K...I know this is a sore subject with most guys, let me tell you what 22 years of being in business has dictated as far as insurances and coverage.
We jumped on the insurance with a commercial "Big Dog" policy, including a plethora of jingles and jangles from the getgo. If memory serves me right it was about 6% of monthly receipts...When we had to expand the business the price of insurance became enough of an issue, that we had to have meetings twice a month about it!
I've long since trashed the receipts to show you guys the numbers but here it is in a nutshell...DON'T get business insurance...There I said it!! Now, before everyone drops their soup bowl...lemme tell you why.
Of the incidents that could possibly be considered as a bonafied claim, the insurance company paid ZERO...Worse yet, on more than one occasion the agent advised me that another claim PAID OR NOT would raise our rates or worse CANCEL our policy!
So, here I am writing them a check each month for $$$. NONE of our "claims" were over $1,000...Hence, the deductibles were not met. Unfortunately, they kept a sort of "log book" of incidents on us and at the magic intersection of factor"A" and factor "B" rates are raised -%. Wahla! I contracted with 2 what I call "non-standard" insurers in the first 3 years of business and a standard insurer (Nation----) the next 2 years...All it amounted to was this.
We paid 6-9% outof OUR bottomline to an insurer ON TOP of paying each and EVERY claim out-of-pocket anyway!
I don't have insurance now...I had a paralegal draw up a contractural agreement -- that for all intent and purpose is a disclaimer of "incidental damages" ie: grandmas favorite hibiscus gets damaged. Yes, I know it won't hold water...THE CUSTOMER DOESN'T! 99% of the time we're careful. But haven't lost a single account through fault either.
When we're done for the day and on our way back to the shop, the signs come off the truck. I figure, in the last 17 years, I've paid for most of my equipment, taken a 2 week vacation each summer and maintained all the standard automotive policies with the money we've saved by NOT having a commercial policy!
Of course there are incidents...If anyone here thinks the customer is buying YOUR service because so n so's "insured" you'd be mistaken...It's the face man! Tell em up front what you're gonna do to make it right with them and shake their hand. 99.9% of the time - all is forgiven...
I don't have my insurance man's business card...I don't buy him tickets to a Lighting game or even lunch em once in awhile. I shop rates every year for the minimum coverage and LEAVE if the rate goes up $10 a month.
Okay, bring it on!

Interesting... I haven't had any claims because I make damn sure I don't screw up because if I do, I can loose a lot more than what the insurance would pay anyway.

That one slip and it's all over.

I wouldn't be able to drop my insurance, because at the end of the year, I get all these FAXs requesting proof from the insurance company that I have renewed my policy and they are going to hold payment until proof is issued.

Not having insurance is a crap shoot, but hey if it works for you, and as long as you aren't washing something down and someone surprises you and steps around a corner, and then you run boiling water down them from head to toe, you may save a couple thousand dollars.

I hate paying toughs premiums, but the alternative is even a riskier one to take.

I believe the object is to not file a claim, not to hit them up for every little incident that comes up, the same as for auto insurance.

The more claims you make, the more risk you become, the higher the premium for everyone.

I hope it works for you, but it isn't for everyone...

Good luck...

I agree with Robert...It is a crap-shoot, one you may well one day lose. No one files claims for stomped flowers or whatever...The problem comes in when one day you do something that causes major damage...Heard a story from one contractor whose employees lit the customer's house on fire by burning a hole through the siding with the exhause of their washer...Stupid things happen, that's what insurance is for. God forbid I ever fall through a customer's roof or screw up a car's paint job with chems or somehow ruin an entire house's worth of vinyl siding....The problem with being uninsured is that, sure, you've saved money over the years and you've gone on vacations, but one major claim and you could be out of business. That's reality. Maybe not all that likely, but I for one don't want to take the chance. Insurance is simply a cost of doing business, just like materials and equipment and payroll and everything else.

Mike Williamson
North Florida Pressure Washing
352-213-7765
mike@northfloridapressurewashing.com
www.gainesvillepressurewash.com

Insurance SUCKS..... MUST HAVE... Make sure you discuss with your agent exactly what you are doing. 90% of the people that have are over insured or have the wrong coverage. Keep in contact with your agent quarterly even if you have to buy lunch..I have sued 2 agents in the last 2 years. Won both !!!! Did'nt mean jack because the attorney got most but it is a matter of principal....

