Market Research Report For California Roofing Contractors

Transcription

1 October 2011 Market Research Report For California Roofing Contractors Section One: Insurance Companies and the Best Rates Section Two: Tips on Lowering Your Premium Section Three: Coverage Summary All information provided in this report and any documents ancillary thereto ("Report") are provided for information purposes only. Although the information found in this Report is believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability, or suitability of any information, either isolated or in the aggregate. All information is provided "as is." Changes may be periodically made to the information contained in this Report. No notice is required with respect to any changes. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to report them by to: Under no circumstances will Dragon Services, Inc., or its directors, officers, agents, contractors, employees or assigns be liable for any direct, consequential, indirect, special or punitive damages whatsoever arising out of your access to or use of this Report. (858)

2 Section One Insurance Companies and the Best Rates What are the lowest possible General Liability rates in California? Now we provide the answer. Insurance Dragon is a consulting firm. We are not insurance brokers nor do we sell insurance. Our staff has decades of experience, providing services to accounts of all sizes and complexity. After extensive research, we are pleased to provide this report. Industry Report: Roofing Contractors California General Liability Best Possible Final Net Rates (After all credits) Roofing - Code Sales < $2,000,000 Payroll < $880,000 Sales > $5,000,000 Payroll > $2,200,000 Insurance Companies Rating per $1,000 of Sales Insurance Companies Rating per $100 of Payroll $ $13.00 $ $3.00 $ $10.00 $ $2.50 The rates above are based on a typical Roofing Contractor, as described here: o Excellent Loss Experience for the past 4 years o Good Employee Hiring Practices; Good and Frequent Training Programs; Low Turnover, relative to the rest of the industry / Good Housekeeping/ Experienced Staff o Comprehensive safety programs / Adhere to all OSHA Guidelines o Good Financial Condition / In Business Over 5 Years / Good Ratio of Supervisors to Employees / Commercial Work o Liability Limits - $1,000,000 Each Occurrence, $2,000,000 General Aggregate o Property Damage Deductibles Range from $5,000 - $10,000 If your business matches the parameters we described and you are paying more than the listed rates, call us at (858) Insurance Dragon can help you find out why and let you know how you can lower your rates. Your Individual Rates may vary if your exposures are different from those listed. For example, if you have had a number of claims, you might not be able to realize the market-best rates listed. Insurance Dragon can produce a Market Research Report for your particular business. Our rates for client-specific Market Research Reports vary depending on the size of business. (858)

3 Section One Insurance Companies and the Best Rates Insurance Companies Actively Writing General Liability for Roofing Contractors General Liability for Roofing Contractors Consistently Most Competitive Regularly Most Competitive Occasionally Most Competitive Steadfast (Zurich) Colony (Argo Group) Castle Point (Tower) _ Altera Specialty_ Lexington (Chartis) Pref. Cont Ins Co PCIC (Risk Ret Group) Gemini (W R Berkley) Maxum Specialty United Specialty James River (Franklin Holdings) Tennant Special Risk Cover X (First Mercury) Unitrin Specialty Nautilus ( W R Berkley) Valiant CNA Note: All insurance companies listed are rated A- IX or better by A.M. Best. For any particular business, any one of the insurance companies listed above might be the most competitive. Even those insurance companies listed as Occasionally Most Competitive can deliver the lowest price at times. As we learn about other insurance companies writing Roofing Contractors, we will add their names to this report. Some insurance companies work through agents and brokers. Other companies (e.g. Farmers) are Direct Writers, meaning you must work through their agents. Access points are critical! Having the wrong broker approach a competitive insurance company can result in no quote at all or a very poor quote. If you would like to know the name of a broker that has strong experience with Roofing Contractors and a large concentration of business with any of the listed insurance companies, please call us. (858) Research Techniques The Rates identified in the report reflect the Best Possible Rates in California, by line of coverage. The rates are projected based on the rating assumptions listed. Best Possible Pricing was identified after working with Roofing clients, after discussion with many brokers, and after review of our own internal pricing models and research tools. (The brokers we contacted are committed to delivering coverage at the pricing listed if given the chance to do so. These are real rates.) (858)

4 Section Two Tips on Lowering Your Premium How to Use the Market Research Report In our role as consultants, we have worked with clients in virtually every industry seeing the same issues over and over. 1. Very Few Quotes: Businesses typically see only 2 or 3 quotes. There are many excellent brokers. Still, it has been very surprising to us how often our clients, in nearly every industry, tell us that they thought there were only 2 or 3 insurance companies that were interested in either their industry, or their particular business. They believed that was because of their prior losses or a particular characteristic of their business. In our experience, there are many insurance companies interested in any particular business, no matter the industry or the loss history. 2. Rates are Mysterious: Businesses have no independent benchmark to tell them if their current insurance pricing is close to the best possible pricing in California for their type of business. Market Research Report The Solution 1. Save Time: Businesses can avoid the time-consuming and frustrating process of shopping for insurance if their current rates approximate the market-best pricing shown. 2. Market Knowledge: For the first time, businesses can know if the most competitive insurance companies are quoting. 3. Pricing Knowledge: For the first time, businesses can know if their insurance rates approach the best possible rates from any broker and any insurance company in all of California. (858)

