Contractors – Prepare For The Impact Of Your Uninsured Subcontractors

Uninsured subcontractors are often just a necessary evil in some types of construction jobs. But if you are the contractor who is hiring extra help, and this help is uninsured, you should know what you need to do on the front end to be sure that this cheap labor option doesn’t turn out to be the most expensive help you’ve ever hired. Understanding exactly how uninsured subs will affect your general liability insurance policy and your workers compensation insurance policy is key to reducing your risks and your costs. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem NC, we specialize in helping all kinds of contractors with their construction insurance policies. And we want to make sure that all of our insurance clients avoid the nasty surprises that often come along with hiring uninsured subcontractors.

There are really three ways that the subcontractors that you hire that have no insurance policies in force can hurt you. The first is the classification audit trap. The second is the insurance coverage punch, and the third is the out of control large loss problem. Let’s take them one at a time.

First up is the classification audit trap. Two of the main insurance policies for contractors are the general liability policy and the workers compensation policy. The North Carolina general liability policy and the North Carolina work comp policy both compute the premium due by using payroll as the rating basis. If you hire a subcontractor to work for you, you can provide a certificate of insurance for that subcontractor and anything that you have paid that subcontractor will not be charged against you as payroll at the end of your policy term when the policy is audited by the insurance company. Likewise, if you can’t provide a certificate of insurance for that sub, then you are going to have to add the entire job cost paid out to that sub as payroll. You can protect yourself against this going in by withholding an amount for insurance from the payment you make to the sub. But, beware, the general liability policy and the workers compensation policy both have different rates for different kinds of work. If you are a carpenter and you hire a roofing contractor to work for you to do roofing work, you won’t be protected from the audit trap by using the rate shown on your policy. That’s because the rate for the roofer is much higher than that for a carpenter. If you are unsure of what to withhold, either demand that your sub get insurance, or call your agent to find out what the correct amount per $100 of payroll should be withheld. As you can see, this is a tricky business and if you don’t pay attention to the details and do your homework, you will get burned and will be overpaying for your general liability and workers compensation policies.

Now let’s take a quick look at the insurance coverage punch. Hiring an uninsured subcontractor is a big no no from the insurance company underwriter’s viewpoint. This is because the underwriter immediately assumes that you don’t have the same control over a subcontractor that you do over your own employees. This means that losses are more likely from an uninsured subcontractor. The underwriter will view your uninsured subs as big liabilities that make you a less attractive risk to the insurance company. This means that when your audit comes in with uninsured subs listed, the underwriter will be less generous with discounts and you may actually see your rates go up for all of your insurance policies from you commercial auto to your general liability to your workers compensation policy. Once again the real message to you is that you should not hire uninsured subs.

Last of all, we have the out of control large loss problem. While you might want to argue against it, statistically is it true that you have less control over your subcontractors. And that not only means that they are more likely to cause losses on your policies, it also means that they are more likely to generate losses which are not covered by your policy. Does your policy have an exclusion for the type of work they are doing? Will the losses they cause exceed your coverage limit? The answer to both of these questions could well be yes. Ask yourself why your uninsured subs don’t have insurance protection. Is it because they are deemed uninsurable by underwriters? If so, why are you letting them have a free ride on your policy at the risk of damaging your ability to purchase insurance in the future?

The truth is that hiring an uninsured contractor to work on your projects is risky and in some cases just plain costly. If you can avoid this type of practice you will be better off from and insurance standpoint every time. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to make sure that our contractors understand the ins and outs of their policies and the best practices they should put in place. If you have any questions about workers compensation insurance, general liability insurance or any other business insurance policy, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at http://www.ClinardInsurance.com.

The source information for this article was drawn from the informative blogs at www.insuranceanswerguy.com

XCU – Don’t let this stealth exclusion ruin your General Liability Policy

What few people outside of the insurance industry know is that on your policy you will find what is covered by looking at the exclusions, not the coverage section. And unfortunately there is an optional exclusion on the general liability policy that can sneak up on people, particularly contractors. At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, North Carolina, we specialize in helping all kinds of contractors, from small artisan contractors to larger, heavy equipment contractors so we make it a point to keep an eye on this exclusion for our clients.

So what is this demon exclusion that can sting a contractor on his general liability insurance? Well it is called the xcu exclusion and the letters x, c, and u stand for explosion, collapse and underground. This exclusion is added by a special endorsement to the policy and it modifies the exclusions already found in the policy to remove coverage for losses related to these areas. For instance if you are a landscaping contractor who installs sprinkler lines and you accidentally hit a gas line and create an explosion, you’d better hope you don’t have the letter x (for explosion) showing up on this endorsement to your policy. If so, this is one loss you will be paying out of your own pocket. Ouch!

Other contractors who run risks with this type of stealth exclusion are grading contractors, excavators, sewer and water line installers and anyone who works with any kind or blasting or explosive materials.

