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| Subject - Workers Compensation | |
| fgw |
Anyone out there have a line on a decent Comp. carrier? I believe I'm getting screwed on comp. as well as liability. Suggestions, anyone?
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| MONOLITH | In Pennsylvania, I'm paying $500 a year for 2 million liability. You? Don't know about the comp yet. Also, isn't it true that you don't have to carry workman's comp on officers of the company (president, even with tools on)? That would mean that one man shops wouldn't need it, is this correct? |
| plnienaber | quote: I'm not sure your situation but my agent says that next year she can cut my liability rates in half. The reason it has been so high the first two years is because I dont have a (insured)history.Not sure about Comp. , dont have it. |
| MONOLITH | quote: Can you give the cost? It would be interesting to compare rates around the country. I have no idea where mine falls in line. |
| stedder | MY LIABILITY JUST WENT UP IN ny FROM 700/YR TO 1700/YR BUT THEN AGAIN i STILL FIND THAT CHEAP COMPARED TO SOME OTHER TRADES (oops caps lock was on)I haven't yet determined if because of increase in gross or just NY suckin' the small business dry. |
| Pat@amber | Comp rates vary from state to state and also depend on your "experience rating". My rate with a "Nation-wide" insurance company in Maryland is based on total payroll for all employees except myself, and what type of work each employee performs. Office workers are at lower rates than guys in the field. If an employee spends 50% of the time in the office and 50% in the field, you can pay the lower rates on the office time. Currently my cost is between 7% to 8% of gross payroll per man in the field. That means that for every $100 in payroll, I pay about $7 to worker's comp. I hear many states are about the same but some like California are much higher. |
| Wirenutz | quote: That was my arguement for a while here MONOLITH, but i've been forced into an $800 per yr WC policy this year anyways? their excuse, buzzword, etc? 'Nature of Service' The GC's i work for use me repetitively, therefor thier insurers see me as an employee. These GC's through audit of thier biz, are fined by thier WC companies here because i lacked a policy now it could be argued that, because a co. or sole proprietor is on his/her own with thier own contractors insurance that this is un necessary right? (i did) but what is happening is many 'subs' are confronting thier GC's WC policy for on the job injuries, and let's face it many of us have no health insurance , or even disability insurance right? thus the WC policy on my (as well as many others to come) via this philosophy or, you can (as i did) ring up P&E ratio's of the big insurers in the stock ex news and reveal how they are loosing in a failing stock market have you muttered 'single payer system' yet?  well, it all ties in together to how the masters of the universe have manipulated what is class warfare brewing on the event horizon  but that's another discussion for the armchair politicians another time here until then, we can raise our rates , and blame the motu right? ~W~ |
| fgw | Thanks for the input, guys. Currently I'm paying $750 a year for liability. I need to hire a few guys hence, I need to get a WC policy. I've gotten prices from $9000/yr to $13000/yr. This is not including the 12%/$100 on salaries. It sounds too high to me. As for my son & myself, we are corporation officers so we are not subject to coverage. Also, I've been told that without any past WC coverage I'll be paying more. Anyone have a WC carrier they would recommend? Stay Well... |
| MONOLITH | Thanks for the insight Wirenutz. Interesting stuff. |
| Pat@amber | FGW, $9,000 to $13,000, plus the 12% of salary sounds way out of line. The percentage of salary charge is all I pay here, nothing on top of that. |
| David Hyatt | I have been checking on COMP as well. In SC if you only have 4 employes or less it is not required. $750.00 basic policy on myself( Ihave to sign a waiver saying I will not claim). Then about 10% on payroll. |
| Romex Racer | Here in the land of Fruits and Nuts you can only buy Comp Insurance from The State Fund. Insurance brokers can sell you state fund insurance as agents. I paid $1200 deposit and 15.52% of payroll. Here in Cali, roofers pay $200 for every $100 payroll. FYI |
| wilkie | fgw, You are dealing with crooks. What your insurance agent is not telling you is that without previous WC history, they are not really the true carrier of the policy. The are just brokering the deal out to an insurance pool who will charge a higher rate, but assume a higher risk(that is what they consider you with no history), and then your insurance company puts even more percentage points on that rate just for "carrying" the paper.You need to veryify that the company you are getting the policy with is actually the company writing the policy. When we began that adventure I recieved several quotes along those lines. I would recommend you contact The Hartford Insurance Company. Keep in mind that rules and rates change by state lines; however, they wrote our policy direct, even when we didn't have any history good or bad. The rate is extremely competitive and I was able to work within a payment schedule I like, versus paying everytrhing up front. Most companies I talked to wanted the thousands all up front. I have also been blasted on this site for my beliefs on a 100% certified drug free company. Your WC carrier will love you for a similar belief. If your drug policy is done correctly, you can qualify for a 5% discount on your WC premium. |
| fgw | Thanks for the info on Hartford.... I'll be sure to include them in my list of crooks for quotes. |
| SR Scott | In my younger years I was an insurance salesman for several years, my humble but somewhat educated opinion. First, every state is different. Also, some carriers are completely different from state to state; State Farm might not insure electricians for work comp in Illinois (because of our liberal scaffolding laws and the limitless liability), in Iowa they might seek electricians as a class of business. Also, companies get hot and cold, my carrier decided three years ago to abandon the contactor business, which they had been aggressively pursuing two years prior, and dropped all of us. They didn't actually drop us, but their rates made them prohibitive. They tried to capture a market only to later find it unprofitable. Even multi million dollar companies make silly marketing decisions. The point is it always changes. My best luck has been to find a great agent and stick with him. He happens to be an independent agent and each year he'll shop our stuff with several carriers. We pay alot for insurance, but since our state (and I assume most but will not guarantee this) tracks our claim history, we've always paid small claims under $1500 out of the company rather than turning them in. The experience modification created by your history can increase or decrease your premiums after a few years of history. Since we stick with the same agent, we took our time picking him. But its an important part of the puzzle and I would suggest you get a good one. In Illinois we are able to remove officers and self proprietors from the policy by endorsement and I did so several years ago after purchasing a disability policy. The first couple of years however I did bite the bullet, to the tune of over $6000, and cover myself under our work comp. But consider this; if during those first couple of years I became disabled, it would have been worse than the business failing. A disabled guy can't get a job as an electrician, a broke one can. Just more fun stuff to worry about as a business owner. |
| blackrd | Im paying 622 yr on 2 mil liability in n/e Illinois. |
| Wirenutz | one interesting backburn that has occured is that contractors are giving the option of paying minor mishaps directly to thier employees instead of having them make a claim this is because themath works for them, having been through a rate hike or two because of such occurances the ins comp's have coniptions over this, and i'd wager legislation is under way to curtail anyone steppin' in on thier pie but realistically, if we all simply started private accounts that we paid into years ago, we'd never need them anyways would we? sounds crazy, but look at what's proposed for SS ~W~ |