Is there any way to purchase a GL policy directly through a nationwide company? We are trying to revisit our policy as the premium is based on volume and we are really slow lately and all the local agents tell us we have the minimum you can get ($1 mil in coverage) but I don’t believe them.
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The 1 million coverage is for liability - not your volume. It basically means they will pay out 1 million in damages. You could do a $50 repair and cause 1 million in damage if you burn the place down. I've seen policies with as low as $300,00 in coverage but that is a drop in the bucket if you ever get sued.
Shop around. I just changed policies and saved almost 30%. Try lumping your WC, auto, homeowners etc with your liability.
Eric
Eric,
Thanks. Ours is for 1 mil in coverage but our agent said it was based on our expected volume of 1 mil worth of business. We told him we wanted less so he's seeing what he can do.
Good idea on the combination but I'm not sure how that would work as ours is an LLC yet the vehicles and home are owned personally. But a good question to ask!
Mike
Be careful, 'cause I'm living proof that all insurance companies are not equal.
I used a company in Crystal Beach Texas that was half of what I'm paying now but they were late on an Other Insured document for a large (to me anyway) commercial contract. They cost me $126,000 because they were a day late. The next one I had to drive 3 1/2 hours to pick it up personally then go to Galveston to Fed Ex it.
I now pay almost twice but I've never been late on a document again.
Good luck.
I'm guessing Eric is right.
I have one mill coverage ... with around 100K gross.
started out with 300K ... coverage ... and the up charge wasn't enough to even think twice about it.
I'd get a clear explination from your agent ... then think hard about replacing him.
sounds like something is way off base here ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I have 2 million in coverage but my rate is based upon payroll. AND because I do so much of the work my payroll doesn't amount to enough to affect my policy substantially.
When you're this good, EVERYONE wants a crack at you!
http://www.petedraganic.com/
All these different numbers seem to not really have much correspondance...hence my desire to get a new agent and new policy.
Mike, I think the insurance market is a constantly shifting thing. It is good to completely shop your policies every few years at least. A good broker can help you stay on top of it but they don't rep all of the different companies, so you should talk to at least two. Put together a one-page fax giving the details of your business (volume, payroll, sub volume, etc.) and the coverage levels you want. Call a few people, send them the fax, ask for a quote. Ask them to quote without going thru the whole ritual--checking your credit, etc. See who responds and what they say. Contractor's insurance is not like car insurance where most of the carriers are tightly grouped.
Three or four years ago a lot of contractors here were with one particular company. Then a new player came in and a lot of people switched. Talking to brokers and also your subs and even competitors can help you stay on top of this stuff, but for better or worse you need to do a bunch of shopping.
Thanks David...Good advice
Mike
I think that you are talking about two different things.Level of coverage. And exposure.The exposure is based, at least partialy, on how much work you do. So that rates are based on your volume.Difference in 300k and 1 mil in coverage might only be 10%. I am just making that up. But in things like HO and car insurance the increase in liability coverage is not much.But you might pay twice as much for someone that does $1 mil in business vs someone doing $250,000. Much more opertunities to screw up on more/bigger jobs..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.