Do you know your insurance?

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hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
I am going to share a true story that happened this year to make a point. The point is that the time to find out the details of your insurance policy is not after you make a claim.

I do electrical work and fuel work (gas station type). I was upgrading some fill spill buckets at 14 BJ sites. One of them was in Norcross, GA. I had a sub go down to do that one since I was busy. The sub has GL with a pollution rider. I have GL with a pollution rider plus a modified bailey policy especially geared towards the fuel work.

The sub does the work and is pouring concrete around the fill bucket. A fuel delivery truck arrives and the sub stands up from the concrete he was finishing and backs up to let the driver onto the site. The driver runs over the spill bucket and destroys it and in the process runs over the fill pipe coming out of the fiberglass tank...... TWICE! (forward and backward). I hire a tank tester (based on a recommendation from a friend in the area) to test the tank to be sure it's ok. In the process of a couple of tests, it appears he cracked the tank. I failed to get a certificate of insurance from this guy, and he will not return my calls or my insurance company's letters. (Yes, my bad, but learn from this).

I handle getting the tank repaired to a tune of $28,000.

I file with my insurance company. It was a while since I filed, so I called to check on the progress of the claim and the adjuster says something that begs the question "Are you saying this claim might be denied?". Apparently my GL covers any damage done by the item I'm working on but not the item itself. My Bailey policy covers the item I'm working on. Since the tank tester is a sub, I have no coverage and out $28,000. This is not the final decision, just a real/probable outcome.

Anyway, the point is, KNOW YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE!
 
hardworkingstiff said:
I am going to share a true story that happened this year to make a point. The point is that the time to find out the details of your insurance policy is not after you make a claim.

I do electrical work and fuel work (gas station type). I was upgrading some fill spill buckets at 14 BJ sites. One of them was in Norcross, GA. I had a sub go down to do that one since I was busy. The sub has GL with a pollution rider. I have GL with a pollution rider plus a modified bailey policy especially geared towards the fuel work.

The sub does the work and is pouring concrete around the fill bucket. A fuel delivery truck arrives and the sub stands up from the concrete he was finishing and backs up to let the driver onto the site. The driver runs over the spill bucket and destroys it and in the process runs over the fill pipe coming out of the fiberglass tank...... TWICE! (forward and backward). I hire a tank tester (based on a recommendation from a friend in the area) to test the tank to be sure it's ok. In the process of a couple of tests, it appears he cracked the tank. I failed to get a certificate of insurance from this guy, and he will not return my calls or my insurance company's letters. (Yes, my bad, but learn from this).

I handle getting the tank repaired to a tune of $28,000.

I file with my insurance company. It was a while since I filed, so I called to check on the progress of the claim and the adjuster says something that begs the question "Are you saying this claim might be denied?". Apparently my GL covers any damage done by the item I'm working on but not the item itself. My Bailey policy covers the item I'm working on. Since the tank tester is a sub, I have no coverage and out $28,000. This is not the final decision, just a real/probable outcome.

Anyway, the point is, KNOW YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE!
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Lou seems that some guys only think the price of insurance is a concern, My bet is most of our elecrticians have the wrong insurance coverages, they just have not had to use it yet.
 
Seriously, though, you need a good insurance man on your side. There's no way a contractor could quiz a bad insurance man on all the stuff we could screw up and ask "am I covered for that". You need a sharp guy, famaliar with a contractor's insurance needs, in your corner.
 
That is 100% correct. you have to have an agent that understands your business and knows what you need. As far as getting the cheapest possible policy, I dont remember our General liability even with all the riders being all that expensive. we just renewed in march and I want to say it was around $1200 for everything. although we carry everything ( GL, WC, auto, health, life, disability) through this agent and have never had a single claim ( on the GL and WC) it still isnt a great expense. Man wish our WC was the same way.
 
your dealing in haz mat type work full-time though right. Our gl policy states electrical wiring within or associated to commercial and or industrial buildings. plus I think our most expensive rider is the rental equipment rider. I cant stand paying 15% of the rental cost to the rental company. we rent alot of equipment so it saves us alot.
 
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