What is riggers liability insurance and do tower erectors need it?

Riggers liability insurance covers damage to property of others while it is being hoisted, lowered, rigged, or moved by your crew during construction operations. For tower erectors, riggers liability is essential because it covers damage to tower sections, antenna arrays, radio remote units, cable trays, and other components during the hoisting and rigging process — exposure that standard commercial general liability does not cover.

Why GL does not cover rigging damage: Standard CGL policies contain a care, custody, and control (CCC) exclusion that eliminates coverage for property in the insured's possession or control. When your crew is actively hoisting an antenna array on a gin pole or rigging steel sections with a crane, that equipment is in your care and control. If the load is dropped, swings into the tower, or is damaged during the lift, your GL will not respond because of the CCC exclusion. Riggers liability fills this gap specifically for property being moved by rigging operations.

What riggers liability covers: Damage to the load being hoisted (the antenna, tower section, or equipment), damage to existing property caused by the rigging operation (such as co-located equipment on the tower struck by a swinging load), damage to the tower structure itself caused by rigging failure (gin pole collapse, overloading), and in some forms, damage caused by dropped tools or materials during rigging.

During tower erection, a single dropped tower section or antenna array can represent $50,000-$500,000 in damage. Gin pole failures during heavy lifts can damage the entire tower structure, generating losses of $500,000 or more. If a rigging failure drops an antenna onto equipment already installed on the tower belonging to another carrier tenant, the damage to the existing equipment may be covered by your GL (property of others not in your care) but the dropped antenna requires riggers coverage.

How to obtain riggers liability: Many specialty tower insurance programs include riggers liability within the inland marine or installation floater coverage. If yours does not, it is available as a standalone riggers liability policy or as an endorsement to your inland marine program. Limits should match the maximum value you hoist on any single lift — review your rigging schedule and identify the most valuable single load. For contractors performing heavy structural erection with loads exceeding $500,000 in value, dedicated riggers coverage with limits of $500,000 to $1 million per occurrence is standard. Premiums for riggers liability typically range from $3,000 to $15,000 annually depending on limits, deductible, and the volume and value of rigging operations.