5 Section Two Tips on Lowering Your Premium Obtaining Good Quotes Insurance pricing is subjective and variable (no one knows what your future losses will be) so taking the wrong steps can result in higher premiums. 1. Written Arguments: Since pricing is subjective, you need to make sure that every underwriter sees in writing, all of the arguments on why your company has lower hazards compared to other similar Roofing Contractors; in other words, why your company deserves lower pricing. From the Insurance Dragon website, you can download a list of many arguments that you and your broker can use in this manner. 2. Strong Application Package: Ask your broker to see a copy of the application and submission package sent to underwriters on your behalf, including the written arguments. The best brokers will be happy to show you their hard work on your behalf. 3. Broker Choice: With insurance pricing being subjective, one particular broker may have a superior relationship with an underwriter that takes a fancy to your particular business. 4. Get Quotes Early InsuranceDragon.com has tips on how to do this. 5. Don t Share Numbers : If you have more than one broker bid, sharing details from one broker with another is selfdefeating and forces brokers to withhold quotes until the last minute. (Reference the Insurance Dragon website for tips on negotiating lower premiums.) Businesses are unaware that they overpay for insurance but we know that it happens around 80% of the time. (858)

6 Section Two Tips on Lowering Your Premium A Few Key Arguments to Lower Your Premium Following are questions typically not fully addressed in insurance applications. Answering these questions in detail can help lower your premiums: Employee Turnover if your turnover ratio is lower than the average for California roofers you should indicate why your business is better than average. Material Handling - confirm that your employees have been trained in and comply with the appropriate use of lifting equipment to hoist materials to the rooftop work area. This will help ensure that the material will not fall and injure other contractors on the jobsite. Written Safety Program outline how comprehensive and far reaching your safety program is. For more information on Safety Programs refer to: Cal/ OSHA Injury & Illness Prevention Program Heating Equipment outline the type and age/condition of all heating equipment used. In addition expand upon the safety procedures you have in place to minimize the exposure to causing a fire. There are other important questions to address with an insurance professional, but these are a few of the key issues for all Roofing Contractors. Remember, always tell the full and complete truth. Failure to do so can jeopardize coverage when you have a claim. (858)

7 Section Two Tips on Lowering Your Premium Claims Arguments If your business has experienced General Liability claims in the past, then you need to explain why your account is not likely to have similar claims in the future. This could have a significant impact on your General Liability premium. Here are some brief examples: You can obtain a free list of nearly 100 potential arguments at Dragon.com. Discontinued Operations The claims happened when we were doing Hot Tar work and we no longer do that type of work, so we no longer have any exposure to this type of claim. Safety Program The claim happened because we were not as rigid in fully enforcing our Safety Program. Since then, we have instituted a comprehensive safety plan and we now hold weekly safety meetings. This particular incident is talked about repeatedly and we certainly do not expect it to ever happen again. Employee Training Two of the claims involved recently hired employees. We now have an expanded formal training program that all new hires must complete before they can begin working. The claims in question could not happen today because of our change in the way we do the work. These reasons are just examples. You would need to tailor the argument to match your situation. (You or your broker can obtain a free list of nearly 100 potential arguments at This list can trigger discussions with a broker that can save you thousands of dollars in premium.) As a reminder, all arguments should be in writing, allowing you to easily update and use them in subsequent years; also, you can make certain every underwriter has the ability to justify the lowest possible pricing. (858)

8 Section Three How We Do It Market Research Reports Coverage Summary/Quote Comparison One of the most difficult insurance challenges for businesses is comparing coverage proposals. Each broker uses a different proposal format, and in our experience, it is rare that a proposal addresses every possible issue regarding coverage, exclusions, and premium terms. If you choose to receive bids from more than one broker, we have developed a Coverage Summary/Quote Comparison to make the process easier for you. Simply send the following form to any broker that has a competitive bid that you are considering and ask the broker to complete the Quote Summary as part of their bid. Once completed, the Summary will allow you to easily compare coverage with your current insurance in a side-by-side display, making an apples to apples comparison easy. Any significant differences in the terms of the quote will be readily apparent. Our clients love using the Summary and we hope you will too. Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions. Insurance Dragon (858)