Typically general contractors cannot perform the work for a job without liability insurance.  General contractor liability insurance is designed to protect owners and operators of businesses from a wide variety of liability exposures. These exposures could include liability arising out of accidents resulting from the premises or the operations of an insured, products sold by the insured, operations completed by the insured, and contractual liability.  Cost for general contractor liability insurance will vary based upon the amount of liability you go with, one million, two million, three million, and so on.  Your rates will also be determined by the type of work your doing, gross receipts, as well as your total payroll expenses.  As with auto insurance you will make a down payment for you general contractor liability insurance policy and then 9 or 10 consecutive monthly payments.