Celeste 341 Report post Posted August 24, 2005 This question is for everyone, not just those with employees. How many carry Worker's Comp insurance? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Kiser 14 Report post Posted August 24, 2005 One of my comercial accounts has asked me to start caring it. So I prob. will got a quote the other day for $900 are there any "special" things I should be looking for? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLD 14 Report post Posted August 24, 2005 Check and see if that isn't 900 + 15% of payroll... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aplus 525 Report post Posted August 25, 2005 The rules and requirements are different for each state. Start off by checking with your insurance agent who provides your liability insurance. I;d imagine he can steer you in the right direction required by your state. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparklingclean 14 Report post Posted August 25, 2005 I am exempted due to being the officer of my corporation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acidburn 14 Report post Posted August 26, 2005 I am exempted due to being the officer of my corporation. That may be for state law purposes, but individual circumstances could require WC (ie: a property manager, some commercial account, etc.etc.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted August 26, 2005 The rules and requirements are different for each state. Start off by checking with your insurance agent who provides your liability insurance. I;d imagine he can steer you in the right direction required by your state. Tony is right. Check with your state, the states do vary. Beth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celeste 341 Report post Posted August 26, 2005 I am exempted due to being the officer of my corporation..For premium and coverage purposes, officers/owners are exempt - your premium goes through the roof for you to be covered. It does not however, relieve anyone that you do work from for being responsible for your injuries should you have an accident. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pams Pressure & Clean 64 Report post Posted August 26, 2005 There is no reason for any legitimate company to NOT have W/C...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted August 26, 2005 It does not however, relieve anyone that you do work from for being responsible for your injuries should you have an accident. That's cool to know... There is no reason for any legitimate company to NOT have W/C...... If you are a one man show, no hired help, you may not need it at all. You can be incorporated and a one man show and not need it. However, if you have help, employees, you should check your state requirements, and in my opinion cover those who work for you. Beth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Carroll 14 Report post Posted August 27, 2005 One man show here with GL and WC. The small amount for the WC was paid by the first job with the contractor that required me to have it. Even being a one man show if you have WC it helps with your ligitimacy as a business. I have the WC and I am not covered. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pams Pressure & Clean 64 Report post Posted August 27, 2005 If you are a one man show, no hired help, you may not need it at all. You can be incorporated and a one man show and not need it. However, if you have help, employees, you should check your state requirements, and in my opinion cover those who work for you.[/Quote]I'm familiar with the legalities you address. For example, our company is not legally required to have W/C. Also true is that most P/W companies with which we compete are similarly not required to posses W/C. However, in the scheme of legitimacy, marketing, and overall business management I stand by my statement.. There is no reason why a LEGITIMATE business would operate without it. I see that Jim seems to agree as well... We carry W/C even though state insurance law precludes us from benefitting from it as we are the owners of the Co.. Why do we spend the money?? Aside from the simple fact that many of our commercial accounts require it, we also use W/C as a powerful marketing tool. If I'm required to own it, why not profit from it ?? I will quickly explain to any homeowner or commercial prospect that Ga. law provides that if a contractor gets hurt on the property and does not have W/C then the property owner may be liable for payment of claims and losses. A guy falling off a ladder while cleaning gutters could easily cost a homeowner millions of dollars... If they are willing to risk all they own and ever hope to own to save a few bucks as compared to the beer money hack down the street, by all means, give the guy a call and get him on the way... If not, we can have our certificates sent over from the Ins. Carrier promptly. We have certs sent direct from the ins co. directly to guarantee authenticity. It has apparently become an issue here as some contractors in the home services and construction industry producing false certs on the home PC and passing them as legit. Cujo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted August 27, 2005 Cujo, We agree with you. Don't disagree at all. WC is a must have for us, and you nailed it as to why. Beth :cup: :groovy: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pams Pressure & Clean 64 Report post Posted August 27, 2005 Oh... uh... sorry... I guess I read it wrong... :):) Are you seeing the bogus certs more now than in the past or is it more a regional thing??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chappy 138 Report post Posted August 27, 2005 There is no reason for any legitimate company to NOT have W/C...... Sure there is. No employees. using temp labor when needed and covered by their agency. Workers comp desnt cover owner of corp. in Florida. (per agent.) And Im sure there are others. I have lost commercial work due to not having WC. But the ammount was minimal. Most do not even ask, (only HOA boards.) If I were to purchace WC, but it did not cover me as the owner, and I am a one man operation, I would be wasting money. The homeowner would still not be protected if I was hurt on their property. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squirtgun 122 Report post Posted September 15, 2005 Jon, We are in the same situation with WC.As owners we aren't required by the state to have it and if we did,it wouldn't cover us anyway.The last quote I got was $1400 for the year. We missed out on a monthly contract with a bank because they demanded WC.I was prepared to get WC until the bank balked at the price increase per location(about $20 per branch) to cover the additional insurance they required.The funny part is they had their carpet cleaning company sub the pressure washing to another company and they don't carry WC.I wonder how they will handle a claim if someone from this company gets hurt on their property?They can plead ignorance but I don't think that will get them far in court. If we had fulltime/parttime employees WC would be in place to protect them. I honestly don't understand the assumption that if you don't have WC your aren't a legit business.I guess I missed the memo that said my liabilty insurance and business license weren't enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chappy 138 Report post Posted September 15, 2005 Until I get to the point that I hire someone part time or FT, I'll remain an illigitimate business. Fortunately, my