A solo painter pays about $50 to $150 a month for general liability alone — roughly $600 to $1,800 a year. Add tools coverage, commercial auto, and workers' comp for a crew and a full package commonly runs $250 to $700 a month. Two things move the number more than anything: how much height and exterior work you do, and how many people are on your payroll.
We run our own home-service companies, so we carry this kind of coverage ourselves. This is a straight breakdown of what each policy costs, what drives the price, and how to keep it down — not a quote, just honest ranges so you can tell whether yours is fair.
The core policy for a painter — it covers overspray onto a car, a spilled bucket on hardwood, and other property damage. Most carriers price a solo painter at $600–$1,800 a year here, before height and crew factors push it up.
Sprayers, ladders, and scaffolding add up. This inexpensive coverage replaces them if they're stolen from a job site or your van — common enough in this trade to be worth carrying.
Your work van needs commercial coverage, not personal auto. Price depends on the vehicle, your driving record, and how far you travel between jobs.
Required in most states once you have employees, priced per $100 of payroll. Painting's fall risk makes the rate higher than office work, and exterior or multi-story crews pay more than interior-only ones.
Two painters can pay very different premiums. The drivers:
Carry what your state, your license, and your customers require, then stop. You're probably over-buying if:
To lower the bill without cutting protection: bundle into a business owner's policy, raise your deductible, keep claims clean, and pay annually.
Insurance protects the business; it doesn't grow it. Once you're covered, the next dollar is better spent getting in front of homeowners searching for a painter. We build painting sites that rank, show your project gallery and reviews, and capture the estimate request the moment it lands. We run this stack on our own companies.
Plans: $249/mo (site, AI lead capture, hosting), $597/mo (adds the SEO content engine and attribution), and from $1,750/mo (adds custom CRM and reputation automation). Month-to-month, you own everything, free working demo in 48 hours.
Related: painting website design, painting SEO, painting marketing, painting contract template, and SEO for contractors.
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General liability is the core, covering overspray, spills, and property damage. Most painters add tools coverage, commercial auto, and workers' comp once they hire. A business owner's policy bundles liability and property for less.
Falls are the biggest injury risk in painting, so exterior and multi-story work raises both liability and workers' comp rates. Interior-only painters generally pay less than those doing tall exteriors and commercial jobs.
Bundle into a business owner's policy, raise your deductible, keep claims clean, classify employees correctly, and pay annually. Reshopping a couple of carriers at renewal usually beats auto-renewing.
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