Workers Compensation for Start Up Contractors in Connecticut

You may have found this website and blog when you were doing your initial research on what kind of insurance your new construction company will need or maybe you already started you company sans insurance and need to procure coverage in order to bid on a specific project.  Depending on what type of contractor you are, and what type of work you will be performing, you insurance needs will vary.  Unfortunately, insuring your construction company is not as simple as calling Geico to get a quote.  The risks and exposures associated with your industry are more complicated than a personal automobile or homeowner's policy, and to get the best pricing to cover your various exposures, you will need to work with your insurance broker and the underwriters at the insurance carriers to figure out your needs.

We've been receiving quite a few calls recently for contractors needing workers' compensation coverage for the 1st time.  In the State of Connecticut, if you have any employees, you have to have workers' compensation!  If you are the sole proprietor of a construction company, performing 100% of the work yourself, you are eligible to exclude yourself from having this coverage.  However, if you ever hire someone to help you with a project, even if it's for a few hours or a few months, you are now LEGALLY required to carry worker's compensation insurance to cover that employee.  You may be thinking that it's easier and more cost effective to just pay this employee under the table and not have to worry about the paperwork, taxes, and insurance costs.  You might be thinking that you will be able to bid more competitively when you don't have to figure these costs additional costs into your bid, but you've probably never seen what the medical costs associated with an uninsured laborer falling off a roof and breaking his or her back.  Even though the worker wasn't your "legal" employee, you can now be made responsible for their medical bills. 

If you've read this far, you're probably ready to give us a call or fill out a form for a quote.  If you fill out our online form, please do so as completely as possible.  That way, we have the most information up front, and can advise you in the best way possible. 

What we will need:

• 1.  Description of your operations. IE, general contractor, electrical, masonry, site work, mechanical/HVAC. Putting "need insurance for construction company" won't expedite the quoting process.  But if we know what kind of work you'll be doing, we can do market research to see which carriers currently have the best pricing for the line of work you are performing.
• 2. Estimated payroll.  Workers compensation is driven off of 3 things.  Your payroll, your SIC codes, and your losses.  If you're a startup, those three things are either confusing or N/A.  When you are trying to guesstimate payroll for the next 12 months, keep in mind that if you lowball it, you will owe money at audit, and if you highball it, you will get money back.  It all works out the same way in the end.  Just a matter of paying up front, or paying at the end of the year.
• 3.  Classification.  This refers to the payroll classes that your employees will be working in.  We can help nail down exactly where they should be classified, but if you can give us a better understanding of exactly the tasks and responsibilities they will have during their course of employment at your company, it will once again speed up the quoting process.

Ready to fill out an application?  CLICK HERE