General Contractors: Insurance Matters

In Texas, it is a great time to have a General Contracting company. Everywhere you look there is growth! Frisco is transforming into it’s own metropolitan area,  Austin is expanding it’s borders and I-35 will still be under construction for the next 37 years. What does all this growth mean? It means that, as a General Contractor, you need to standout from the other 15 companies bidding on a job. How do you stand out, you ask? The first step is by having insurance that actually protects you, and your client.

Customers are very savvy these days. Use that as an opportunity to stand out. There are countless stories of fly-by night Contractors and how they left a customer high and dry. An extremely unfortunate situation for that customer and those in the industry trying to do things the right way. Set your company apart early by advertising that you’re insured. Licensing and Insurance are not a requirement to operate as a General Contractor in the State of Texas. Let your customers know that. Imagine going to Jack and Jane’s home in Lewisville after a storm, that they just spent their life savings to purchase, and giving them that peace of mind up front. Explaining to them that their home is in good hands and if something happens it’ll get taken care of. The proof of your work is not only in the completion but the guarantee that things will be okay once you leave.

As a General Contractor, you are probably subcontracting 100% of your work. That’s a common practice. You know what else is a common practice? Having an exclusion on your policy that excludes the work done by your Subcontractors. You’re probably wondering if there is a way to get that work covered? There is but nothing comes free. Removing that exclusion will result in your insurance premium increasing. As a Contractor (and any other business), you are always looking at your bottom dollar. But what good is having insurance if it doesn’t cover anything. There was a Contractor that came to our agency for insurance. After reviewing their policy, it was noticed that their policy excluded all the work they did. Doing it the right way doubled their premium. Was that Contractor excited to pay the increase? No! But they knew they were paying for something that had value and not just a piece of paper.

The last thing I want to talk about is shopping your insurance. The best advice I can give is to use an Insurance Agent that you deals with Contractors on a regular basis. There are agencies out there that say they offer Insurance for General Contractors but do so here and there. Whoever your company is insured with needs to understand your business and the needs of you and your clients. Use a company that is familiar with Additional Insured endorsements and can issue your Certificates of Insurance quickly (so you can get paid or start a job). Use someone…like me 🙂

Thanks for reading!