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Florida Pool Pro
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• March 2014
By David Griffiths, Insurance By Ken Brown /
INSURANCE UPDATE
Control your insurance destiny in 2014
continued...
Last month we discussed that much
of what happens with the Florida economy
and in Tallahassee (with the exception of
the wonderful FSPA lobby efforts) may
be, for the most part, out of our control.
However, there are things that we can
each do to control certain aspects of our
individual destiny. Further, that includes
the “destiny” of a company’s businesses
insurance program.
We discussed taking steps to make
yourself more attractive to insurance
companies such as 1) Reducing avoidable
claims, 2) Developing a true safety culture,
and, 3) Cooperating with the carriers safety,
claims departments, etc. The insurance
carriers look at all of this when evaluating
you as a prospective policy holder and
determining rates and coverages.
In addition to these suggestions, a good
step to make your company more attractive
is in the selection of subcontractors,
management and controls of those subs,
and through the implementation of legal
contracts with strong protective language.
Most businesses hire a subcontractor
from time to time. Each time you do
your company is at risk. That’s because,
ultimately, you can be held accountable,
or liable, for much of the actions of your
subcontractor. Whether it is determined
legally in court or simply the opinion of
your good customer, you often will be
involved with any issues or problems
which may arise out of your work and your
subcontractors.
Therefore, we should take the
relationships with subcontractors very
seriously and structure good controls.
You should seek the counsel of a good
construction attorney. It is suggested, at
the very least, that you mandate that all
subcontractors comply with the following:
1. Maintain the same general liability
limits you do or higher ($500,000
per occurrence minimum and
$1,000,000 for excavation, gunite
and shotcrete)
2. Add your company as an additional
insured to their general liability
policy
3. Provide evidence of a workers’
compensation insurance policy
in their company name if an
employee, laborer, helper, etc.
is brought to any jobsite. A valid
workers’ compensation exemption is
sufficient when it is only that person
working on your jobsite. This is
critical.
4. Execute a formal written contractor-
subcontractor agreement which
requires a waiver of subrogation
