Excavation is one of the highest-risk trades on any job site. Underground utility strikes, trench cave-ins, heavy equipment accidents, and contaminated soil claims can end a company overnight. We specialize in insurance programs built for how excavators actually operate.
From single-operator excavating companies to multi-crew underground utility contractors, every operation that moves earth carries serious insurance exposure. Here's who we cover.
You dig foundations, cut grades, and move earth for residential and commercial projects. Equipment breakdowns, utility strikes, and property damage are your daily risks.
You clear, grade, and prepare raw land before vertical construction begins. Your work sets the foundation for everything above — and carries the liability to match.
Precise grading work for drainage, road bases, and site leveling. Erosion, drainage failure, and equipment damage are the claims you need covered.
You open trenches for utilities, footings, and drainage systems. Trench cave-in liability and underground utility strikes are your primary exposures.
You install water, sewer, gas, electric, and telecom infrastructure. Every foot of trench you open carries the risk of striking adjacent utilities.
Stumps, brush, and debris removal before excavation begins. Equipment fires, property damage, and debris disposal liability are your daily concerns.
You work as a subcontractor to GCs and builders digging foundations and basements. Your GC requires proof of insurance before you step on site.
One underground utility strike or equipment rollover can generate multiple overlapping claims. You need every layer in place before that call comes in.
Your core protection against third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. Excavation GL must be written by a carrier with experience in underground and heavy civil work.
Excavation carries NCCI Class Code 6217 — one of the higher-rated construction WC codes. Your workers face cave-in, heavy equipment, and struck-by hazards every day.
CDL-required dump trucks, excavator transport lowboys, water trucks, and service vehicles need commercial auto coverage — not personal auto policies.
Excavators, bulldozers, loaders, and graders are your business. Inland marine equipment coverage protects your iron whether it's on a job site, in transit, or in the yard.
Standard GL policies exclude pollution claims. When you strike an underground fuel tank, disturb contaminated soil, or breach a gas main, CPL is what pays the cleanup.
A single catastrophic utility strike or trench collapse can exceed your primary GL limits. Umbrella coverage layers on top of your GL, WC, and commercial auto for major events.
An excavation crew is digging a residential foundation in a suburban neighborhood. The 811 locate was called and markings were on the ground, but an aging gas distribution main 18 inches from the marked line wasn't in the utility records — it was installed before systematic mapping was required.
The excavator bucket clips the main. Gas escapes immediately. The crew evacuates, the fire department shuts down the block, and the neighboring house is evacuated for 36 hours while the utility makes emergency repairs. The gas ignites near a pilot light in the neighboring home causing partial structural damage.
Final tally: utility emergency repair costs, neighboring property structural damage, emergency response fees, and the property owner's displacement costs total $340,000. The utility owner and neighboring homeowner both file claims. The contractor faces a lawsuit with pollution allegations attached because the gas release constitutes a pollutant under the GL policy's pollution exclusion.
Without GL + Pollution Liability: The contractor's standard GL denies the gas release component under the pollution exclusion. The contractor faces a $340,000 judgment personally — potentially forcing bankruptcy.
With GL + CPL: The general liability policy covers the property damage and bodily injury components. The Contractors Pollution Liability policy covers the gas-release environmental claim and legal defense. The contractor pays their deductible. Operations resume.
Most generalist brokers can't find carriers that write excavation — it's a specialty class. We work with carriers that understand utility strike liability, NCCI Class 6217 workers' comp, and the full risk profile of underground work.
We work with admitted and E&S carriers that actually write excavation GL — not carriers who decline the class or exclude underground work with broad endorsements.
We don't let you leave the table without understanding your pollution exposure. CPL is a standard recommendation for every excavation contractor we insure.
We schedule your equipment at current replacement value — not depreciated book value. When your excavator gets stolen, you need to replace it, not get a fraction of what it's worth.
We're licensed nationally. Most excavation contractor quotes are back within one business day. New project starting Monday? We'll get your COI in time.
We issue additional insured certificates same-day. When your GC needs to see your COI before the excavator rolls on site, we make that happen without delays.
You speak directly with a licensed professional who understands the excavation industry — not a web form, not a call center. Real answers about what's covered and what's not.
The coverage questions we hear most from excavation contractors, trenching companies, and underground utility installers.