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Posted by jp2express on October 29, 2007, 9:49 am
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To you welding contractors out there: What's the best way to get insurance
for yourselves?
I do part time, after hours welding on a contract basis. Since this is not
my main source of income (it hardly covers the cost of maintaining my
equipment), it is difficult for me to justify purchasing liability insurance
for my work. On the other hand, I know all it would take is one person to
say, "Well, I paid that guy to do it!" and I'd be f*cked.
I contacted Allstate (my current vehicle insurance provider) about getting
contractor insurance for myself, and they wanted something in the
neighborhood of $10k per year because I had a welding machine and a cutting
torch. Damn! I might make $3k a year doing my little side jobs, so there is
no way I could justify that!
Should I just quit, and tell everybody to go away? I love doing this, and it
is great stress relief after starring at a computer screen for 8 hours.
Any ideas? Did I say the wrong thing to the insurance company? Is there a
secret phrase?
What are my other options? Should I declare myself as a sole proprietorship
or limited liability business, or would that help?
Regards,
~Joe
http://www.joeswelding.biz/
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Posted by Ignoramus10340 on October 29, 2007, 10:03 am
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Please post when you find something out. thanks
i
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Posted by jp2express on October 29, 2007, 11:00 am
Please log in for more thread options Hmmm... That's not exactly encouraging.
"Ignoramus10340" wrote:
> Please post when you find something out. thanks
>
> i
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Posted by SteveB on October 29, 2007, 12:39 pm
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> To you welding contractors out there: What's the best way to get insurance
> for yourselves?
>
> I do part time, after hours welding on a contract basis. Since this is not
> my main source of income (it hardly covers the cost of maintaining my
> equipment), it is difficult for me to justify purchasing liability
> insurance for my work. On the other hand, I know all it would take is one
> person to say, "Well, I paid that guy to do it!" and I'd be f*cked.
>
> I contacted Allstate (my current vehicle insurance provider) about getting
> contractor insurance for myself, and they wanted something in the
> neighborhood of $10k per year because I had a welding machine and a
> cutting torch. Damn! I might make $3k a year doing my little side jobs, so
> there is no way I could justify that!
>
> Should I just quit, and tell everybody to go away? I love doing this, and
> it is great stress relief after starring at a computer screen for 8 hours.
>
> Any ideas? Did I say the wrong thing to the insurance company? Is there a
> secret phrase?
>
> What are my other options? Should I declare myself as a sole
> proprietorship or limited liability business, or would that help?
>
> Regards,
> ~Joe
> http://www.joeswelding.biz/
I'll only share from my experience. I was a steel erection contractor in
the State of Nevada for nine years. Started off as a garage operator, as
you.
When I got my contractors license, liability insurance was difficult to find
at an affordable price. I finally found it through the company that wrote
my surety bond, and it was with a European company. It was reasonably
priced in the 80's at about $400 per year. That was for one million dollars
liability. It was required for me to enter any commercial property where
they actually kept track of such things, and got me jobs I would have
otherwise not have gotten, and other companies missed. At the end, I
serviced 275 commercial properties in Las Vegas.
Fast forward to today.
Your worst nightmare is starting a fire or causing injury. You NEED a
sizeable insurance policy to CYA.
That being said, if getting insurance isn't cost effective, then you must
limit your market. You just can't do the risky jobs. Stick to stuff you
can pick up and deliver, and not have to weld on site.
Just as with getting a contractors (or any other) license, it opens up new
market niches that you couldn't do before. But then, it also expands your
business, and it sounds like you want to keep this as a sideline rather than
a main job.
It's just like going out there and driving a car without adequate insurance.
DON'T DO IT! Even if you structure yourself legally to prevent catastrophic
loss, there's the civil courts where you can be judged against with LESS
evidence. And there's the pain of living with your conscience if you burn
someone's house down or injure someone.
You're playing with fire here. Be careful.
HTH
Steve
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Posted by Ernie Leimkuhler on October 30, 2007, 12:40 am
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> To you welding contractors out there: What's the best way to get insurance
> for yourselves?
>
> I do part time, after hours welding on a contract basis. Since this is not
> my main source of income (it hardly covers the cost of maintaining my
> equipment), it is difficult for me to justify purchasing liability insurance
> for my work. On the other hand, I know all it would take is one person to
> say, "Well, I paid that guy to do it!" and I'd be f*cked.
>
> I contacted Allstate (my current vehicle insurance provider) about getting
> contractor insurance for myself, and they wanted something in the
> neighborhood of $10k per year because I had a welding machine and a cutting
> torch. Damn! I might make $3k a year doing my little side jobs, so there is
> no way I could justify that!
>
> Should I just quit, and tell everybody to go away? I love doing this, and it
> is great stress relief after starring at a computer screen for 8 hours.
>
> Any ideas? Did I say the wrong thing to the insurance company? Is there a
> secret phrase?
>
> What are my other options? Should I declare myself as a sole proprietorship
> or limited liability business, or would that help?
>
> Regards,
> ~Joe
> http://www.joeswelding.biz/
Some companies specialize in contractor insurance.
A specialty contractor insurance policy should only cost around $800 -
$1200 per year.
That should cover light construction and architectural detail.
It all depends on your liability.
If you are welding 4 story steel structures, then it will cost a lot
more.
ABANA has a small business insurance carrier that works with them to
supply insurance for members.
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> i