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R&R Insurance Blog

The Financial Significance of Reviewing Your Cert Holders List Each Year

Posted by the knowledge brokers

Business OwnerThroughout the course of the year, an insured can accumulate quite a few certificates of insurance that are distributed to various entities. Depending on your business, these certificates could be issued based on complex contracts that provide the holders with coverage from your policy.

 

When it is time for your policies to renew, it is important that you review the certificates that have been issued and determine whether they need to be renewed.

 

Here are some thoughts to consider when reviewing your certificate holders:

  • Are we still on the jobsite or do we have any current work with this customer? In this instance they are most likely going to need to see you still have insurance coverage in place. Failure to do so could result in delayed payments or not be allowed back on to the jobsite.
  • Do we have a completed operations requirement on the contract? It is easy to go through the jobs you had throughout the year and remove anything you have already completed. However, many contracts require completed operations coverage to be held for 2-3 years or even longer. To comply with this portion of the contract, they may need to continue to receive a certificate of insurance. HOWEVER, you may want to take a look at some of the extra costs on these contracts to see if you can remove them. For instance, if your employees are no longer on the jobsite, you may be able to remove the required workers compensation waiver of subrogation as the exposure would no longer apply. This could save you unnecessary costs on your renewal, if the waiver was added specifically for the project.
  • Is the job completed &/or are the requirements of the contract completely met? If so, it is not necessary to renew the certificate and it should be removed from the certificate list completely. Any costs that you were paying for additional insured endorsements, waivers of subrogation, etc. can then be removed from the policy. The savings can really add up!

Topics: Certificates of Insurance, Business Insurance

Agent's Review of Contracts - Disclaimer

Posted by Julie Liebelt

Contract-ReviewAgency Contract Review Disclaimer - R&R Agency Contract Review Disclaimer

 

At your request, our agency will review the insurance requirements in the contract furnished to us.

 

Scope of Review. Our agency will review only the insurance requirements contained in the contract. In performing this limited review, our agency is not providing legal advice or a legal opinion concerning any portion of the contract. No lawyer-client relationship is created by our review of this or any other contract. We strongly suggest that this contract be reviewed by your own legal counsel.

 

The scope of our review will be to determine if the current insurance program which you have placed through our agency addresses the types and amounts of insurance coverage referenced by the contract. We will identify the significant insurance obligations and advise you of any changes required in your current insurance program to meet the requirements of the contract. At your request and upon your authorization, we will make the necessary changes in your insurance program.

 

Our agency is not undertaking to identify all potential liabilities that may arise under this contract. This review is provided for your information, and should not be relied upon by third parties. Any descriptions of insurance coverage(s) are subject to the terms, conditions, exclusion, and other provisions of the policies and any applicable laws or regulations.

 

Disclaimer of Liability. In no event shall our agent and its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the limited contract review.

 

 

Topics: Insurance, certificate, Certificates of Insurance, disclaimer

Contracts: 10 Key Items Explained

Posted by Julie Liebelt

  1. Crane-Construction-SiteAdditional Insured: A person or organization not automatically included as an insured under a policy, and is added by endorsement to the policy at the request of the first named insured. The person or organization then becomes an insured for a specific project, product or premises.
  2. Primary and Non-contributory: Primary is a term used to determine whose policy is going to pay first; non-contributory is a term used to indicate that the primary policy will not seek contribution from the other policy until the full claim is paid or the policy is exhausted.
  3. Waiver of Subrogation: The insurance carrier has the right to recover its claim payments from those who were responsible for the loss. By endorsing its policy with a waiver of subrogation, the carrier is stopped from pursuing this recovery.
  4. Ongoing Operations: Work or other business activity that is in process and has not yet been completed or abandoned.
  5. Completed Operations: Work of the insured that has been completed under a contract or work order, or has been put to its intended use.
  6. Indemnify: To make compensation to an entity, person or organization for injury, loss or damage; to make the other party “whole”.
  7. Hold Harmless Agreement: A provision in a contract that requires one contracting party to respond to certain legal liabilities of the other party. Typically, hold harmless agreements will be “basic”(or “limited"), “intermediate” or “broad”.
  8. Indemnitor: The party agreeing to indemnify and hold the other party (indemnitee) harmless.
  9. Per-Project Aggregate: Required by many project owners or general contractors, this is a standard endorsement to the general liability policy which allows a contractor to specify the application of a separate general aggregate limit to individual construction projects, subject to the usual maximum limit the policy will pay per policy term.
  10. Alternate Employer Endorsement: Applicable when one employer lends, rents or leases an employee to another employer. This endorsement resembles an additional insured endorsement to the workers compensation policy and is attached to the regular (lending) employer’s policy.

 

Click here to download a copy of this blog.

 

R&R Insurance Services is pleased to provide this information to you as a guide. It is intentionally condensed. For a thorough explanation of these and other terms, and if applicable in your situation, please contact your Knowledge Broker.

Topics: Certificates of Insurance, Business Insurance, subcontractor, certificates, contracts

Hiring Subcontractors: Why Certificates are a Must

Posted by Julie Liebelt

Subcontractors-on-the-jobAn uninsured subcontractor can increase your exposure to liability and workers compensation claims, affect your experience modification factor and increase your premium. If the subcontractor does not carry insurance, your policy could respond in the event of a claim. An uninsured subcontractor will be considered to be your employee.

 

The insurance company’s auditor will ask for both payroll and 1099 records in order to determine final premium. If certificates from subcontractors cannot be produced, the cost of those subcontractors will be included in your audit.

 

Some tips for a successful certificate management program:

  • Advise subcontractors up front that certificates will be required
  • Ensure that dates on the certificate align with the length of time they will be on the project. If the project goes longer, ask for a renewal of the certificate
  • The certificate must show evidence of both general liability and workers compensation insurance
  • Don’t allow for exceptions, even if the subcontractor claims to be exempt from the workers compensation requirement (sole proprietor, no employees, etc.)
  • Your R&R agent can assist you in setting up specific insurance requirements concerning limits and policy provisions designed to protect you such as:
    • Additional insured status
    • Primary and non-contributory insurance
    • Waiver of subrogation

We urge you to require your subcontractors to be insured and to furnish a certificate of insurance as proof. Click here to download a copy of this blog.

 

R&R Insurance Services is pleased to provide this information to you as a guide. It is intentionally condensed. For a thorough explanation of these and other terms, and if applicable in your situation, please contact your Knowledge Broker.

Topics: Certificates of Insurance, Business Insurance, certificate of insurance, subcontractor