The short answer
For most businesses, Florida law requires little commercial insurance directly. The main statutory requirements are workers’ compensation, once you have enough employees, and insurance on vehicles, and some licensed trades and associations have their own rules. Much more is required by the people you do business with: landlords, lenders, general contractors and customers. And some coverage is required by no one but would be hard to live without after a loss.
Think of it as three buckets: required by law, required by contract, and smart to add based on your risk.
Required by Florida law
Workers’ compensation
Florida’s Division of Workers’ Compensation says the number of employees that triggers the requirement depends on your industry:
| Industry | Coverage is required when you have |
|---|---|
| Construction | One or more employees |
| Non-construction | Four or more employees |
| Agriculture | Six or more regular employees, or twelve or more seasonal workers |
Corporate officers and LLC members count toward those numbers. Sole proprietors and partners in non-construction businesses are not counted as employees unless they choose to be covered; in construction they are treated as employees unless the state has approved an exemption. Our workers’ compensation guide explains the details, including exemptions and subcontractors.
Auto insurance on vehicles
Most vehicles registered in Florida must carry insurance, including vehicles your business owns. The coverage and minimum limits that apply depend on the type of vehicle and how it is used, and contracts often ask for much more than the legal minimum. A personal auto policy may not cover a vehicle used for business, so check before you assume it does.
Licenses, bonds and permits
Some licenses and permits require insurance or a bond. State-certified and registered contractors must keep public liability and property damage insurance under the licensing board’s rules, and an employer must show proof of workers’ compensation coverage or an exemption to pull a building permit. Condominium and homeowners’ associations have insurance duties under their own statutes. Check with your licensing board or local permit office, because requirements vary by trade and by city or county.
Required by contract
For many businesses this is the bucket that matters most, because the people you do business with set their own minimums.
- Leases often require general liability with stated limits and name the landlord as an additional insured. Many also require property coverage for your contents and improvements.
- Lenders typically require property insurance on the building, and may require flood coverage in a flood zone and business income coverage.
- General contractors and project owners usually require general liability and workers’ compensation, and often an umbrella, with certificates and additional insured wording.
- Customers and vendors may require certificates showing professional liability, cyber or auto coverage.
Words you will see in contracts
- Certificate of insurance (COI). A short summary showing that a policy exists. It is evidence of coverage, not the policy, and it does not add coverage.
- Additional insured. Someone else, such as a landlord, who is given certain protection under your liability policy by an endorsement.
- Waiver of subrogation. Your insurer agrees not to pursue the other party to recover what it paid on a claim.
- Primary and non-contributory. Your policy pays first, and the other party’s own policy does not share the loss.
Read these clauses before you sign. If a contract asks for something your policy does not provide, find out before the work starts, not after a claim.
Smart to add, based on your risk
- Commercial property and business income, so a fire or a storm does not end the business.
- Flood and windstorm, which Florida property policies often treat separately from the main policy.
- Umbrella or excess liability, where a serious injury claim could exceed your primary limits.
- Professional liability, if you give advice or provide a service where a mistake costs the customer money.
- Cyber liability, if you hold customer payment or personal data.
- Employment practices liability, if you have employees.
- Directors and officers liability, for boards, nonprofits and associations.
- Liquor liability, if you serve or sell alcohol.
- Abuse and molestation coverage, if you work with minors.
Gaps that come up often in Florida
- Assuming a general liability policy also covers workers’ compensation, vehicles or professional mistakes. It does not.
- Learning after a storm that flood was excluded, or that the named-storm deductible is a percentage of the building value.
- Hiring subcontractors who have no coverage of their own, which can make their workers your employees for workers’ compensation purposes.
- Carrying limits lower than a contract requires.
- Treating people as independent contractors when they may legally be employees.
- Letting a policy lapse and finding that a lease or loan treats that as a default.
How to work out what you need
- Read every lease, loan and contract for insurance requirements, and write down the limits they ask for.
- List what you own, where it is, and what it would cost to replace.
- List your people: employees, subcontractors, volunteers and anyone under 18.
- List the vehicles used for the business, including personal ones used for work.
- Write down what would hurt most: a lawsuit, a fire, a storm, a data breach, losing a key person.
- Bring that list to an agent and ask which coverage answers each item.
If you would like help with that last step, tell us about your business.
- Coverage Requirements, Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Workers’ Compensation (employee thresholds and who counts as an employee).
Last reviewed October 13, 2026. This page is general information. It is not legal advice and it is not an offer of coverage.