Commercial Producer Comp

[Jason Henderson]

Love this story...commercial is different animal. Let’s take it a step further!

That landscaper had an employee on a job and they call frantically because they cut down the wrong tree. Huge shade tree for a house, homeowner files a lawsuit against the landscaper company. You go to file a claim and you didn’t have contractors E&O (not covered by GL) on the policy, he has no coverage and is pissed he didn’t even know about the option to buy this coverage.

He fires the employee, two weeks later he gets a letter in the mail saying he is being sued for wrongful termination. You go to file a claim and you realize you didn’t quote or add EPLI coverage and he has no defense costs or payout coverage. He again is pissed off but this time you get a letter in the mail saying you are being sued by your landscaper for negligence.

commercial isn’t a plug and chug business, you better be dialed in and cover your ass by at least having a paper trail showing you offered the coverages.

I am not attempting to knock down your enthusiasm for the commercial business but let's take a look at the easiest connection you might have. You have a landscaper/lawn service who is also your next door neighbor. He says he will give you your first policy. He has 3 employees, a trailer , and 1 vehicle to tow the gear around. He tells you that the truck is on his personal lines policy and therefore the trailer is covered so long as it is attached to the truck from a liability standpoint.
You look at his current policy and copy it with a lower premium and he thinks the world of you. You don't look for a commercial auto policy because he said it was covered under his personal policy. He calls you on a Saturday morning to say that his trailer broke free of the truck Friday afternoon and injured one of the employees and he needs to file a claim. He thinks it may have also damaged some of the equipment

You find out that the personal lines policy won't cover the loss because he tells the claims department that his lawn service trailer was involved. You did not write the trailer, the equipment, the truck on a commercial auto policy so there is no coverage. You find out that he should have had a workers comp policy because the state where the business is registered requires ALL businesses, no matter how small, to carry WC. How screwed are YOU?