Painting Contractor Insurance

Painting is one of the cheapest trades to insure. Don't let that fool you. Two of its risks — lead paint and falls — can produce claims as big as any roofer's.

Lead paint is the one that ends businesses. Washington has hundreds of thousands of homes built before 1978, when lead paint was banned. Scrape, sand, or power-wash those walls and you create toxic dust. The EPA requires RRP certification for that work, and Washington adds its own rules under WAC 365-230. Fines run up to $37,500 per day. A lead-exposure claim involving a child can cost far more — and many policies limit or exclude lead claims. If you work on older homes, your policy needs to say, in writing, that lead is covered.

Overspray is the claim you'll actually file. Wind carries paint mist onto a neighbor's car, a client's shrubs, the siding next door. Inside, it's drips on hardwood and paint on furniture nobody covered. Each claim is small. A busy season stacks them up fast.

Height does the rest. Exterior work means ladders, staging, and lifts — and falls that break bones or worse. Washington requires fall protection above 6 feet, and violations bring fines on top of injuries. Solvents and strippers add fume and fire risk that interior-only painters often underestimate.

Washington requires painters to register with L&I, carry general liability, and post a $15,000 specialty contractor bond. The bond protects your customer — not you.

Here's the good news: carriers like painters. Rates start around $49 a month, among the lowest in construction. The trap is buying a generic policy that excludes the two risks that actually matter — lead and height. We place painters with carriers that cover the full scope of the work, including pre-1978 homes and exterior staging, so a cheap policy doesn't turn into an expensive lesson.