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Workman's comp and tree company...

Hell at least you can get some one to show up we have been looking for some one to trim a few trees and all I get are people that never show.
 
Glad you brought this up. I'm looking to get a couple trees down myself but also having problems with getting people to show up for a estimate.
Try one of these. They’ve been nothing but professional in my dealings with them.

Porterfield Tree in Jefferson 706.714.8733

Green Service Tree Removal in Dacula. 770.402.1669, greenserviceenterprise@gmail.com
 
Thanks guys I appreciate the input. As I said I carry a WC policy for my small real estate company as I hire contractors for lawn maintenance etc., and they generally do not have WC so I protect myself. The premiums on my policy are about $2,500 per year and I generally get a returned premium every year because I have such low need for outside contractors . One year, however I did some roofing work and the total expenditure was about $2,500. My WC insurer assessed be dollar for dollar, in other words they billed me $2,500 for the WC coverage on that job. They said roofing was one of the highest risk categories, even though it was a flat, one story commercial roof.

I was stunned at the cost. I use Travellers and I know they are very high, so am I just vastly overpaying based on the figures above. With the tree company example, is the premium going to be 1 for 1 as it's a high risk profession. Would it be $3,000 for the WC premium on a $3,000 tree job? Is that possible...and do I need a company different than Travellers. My renewal is coming up so I might need to make a change.


It’s based on a few things, payroll, category of work and history of claims. All those contribute to your IMR rating. The higher the IMR number, the more you’ll pay for WC. An IMR rating above 1 will leave you unable to work on many projects because it’s considered high and they don’t want you on the project.
 
If an accident occurred on my property and someone was injured am I the responsible party or does it fall on the owner of the tree company. Also, would my liability insurance cover it or would they deny based on the grounds that I didn't hire a company with WC insurance.

The difference in WC and liability is the theory behind it. WC is no fault, guy gets hurt on the job, he gets paid unless he has been drinking or is on drugs. Doesn't matter how stupid he was to get himself hurt.

So if the worker is injured on your premises, you are likely in a "no fault" situation, meaning you (or your insurance company) will have to pay according to WC rules. Liability will first attach to owner, but if he doesn't have WC it passes right to you. The law strongly favors workers being covered under WC so every inference is against you.

Your liability policy probably wouldn't cover it, because employees are excluded from most liability policies on the assumption that they will be covered by someone's WC.

one reason I don't let anyone on my roof who doesn't have WC, and I check it out.

As others have mentioned, there is definite risk to you to incur an uninsured liability that could go on for years.

A lot of tree cutters will tell that they are "insured" but they are referring only to liability, not WC. Liability covers them if they drop a tree on your house, not if one of their workers gets hurt by that same tree.
 
You're absolutely right. You want to make sure they have liability and w/c. Get a copy of the contractors policies and call the companies involved to make sure they're still covered before any work is started. It won't be cheap to get a good company, but it'll be cheaper in the long run especially if something didn't go right.
 
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