Liability Insurance Quotes

[YUKON 659]

I know there has been plenty of discussion about liability insurance before and I've looked at what some of you guys are paying. Seems like some of your premiums are reasonable and yet others are paying quite a bit more. I'm assuming these prices are dertermined by which part of the country and/or who your insurance company is. Right? The reason I'm asking is, first I had a hard time finding an insurance company to get it from and second, when I did find someone to cover me the premium seemed kind of expensive. They quoted me approx. $2,000/$300,000...up to $2,500/1,000,000 with a $1000 deductible. Is this what I should expect to pay or could I do better?

Thanks, Jeff

 

[treeman82]

Jeff, I was paying like $2,700 a year for liability of $1,000,000 with a $500 deductable. However I had several years of experience, and had been insured for 2 years already. This also depends on how much payroll you have. I believe they do it by payroll. I was with a few companies which figured it out by gross reciepts, but I believe payroll is standard.

 

[mikecross23]

I just happened to be at an insurance agent's office the other day w/ a buddy and next year will be looking to up my policy so I got a quote. $782.11 for a $500,000 w/ a $1,000 deductible. $939.14 for a $100,000 w/ a $1,000 deductible. Judging by the name of the company, it's kind of scary. Atlantic Casualty. Sounds like a death sentence to me.

Keep in mind that these quotes are for a simple service.

-Mike-

 

[Menchhofer]

Ours is 850.00 per year, 2 million coverage.

 

[Jock]

Any of you guys do rail contracts? Minimum cover by law is 25.000.000 and that comes in at a cost of £5400.00 per annum, plus employers liability and personal insurance at a cost of 1800.00 per annum. If you do work here for local authorities minimum cover is £5.000.000 at a cost of £750.00 per annum but its based on business turnover......you need a degree in mathematics, law, and blatent theft, in this country to understand insurance companies and there methods.

 

[YUKON 659]

treeman82, you mentioned you had 2 yrs. of experience...if I was just getting started would this have a bearing on what I could expect to pay?

Mike, when you refer to simple service...what do you mean?

Jeff

 

[Toddppm]

Ours is about $1650.00 for the tree service part, 2 mil @ $57 per 1000 of payroll.

 

[treeman82]

Jeff, yeah. they should have asked you what kind of experience you have doing this type of work. (past schooling / employers / etc.) The more experience you have, and clean at that.... the lower the amount you should expect to pay. On top of that... if you have a good safety program in place you can get a lower rate.

 

[Matt Follett]

Yes and projected revenue, as this sort of signifies how much possiblility there is for a mishap, (amount of work you do)
I pay about 1800 for 1,000,000 with gross sales at 150,000, but my first year I think I paid less the 1000, claiming my revenue would be less the 50,000

yes I know the feeling of the insurance name, we are coverd by York Fire & Casualty, they also cover high risk drivers etc. It's just because they are the companies that specilize in what are considered high liabilty clients.

It also pays to use the same company for your vehicle as your General Liablity, as this way if there is an accident involving a vehicle, it makes life easier.

 

[treeclimber165]

I just picked up liability insurance for myself as a sole proprietor- contract climber. The companies I climb for are ultimately responsible for any liability, but having my own insurance makes it easier to sell myself to them. I have $300K with $500 deductable and 15 years experience in tree work. My cost is $826.51 this year.
I got my insurance through a local agency that caters to businesses. Look in the yellow pages under Insurance- Business.

 

[YUKON 659]

Hey Matt, my revenue is going to be WAY less than $50,000 (part-time only) would it be worth contacting my insurer and talk to them about this?

Brian, I looked into insurance companies that specialize in commercial insurance.....one of them ask me to let him know if I was able to find someone to insure me because he said he was unable to find anybody to provide tree service insurance!!! I don't understand why it is so hard to find this type of insurance around here.

Jeff

 

[treeclimber165]

Jeff- call other tree services and ask them who they use. Keep calling until you get 3 different company names or the same name 3 times.
Or you could call tree companies asking for a bid on an imaginary job. Then ask each bidder to provide an insurance certificate. The insurance company names will be on the certificates.

 

[Pgtree]

Yeah, finding liability insurance is a pain. I finally found a reasonable company, for 1 million coverage it cost me 1,150 per year. If I decline the optional terrorist insurance it brings it down to 1,000 per year. From what I learned, the premium is based on experience, and amount of employees. If you have not had prior liability insurance they do not have a loss record on you, so you have to pay a little more.

Being a ceritfied arborist helped me. I got the following quotes from the following companies(all are for 1 mil coverage):

H*rtf*rd took four weeks and they never gave me a quote, even after multiple phone inquiries.

Sm*ll bu*sn*ss insurance $4500 per year

Tr** Pr* arborist insurance would not cover me because I am a new company and dont have prior insurance.

B*rlingt*n is the company I went with, it took them 30 minutes to provide me a quote, and the same day they faxed me my binder.

Goin

 

[treeman82]

Jeff, try calling Farm Family. They seem to have reasonable rates.

 

[YUKON 659]

Thanks for the help. Hopefully I'll be able to find it a little cheaper with your suggestions.

Jeff

 

[mikecross23]

Originally posted by YUKON 659
Mike, when you refer to simple service...what do you mean?

Prunning & Removing and that's it. Just me w/ no major equipment.

 

[mikecross23]

Can anyone give me any tips on the worker's comp thing. How the whole thing works is a mystery to me. Sound nasty though.

-Mike-

 

[treeguy347]

Farm Bureau quoted me at $850/yr. for million/million coverage for liability and property damage and $33 per $100 of payroll for comp. The way they work it is you estimate your annual payroll, then they tell you the monthly amount you have to pay (based on $33 per $100). At the year-end, they do an audit, and if you paid less out than your estimate, they issue a refund, if you paid more out, you have to pay them more.

 

[treeclimber165]

Well, I just wasted a second trip to the Federal building downtown trying to get a Worker's Comp. exempt card. I had all my ducks in a row from the instructions I got last time, but now the law has changed and they require a Federal Employer ID number! And I do not even have any employees! I'm a Sole Proprietorship subbing myself out to other tree companies.
I'll try again next week to address this. I certainly am not going to pay outrageous WC rates for only myself. I HATE THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE!!!

 

[tophopper]

Brian,
if your a sole prop. your Fed ID # is your social security number.
They should have accepted that.