The agent placed it specialty and never revisited. About $210,000 paid to insulation subs with no certificates was also charged at the contractor's own rate.
What it cost: A broker wrote up the operations, collected the sub certificates, and sent the account to four standard insurers. The best quote was about $6,900 for the same limits, with blanket additional insured and waiver wording included at no charge. Saving: roughly $3,380 a year.
The fix: A specialty placement is not permanent. Every two or three years, ask whether the standard market will take you back.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I find cheaper general liability insurance in Texas?
Check your trade category and reported sales, collect certificates from every sub, buy the limits your contracts require and use an umbrella above that, then have a broker shop several standard insurers before you accept a specialty quote.
Q: My general contractor rejected my certificate. How fast can this be fixed?
Often the same day, when the wording your customer wants is already in your policy and your broker only has to have it issued and the certificate reprinted. If a limit has to go up, allow a few days. Insurers rarely backdate, so a change added after an injury does not apply to that injury.
Q: Does Texas hail and the size of Texas jury verdicts show up in my premium?
Yes. Texas leads the country in major hail events and in very large jury verdicts, and insurers price both into liability policies written here. Your trade, sales, claims history, and choice of insurer still matter more, so shopping moves the number.
Q: How do I know which trade category I am rated in?
It is printed on your declarations page, usually as a short description with a number beside it. Read that description against what your crew actually does most days. If it says general contracting and you self-perform roofing, the price is wrong.
Q: My customer wants to be protected by my policy. Should I be paying extra for that?
Many policies include blanket wording for ongoing work at no charge, and completed work is usually a separate endorsement. In Texas the wording can only reach your own acts or omissions anyway, because Insurance Code Chapter 151 voids a requirement to insure the general contractor for its own negligence, apart from injuries to your own employees. Ask for the endorsement pages, not just the certificate.
Q: Will a higher deductible lower my Texas general liability premium?
A little. General liability deductibles save less than auto or property deductibles do, and some general contractors limit how large yours can be. Fix the category, the sales figure, and the sub certificates first.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Getting a Texas contractor's general liability rated correctly and shopped across the standard market is a review we do at no charge.
- 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.