# Liability Insurance?



## tim5555 (May 7, 2009)

Good Morning,

I have recently started my own general repair and remodeling business. I am a high school teacher who has been working part time for the last 10 years as a carpenter, remodeling bathrooms and basements.

I have been having trouble finding liability insurance for two reasons. one is that I am a new business and the second is that I am not specializing in one trade.

Does anyone have a recommendations for a general liability insurance company? I have a number of jobs I am holding off on starting because of this issue.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thank you in advance, Tim.


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## Paul Masters (May 25, 2011)

I don't have a specific reference for you, but the key to a good insurance company is a good insurance agent. You can get a personal relationship going, and the agent will go to bat for you. Usually, it's built into the price of the insurance anyway, so no real benefit to going "direct" to the insurance company.*

I would go to a few contractors you know and ask which agents they have been happy with. Almost always word-of-mouth gets you better service providers than direct advertising. Ask how long they have been with the agent, and about responsiveness to phone calls.

Good luck.

*Although, I just ended up leaving one agent I have been with for years because the car insurance rates kept going up. The competitive quote for another company was 1/2 the rate I was paying. The agent did everything he could to get my price "close" to the competition. But he couldn't do it. The agent was in a no-win situation, unfortunately. I would have easily paid a 20% premium to stay with that agent, but could simply not justify paying a 100% premium to stay. Unfortunate.


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## Grumpy (Oct 8, 2003)

Have you read my blog post about buying contractor insurance? http://www.contractortalk.com/blogs/contractor-insurance-buyers-guide


Tim, who are you contacting about the contractor insurance? Don't contact your guy who sells you life insurance or personal auto insurance try contacting someone who specializes in business insurance. Perform a google search for "contractor insurance plus your city" I don't really see what you are doing as being a problem to be honest. You would be classified as Carpentry Not Otherwise Classified (NOC). 

Have you incorporated yet?


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## SuperiorHIP (Aug 15, 2010)

Check with your local HBA, I found my best workers comp came from them and the agent I used to set up my GL ended up being my contact for the WC.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

I used to have a handyman policy. It was no trouble to get at all. 1 mil in coverage was about 650 / year for me. It didn't allow me to do roofing.


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## SuperiorHIP (Aug 15, 2010)

I have $1 mil which runs about $1600 a year.


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## tim5555 (May 7, 2009)

Yes I have incorporated.


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## tim5555 (May 7, 2009)

Very frustrated now!!!!!!

I have called Nationwide and Country Insurance on recommendations. Neither company will write a GL policy unless I give them all my personal insurance needs. I have USAA for all other insurance and neither company can compete on those rates. USAA farms out their GL to Hartford but Hartford will not write a policy under the classification of "Carpenter" only "Trim Carpenter" or other very specific classifications.

Can anyone give me a name of an insurance company that writes General Liability policies for "Handyman", "Carpentry", "Home Repair", "Remodeler" or anything else related to these fields?


I never imagined that I would be having such a difficult time. 

Thanks in advance for the help.


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## Frank F (Jun 10, 2011)

*Commercial General Liability Insurance*

I know an Agent in Arlington that specializies in Contractors and can get you a quote in 5 min. They do Roofers also! can email you there contact info.


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## tim5555 (May 7, 2009)

Thanks. I should mention that I am in the Chicago area.


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## Kgmz (Feb 9, 2007)

tim5555 said:


> Thanks. I should mention that I am in the Chicago area.


And this is why more info in your profile, post, etc, is important.

Grumpy who posted above can give you some leads since he is also in the Chicago area. Not all companies sell insurance in all states.


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## Mikekow80 (Feb 25, 2011)

Call around and find an insurance broker company. I found my company by asking around. They now insure everything for me. But like other have said I have different agents for commercial and personal. I couldn't even tell you who they have me set up with, but he checks it for me about every year and sends me some options and recommendations. Having a real person that you've meet and know has changed insurance for me. It's so different then just calling an 800 number.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

SuperiorHIP said:


> I have $1 mil which runs about $1600 a year.


Apparently, your volume is bigger than mine :laughing:

Oh yeah, mine is bigger than it used to be, I'm covered to do roofing now ^^


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

When looking for insurance, look for an "Independent Insurance Agent". They will work with all different kinds of companies and can find one that has what you need.
Me: Harleysville Insurance, PA.


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## Framer53 (Feb 23, 2008)

tim5555 said:


> Thanks. I should mention that I am in the Chicago area.


Erie insurance. Try for an artisan policy. I think they insure small one man operations very reasonable. Look them up online..:thumbsup:


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## CookeCarpentry (Feb 26, 2009)

Ohio Casualty - or one of their umbrella companies (Liberty Mutual, Peerless, etc) - have a very good GL policy for the one man operation.

Available thru an independent insurance broker.


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Framer53 said:


> Erie insurance.


Yep, that's who I use. Very reasonable.

Well, at least until you have a claim. I have yet to experience that. :laughing:


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## Tech Dawg (Dec 13, 2010)

Tinstaafl said:


> Yep, that's who I use. Very reasonable.
> 
> Well, at least until you have a claim. I have yet to experience that. :laughing:


Been over a week and didn't hear back from Erie yet on that claim job.... the tree is still on the roof 
:whistling: :laughing:


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Well, uh... that's a different kind of insurance (homeowner's). :laughing:


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## Accurate (Apr 4, 2011)

tim5555 said:


> I have been having trouble finding liability insurance for two reasons. one is that I am a new business and the second is that I am not specializing in one trade.


I just started a business in a similar situation.

Not a problem at all. Met with an agent, filled out a few forms, asked what work I intended to do, No roofing, no electrical, etc. Insured the same day.

I'm with Merchants Insurance Group. A friend uses Farmers Family, or something like that.


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## TileLady (Apr 8, 2008)

I use Farm Family. Very good insurance agency so far.


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## construct07 (Jun 23, 2011)

Here's an idea you may not have though of. Contact some local reputable contractors and tell them you're considering hiring them but want to see who their coverage is with first. Most will share their info with you.


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## Paul Masters (May 25, 2011)

Here's a tax saving tip for Texas. Many people form legal entities for liability protection. But in Texas, only legal entities pay franchise (income) tax, not individuals. So a general partnership does not pay tax, but an LLC or LP does. 

If you get enough liability insurance to cover your risks, you could effectively do business as a general partnership/individual, pay no tax, and move on. But . . . just be sure you do not need the limited liability for non-insured reasons. We have actually seen a few clients change their structure and go back to a general partnership.


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## TarahGruber (Jan 3, 2012)

tim5555 said:


> Thanks. I should mention that I am in the Chicago area.


I don't work in Illinois, but I happen to know that there are several companies out there that insure general contractors including PCIC, Pekin and Acuity.


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## russell white (Nov 23, 2011)

are you still a school teacher


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## dudley76 (Feb 28, 2012)

tim5555 said:


> Good Morning,
> 
> I have recently started my own general repair and remodeling business. I am a high school teacher who has been working part time for the last 10 years as a carpenter, remodeling bathrooms and basements.
> 
> ...


Your best bet is to contact an insurance broker...one that has access to many different markets for all risk types. The more market access you have available to you, the better chance you can be placed with a carrier that will write your risk type.

Hope this helps...


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