MR. HANDYMAN

For Mr. Handyman, the 2025 franchise disclosure document, Item 8, requires general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate including products and completed operations; commercial auto at a combined single limit up to $2,000,000, no less than $1,000,000; workers' compensation regardless of state requirement; and cyber liability at $500,000 per claim and in the aggregate. Mr. Handyman SPV LLC and its designated affiliates must be named additional insured with a waiver of subrogation, coverage must be primary and non-contributory, and the carrier must be rated A.M. Best A-VIII or better. An environmental policy covering mold is recommended.

That is the central coverage risk across 500 services. If a tech performs work that legally required a licensed trade your business did not hold, the carrier can argue the loss arose from unlicensed work and limit or deny the claim. Know which tasks require a license in your state, route them to a licensed subcontractor, and collect the sub's certificate before the work.

Not the cost of bringing the work up to code. General liability does not pay to fix work that simply does not meet code, and some policies carry a building-code exclusion that can be invoked when a code violation is part of the loss. Build to code, pull permits where required, and confirm your policy does not carry an aggressive building-code exclusion.

Accidental water damage to the customer's other property is generally covered under completed operations. Mold is the gap — the standard policy contains a mold and fungus exclusion that can block the remediation portion. The Mr. Handyman FDD recommends an environmental policy covering mold; add it, or at least a mold endorsement, so the mold portion of a water-related claim is covered.

General liability excludes employee theft because it is dishonesty, not an accident. The FDD does not require crime coverage. The protection is a third-party commercial crime policy at $250,000 with a theft-of-customer-property endorsement, on a Loss Discovered form — it pays without a conviction and does not seek the money back from you.

Your liability and workers' compensation coverage applies wherever the work is performed. The specific exposure of a tech alone in a home is theft allegation, which general liability does not cover. Add a third-party crime policy for that, and a care, custody, and control endorsement for accidental damage to the customer's belongings your tech was handling.

Workers' compensation is priced by classification code, and trades carry different rates. At the year-end audit, the carrier reviews how your payroll actually split across codes against your estimate. If techs spent more time in a higher-rated trade than disclosed, the premium adjusts upward. This is a billing reconciliation, not a claim denial. Disclose your real 500-service mix at policy start and keep payroll records by trade.

Yes. The Mr. Handyman FDD requires workers' compensation regardless of whether your state mandates it. Workers' compensation pays an injured tech's medical bills and lost wages; employers liability responds when an injured worker sues the employer. Some states may also require you to pay workers' compensation premium for uninsured 1099 service providers you use.

Your auto and property policies do not follow your tools to job sites. Inland marine — an equipment floater — covers tools and equipment in transit, in the vehicle, and at customer locations, usually on an actual cash value basis. For a 500-service van carrying meaningful tooling, it is worth the line.

Commercial accounts — property managers, real estate firms, small businesses — typically require higher certificate limits, often $2,000,000 per occurrence, plus the client named as additional insured and a waiver of subrogation. They also raise your revenue, an audit base for general liability. Confirm your carrier can produce those certificates and support the higher limits before you commit to the work.