At Clinard Insurance we specialize in contractors of all types and we know that you need to be building things and not trying to decipher tricky exclusions on your general liability insurance policy. If you want to do business with an agent who watches your back for you and works with hundreds of other contractors just like yourself, visit us online at www.thecontractorshelper.com.

The source material for this article was taken from http://www.insuranceanswerguy.com/

Contractors: 4 Key Tips To Consider When Buying General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance is one of the first types of policies you will need if you are starting a new business. At Clinard Insurance we are seeing many new small business startups. Starting your own company is popular these days with the layoffs we are seeing in our economy. The best choice is often to pursue something that you love doing and so we are seeing lots of people starting new businesses around their building skills. But just because you love to build things doesn’t mean you know the best way to protect yourself and your company from lawsuits.

Here are some tips for pitfalls that you should avoid when buying general liability insurance.

Choosing the right agent. The first place people generally go for their business insurance is the insurance agency that handles their home and auto insurance. In some cases this will work out well. But the risk is that your current agent may be licensed to sell you general liability insurance on your new company while really possessing very little experience in evaluating the hazards and risks of your specific type of company. I would suggest that you go out there and look for an agent that specializes in insuring other small businesses like yours. Ask your competitors who they used. At Clinard Insurance we have a niche specialty in small contractors and we speak their language and understand their needs. If your agent doesn’t specialize in your business, I suggest you find one who does.

Claims Made or Occurrence Policy Type: Construction claims made policies became popular in the mid 1980’s and have been around ever since. The promise of these policies were lower rates, but at what long-term damage? In some instances there is no cost savings. Claims made polices for a contractor are the worst possible policy you can buy. Let me explain: Claims made policies allow you to make claim on your policy only during the year they are in force. Contractors have claims down the road, not always just in the same year as the project is built!

Also, if you want to leave that company and go to another company, you will have to purchase additional insurance to cover you for the next 10 years… that’s right, 10 years! Why? Because the law allows customers to file a lawsuit for construction problems for up to 10 years after the project was completed.

An Example:
You build a new room addition, everything goes well and you and your customer are very happy with the final outcome… 4 years later your customer calls you and says that the roof is leaking and water came in the house and ruined his new $25,000 grand piano. He expects you to repair the roof, the drywall, wallpaper, carpets and, of course, replace the grand piano….

A claims made policy will not allow you file a claim 4 years later unless you stayed with that same company the whole time. If you intend to change companies after you have had a claims made policy, you must make a decision. If you want to have protection for any claims that have not occurred yet, but will in the future, you will have to purchase “tail” coverage. This coverage will extend the time in which you can file a claim. And tail coverage is not cheap.

If you decide not to buy the “tail” you will not be able to report a claim against the claims made policy. And to make matters worse, some companies do not offer the 10 year extension.

So…. When your claims made policy comes up for renewal, you must decide:

Ø Do I leave the company and pay the additional insurance for coverage for the next 10 years, or go without protection.
Ø Do I stay with the same company? Their prices on the new year may stay the same or go up sharply.
Ø Do I switch to another company who has better rates and coverages?


This limits the marketplace for you, and makes it harder to accept a better bid from another insurance company. Claims made policies may work in other industries, but for Contractors they are a disaster. Take time after reading this report to see if your current policy is either an occurrence form or a claims made form…..

Insurance Company Rating It is up to you to do the due diligence and ask your agent about the financial health of the company from whom you are buying your general liability insurance. As the previous tip implied, sometimes the claims may be very much delayed and you need to know that your company can pay a claim for you 10 years from now. Use only A rated or higher insurance companies to protect your business.

Exclusions, Understand Them Clearly Be sure to take the time to ask your agent about the policy exclusions and what they may mean for you. Here are some exclusions that contractors should consider when purchasing a general liability insurance policy:
Pesticide, Herbicide and Fungicide Exclusion, Employment Practices Liability Exclusion, X.C.U exclusion, Contractors Warranty Exclusion, Professional Liability Exclusion, Asbestos, Independent Contractors. If you don’t know exactly what these mean for you on your policy, contact your agent and get the help you need to understand it clearly. This may change the way you run your business.

Subcontractors Be sure that you understand just how your policy treats subcontractors. Are you covered if they have no insurance or not enough for the loss? How much coverage should you require of your subcontractors? How often should you obtain certificates of insurance? How can you be sure that the certificate of insurance is legitimate. (I have seen fraudulent certs for sale on ebay before). If you are not clear about the answers to these questions vis-à-vis your business and your general liability policy, you should call your agent right away and get the answers you need to sleep well at night.

As you can see buying general liability insurance is not a simple as calling your agent and asking for a quote. You need an experienced professional that understands the policy forms and your business. At Clinard Insurance we specialize in helping small contractors navigate the dangerous waters of the insurance world. If we can help you further, or if you would like more information about Clinard Insurance Group, please visit our web site.

Source information for this article was pulled from the Insurance Answer Guy.