Liability Insurance

chris_8

Today, I received a notice from our insurance provider that our insurance will be increased more than 40% from the previous business year. This 40% increase is for liability only,we have yet to see how much our auto will increase. The insurance industry is a blood sucking leach on the small business man. I understand that over time all of our rates increase, but can you imagine if we tried to increase our rates by 40% or greater every year??? How many re-peat customers do you think we would get? Tell an agent that you have never had a claim in your 25 plus years of doing business, does it matter to them, no. These insurance companies often have you file a self audit form, asking about your sales,payroll, etc. They say that your sales are a way of gauging your liability, more work equals more liability. To me this is just stupid. The more you earn the more they want, I dont work for my insurance company, then again, I guess I do.

Tony Conner

Actually...

...the insurance biz is a lot like mechanical contractors - they've been misguidedly giving away the store for some time now in the name of acquiring/holding business. My wife works in insurance, and it is one thin-margin adventure. Every time some nimrod spills coffee on themselves, and successfully sues the place that sold it to them, who writes the cheque? Whoever insures the coffee seller, that's who. Who actually pays the tab at the end of the day? Everybody who is insured by that company.

Insurance costs are like anything else - your customer's will pay for it. I just make sure my customers know about the coverage I carry - I give them copies of my insurance certificates.

Want to see a lot (and I mean a LOT) of insurance companies turn pale, and run away screaming? Just say "steam". Doesn't even matter what pressure. I had to hunt for some time to find an outfit that would cover me for work on steam systems. My competitors? Either they're not asking the right questions when they buy coverage, or they're not answering the insurance companies questions honestly. Gonna be interesting when a claim shows up. I had the company that finally agreed to cover me word my policy "...including steam and compressed air piping."

I just paid for another years coverage. It's up 38% over last year. I do any rate changes the first of the year. In 6 weeks, that increase will be reflected. My customers will pay for it. Nobody else can.