customers dont see me as that. Ive only lost 2 small commercial jobs because of that issue. Fully 50% if my work this year has been commercial and its not been an issue, as long as my workers are covered, and I bring on a day laborer or a temp laborer, who has WC coverage through the labor company. So far its worked great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sflasealcoating 14 Report post Posted October 21, 2005 Sure there is. No employees. using temp labor when needed and covered by their agency. Workers comp desnt cover owner of corp. in Florida. (per agent.) And Im sure there are others.I have lost commercial work due to not having WC. But the ammount was minimal. Most do not even ask, (only HOA boards.) If I were to purchace WC, but it did not cover me as the owner, and I am a one man operation, I would be wasting money. The homeowner would still not be protected if I was hurt on their property. I agree.... that statement is wrong... we ARE a ligit company and incorporated i am a one man show.... and i am filed under workers comp exemption in the state of florida.... my contract states that we are a corp... and that the homeowner/business ect is not held responsable for actions taken by contractor that may lead to injury...i also do NOT get on roofs lol so theres very little danger of injury lol if you supply an exemption form to an hoa they 99% of the time will be fine with that ...they just want to see that siomethign is covered..... a way around using help and still beign exempt is by hiring tempt from a agency that r covered themselves OR hiring a serperate contractor that has his /her own licensing :) we recently completed cleanign and sealing contract for the Boca Polo club 60,000 sq ft and 2 of us yes 2 people we finished the entire job in 2 weekends :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff 232 Report post Posted October 22, 2005 I see no need to spend the money if your a one man operation or are using temp help. if you are never required to have it for a job. why would you want w/c, just to spend money I have W/C because it is required on many of my jobs plus I have employees and of course i would want the protection for me & them. it doesnt cover me, but I sure wouldnt want a guy to get hurt bad and not have the protection or come after me directly to coverhis medical. In S. Carolina you arent required to have it if you have 3 employees or under. If I have one guy part time I would want it. It cost me $900.00 up front, that covers up to $4000 in payroll and then after that I think its right around $13.80 per $100 payroll. I put up more $$ this year to cover up more payroll, and I'll have to pay more at audit time. My accountant tells me every payroll what to have in payroll account to cover that and taxes, uneployment etc etc I do think having W/C helps with getting work i use it as a selling tool when i advertise, in fliers, when Im talking to businesses etc. the good thing about W/C and employees is that, as long as you haveW/C an empoyee cant sue you, unless theres gross negligance(sp)on my part. Althou the employee could try to sue everyone else , the property etc. I also get alot of request to have properties put on my liabilty ins. as Additional Insured. I get charged by my insure company an additional charge of $106 per additional isured and I put that in any proposal, so if they want to be listed, they pay the $106 not me. W/C is good, no employee should have to worry if his job injury is going to be covered. I was in a major work accident and it cost over a few hundred thousand $$$ in medical and all was paid by W/C and Im always covered if I have problems in the future with my old Injusry and I probably will need surgery in the future years. they tried to pay me off, during, mediation so i wouldnt come back at them in ater years , I passed on taking the extra money and said I want the coverage in later years. They will try to get out of it the cheapest way they can see, during a mediation. These pictures are why W/C is a good thing. If I wasnt covered and I couldnt get money from a company, I would of had be obligated to pay. I wasnt and W/C paid. I didnt sue the company I worked for but we sued everyone else that was at fault this is what happens when a train comes through your work containment and you drop hand & head 1st, 20+ feet OUCH. Like they say its not the fall that hurts its the sudden stop:lgsick: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve r 14 Report post Posted October 23, 2005 i have workmans comp its a must Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry M 73 Report post Posted March 10, 2006 I have a big roof job to do this spring for some office buildings. I am upping my GL to meet the requirements of the PM, but they also require I have WC insurance. So I looked into it and my state dosen't require I have it if I have no employees, which I don't. I have to fill out an application for a certificate of clearance that would make me exempt from having to carry it. My question is will this fly with the PM as long as I'm within the law? I am allowed to hire a temp helper and still be within the law. I don't want to spend extra money if I don't need to but I don't want to **** the PM off if they say I need it. This is my first commercial job so I don't want any set backs, but if I don't need WC then I don't need it, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Don Phelps 85 Report post Posted March 10, 2006 Hi Barry, You can meet the state-required exemption and still need to have the WC if the PM requires it and it will need to be for you and any other employees on the site. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Doherty 126 Report post Posted March 10, 2006 Barry, It's as Don said, it's up to the PM, and what their company requires. If you are a one man show and you have medical coverage, they (your medical coverage insurance co) can send you what's called a '24 hour coverage letter'. It states that you have coverage on and off the job so if you get hurt you're covered, a PM might accept that. If your temp labor is from an agency they will cover their wc. Hope this helps John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barry M 73 Report post Posted March 10, 2006 Yes it does help. I guess I'll start shopping for it. Thank you Don and John. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littlefield 65 Report post Posted March 10, 2006 I have a big roof job to do this spring for some office buildings. I am upping my GL to meet the requirements of the PM, but they also require I have WC insurance. So I looked into it and my state dosen't require I have it if I have no employees, which I don't. I have to fill out an application for a certificate of clearance that would make me exempt from having to carry it. My question is will this fly with the PM as long as I'm within the law? I am allowed to hire a temp helper and still be within the law. I don't want to spend extra money if I don't need to but I don't want to **** the PM off if they say I need it. This is my first commercial job so I don't want any set backs, but if I don't need WC then I don't need it, right? Ask the PM company if they have a standard exemption form their lawyer has put together, or if they would accept that. If not, then tell them no problem, I'll get it right away. I've had big const companies bend over backwards to help me work with them, when they really needed me to.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
