Insurance

What is the standard insurance coverage that you contractors carry?

I had errors and ommisissions.

I have since dropped it.

I do not have any immediate plans to get any, unless customer wants to pay extra.

regards.....casey

PS Check search for several older threads on this subject.

It depends but some coporations require you to carry liability insurance around 1 million, workmens compensation and be bonded before you can work on their property. Technicallly it protects you as much as it does them.

We have public liability up to 2 million. Some customers require that its increased to 5 million but we just do that on a temporary basis, get the job done and revert back to 2.

In this crazy age of suing people because its easier than actually working I think you need insurance... as rsdoran says, its to protect you as much as them...

JT

who do you guys go through? i am having problems finding people that have any clue what i do and keep getting classified as a pc tech which in this day and age nobody wants to insure due to virus' etc etc.


also, about what is the going rate? i woul REALLY appreciate any help on this as i've been half *** trying to get this going for a while now and am having ZERO results.

I'm UK based so can't help you on where to go to get the insurance. We pay around £3,600 per year for our insurance. The prices all went stupid after 9/11 and the onslaught of the "no win, no fee"'ers

We too struggled initially to get insurance but just stick with it. We ended up going to an insurance broker and he found somewhere for us. The funny thing is, once you've got it you can then change it.. its just getting it that's the hard part..

Good luck

Casey mentioned Errors and Ommissions, it could be Technical or Miscellaneous. Most large companies have business insurance, when I was in business I had State Farm handling all my insurance. Maybe this will help: http://www.statefarm.com/insuranc/special/spec_comm.htm

http://www.statefarm.com/insuranc/business/business.htm

I have £10,000,000 public liability and third party risks , but that doesnt go far in a £50,000,000 factory . as for $1,000,000 , not enough to pay a premium for . Get a good lawyer and a better contract .

wow thanks alot, i'm actually with state farm now and i specifically asked them about this and my agent: "we don't do anything like that, let me refer you to a friend"


grrrrr


as if i didn't hate insurance people enough.

we carry 5 million.We are a electrical/controls contractor..You might try asking for buisness liability insurance for a controls contractor..Controls is a fairly large area so you should be covered for PLC programming and installation

Hardwerk,

To purchase insurance you really need to define the type of work you do. There are many types of insurance, Workers Comp & General liability are broad terms, depending on your spicific industry your coverages may very. For busniess insurance needs you really need to contact somebody like Willis, or Acordia. These are agents that purchase insurance through brokers, who then purchase it through underwirters (underwriters are the guys taking the actual risk). A large busniess insurance agency can put togeather a total package for you that may include Workers Comp GL, Umbrella, Bonding, bla bla bla...Like a lawyer you need to find an agent that you can develop a comfortable relationship with, these guys are not side thoughts but true partners that could make or break your busniess..

Since your question lacks any spicifics on what your doing, I really cant say much more...

Good luck with it..

I'm a "one man" show and I had trouble getting reasonable liability insurance on my own. I also deal with State Farm for personal insurance but they told me they don't offer liability insurance for business purposes.


I get my insurance through a professional organization I am a member of, OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists). They deal with a company that offers a group plan for members of OACETT. I have 2 million dollars (Canadian) in Errors & Ommissions and 2 million dollars General Commercial Liability. The E&O runs me around $1400/year and the General Commercial is about $1000/year. This covers only me, not subcontractors and has specific exclusions. For example, it does not include "build activities" which is fine because I subcontract my panel builds and my subcontractor is insured. It also doesn't cover work in the United States because the risk of being sued is much higher which would result in a greater cost that I chose not to take.

The lowest quote I got for insurance on my own (i.e. not through a group plan) was $7500/year for similar insurance to what I mentioned above. It seems paying my annual membership dues to OACETT comes with more benefits than I originally thought!

For those in Ontario, Canada that may be interested in OACETT and their benefits, visit www.oacett.org

P.S.
My key customer requires me to carry a minimum of 1 million but the upgrade to 2 million was negligable. Larger companies usually require a higher limit. I did work for Honda in Alliston, Ontario at my previous employer and they required 5 million.

IEEE offers business liability insurance.

I work for myself and in Ozz no one will even look at you with less than $10mill public laibaility. Most want $20mill or more.

Because I design and build control systems, panels, software, commissioning I also carry $10mill product liability.

Also have cover for plotter, tools, laptop etc.

Cannot afford professional liabilty, the price of that is WOW!!!

The above insurance plus worker's compensation insurance costs me about $10,000 AU per annum.

I have a small electrical contracting business here in NC. Me and one employee. I carry a $1 Million policy with a max of 2 occurances per year. Hope I never have to use it.
I do not have workmans' comp as you are only required to have it with 3 or more employees, unless the job specifically requires it. I originally carried the ins policy with a generic insurance agency here in town but after my first year I switched over to Nationwide. They were cheaper after you were insured for one continous year. Yep, the same ones who insure my vehicles and home. Runs under $600/yr. Shop around your local agents.