Fire damage restoration insurance checklist: what a fire damage restoration company should carry

The fire damage restoration company insurance checklist

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Fire damage restoration usually carry general liability, pollution liability and workers' compensation. Fire restorers board up, clean soot and odour, demolish and rebuild, and handle contents and structures contaminated by everything that burned, which brings pollution, bailee and construction exposures onto one job. The property manager and the lender ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a fire damage restoration company for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Property managers & HOAs	General liability with the manager and owner as additional insureds, and workers' compensation
Banks, lenders & SBA loans	Property or auto physical damage with the lender as loss payee, and liability proof at closing and every renewal
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Pollution liability. Site-based or contractors form, claims-made or occurrence, the materials named (mold, asbestos, lead, fuels), and transport and disposal coverage.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
Bailee coverage. The limit for customers' property at your premises and in transit, the valuation basis and any exclusions for specific items.
Bonds. The obligee (board, municipality or owner), the penal sum and the expiry date; a bond is renewed with the licence or the job, not with the policy year.
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.
Builders risk or installation floater. The project limit, soft costs, theft from the site and the point at which coverage ends (acceptance or occupancy).

What usually goes wrong for fire damage restoration companies

Soot, asbestos and lead disturbed during cleanup, excluded by the pollution exclusion.
Reconstruction done under a cleaning company's policy with no contractor classification.
A mold or asbestos exclusion sitting on the general liability policy of a business that remediates mold or asbestos.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
Relying on general liability for a damaged item that was in your hands when it happened.
A personal auto policy on a truck with the company name on the door.

What underwriters will ask a fire damage restoration company

The share of cleaning versus reconstruction, which contaminants the crews are certified to handle, and the value of contents handled
Materials handled (mold, asbestos, lead, biohazard), certifications and disposal practice
Share of work paid by insurance carriers and the contracts they require
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Typical and maximum value of customer property on hand at one time

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

Is soot and smoke cleanup a pollution exposure?

Yes; the residue of a fire is a pollutant under most general liability forms, and older buildings add asbestos and lead to it. Contractors pollution liability with those materials named is the first policy for a fire restorer.

Our policy was written for cleaning. Does it cover the rebuild?

Only if the carrier classified the business as a contractor too. Reconstruction brings completed-operations, subcontractor and builders risk exposure that a janitorial classification never priced. Describe the full scope of what the business does.

Why can't a fire damage restoration company rely on general liability?

Because the fungus, bacteria, asbestos and pollution exclusions on standard forms remove the very thing you do. Contractors pollution liability written for remediation, with the materials you handle named, is the policy clients and insurers paying for the work expect to see.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a fire damage restoration company that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

A customer's item was damaged while we had it. Does general liability pay?

Usually not; property in your care, custody or control is excluded. A bailee policy or an endorsement built for your trade pays for it, and it is the coverage customers assume you have.