Mike Gwasdacus
President
Abel Enterprise Mobile Wash

I'm shocked no one screwed me into the ground on this one! Allow me to comeback to each response with another thought.
OrangeCrest: Who you do business with may require proof of ins...Now, I'm not about to teach anyone anything about the biz, but have you explored all your options residential vs corp for instance, may give you a little wiggle room? Secondly, I quit taking "paper" 11 years ago. I spent more time in the office chasing bad accounts...counterproductive and an added expense to what was already a loss. COD, period. We still grow every year, I pay the highest wages in the biz and all is good.
ONENESS: With the exception of a vehicle accident, our risk of a "major" loss 5k+ is about zero. All vehicles are covered by a STANDARD INSURANCE Policy, if ya catch my drift. I guess, in some ways our unique market allows for some things others wouldn't do.
They're selling 200+ homes a MONTH here. They're building homes on a 100'x200' waterfront LOT that runs $350-750k!
The National Cemetery is 17 miles away. Can you believe they're burying 46 a DAY there? Sued? Put-out-of-business...how? I won't even go into how easy it is to get work here.
Mike Gwas: Dude, my insurance man doesn't even know what I look like! If you do business with people that must have YOUR insurance, might I suggest examining why they are so hell-bent YOU are covered? Get a bond, it's cheaper and temporary and suffices most corp. accounts.
God Bless All That Have Given To Their Country This Day!

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination..."

Buf:

Maybe you already mentioned it, but I wonder what type of washing you're doing where you have no possibility of a claim over $5k. Sure, it is unlikely, but I can't imagine a scenario where it isn't possible. Hell, what happens if one of your washers develops a fuel leak, catches fire and explodes, killing someone? Imagine the liability with that! Again, unlikely, but that's what insurance is for, the unlikely events. What does 46 people being buried and expensive homes have to do with the existence, or lack of existence, of insurance liability???

Hey, I don't care if you're covered or not. I sure hope that one day you don't wish you had gotten sufficient coverage.

Where in FL are you? I'm in Gainesville.

Mike Williamson
North Florida Pressure Washing
352-213-7765
mike@northfloridapressurewashing.com
www.gainesvillepressurewash.com

Buf,
I am not sure how corporate America runs down in Florida but my guys require 2mil in liability.... As far as meeting your guy YOU BETTER..... otherwise get used to the word "DENIED"...

Mike Gwasdacus
President
Abel Enterprise Mobile Wash

That's more like it! I'm glad you guys took 2.5 minutes to read what I actually said, and 30 sec. to throw your hands in the air in disgust.
Lemme see if I can briefly decipher the meaning behind what I've said and put a nice pink bow on it for ya...
Um, let's answer a few quips from the back of the room first...
Your analogy smacks of the usual scare tactics most insurance offices have posted on their walls...Reality Check!
Okay, let's surmise I'm insured to the hilt for 2mil...Hell, let's throw caution (and good-sense) to the wind and add a 1 mil "rider" as an umbrella. Joe Employee hooks our 3-ton landscaping trailer with 4 brand new Dixie Choppers loaded on it to the 04 Dodge dually 4X4 and fires up the Cummins for a quick trip to the mower shop. Before he leaves, he tops off the 55 gal gas drum on the trailer with gas and the 150gal on the truck for the new diesel Sudsy Hot sitting in the bed. Trouble is, Joe forgot to put the pin or the safety chains on the hitch!
Before we go any further, whatdya suppose my monthly premium would be for all the bells n whistles like this one...$250-350...Try $688, I already HAD this policy and that was years ago!
Along the way Joe had an accident, well you know the story, you could put any spin on it you want...The point is, as long as you can afford the premium, you can insure yourself for any eventuality...But WHY? Once the insurance you could afford runs it's coverage limit...what happens? Nothing...ask someone that's had a "catastrophic" business loss. Once the insurance is exhausted, the phone calls, and certified mail...stops. Okay next question!
Oh yeah..."my guy requires 2mil coverage..." Uh, if you would've read what I said..."Explore your options..." Do you HAVE to mobile wash? Do you HAVE to do business with JUST the people that require 2mil coverage...Are there alternatives to carrying a 2mil policy? Entertain these queries...I guarantee if you HAD TO you could find a way around it! Why would you - if you could? Money, man...money. Personally, I refuse to feed the "machine". It takes forethought, inventiveness and courage...Next time you file a $1,001 claim on that 2mil policy, what's YOUR agent going to say? DENIED!?

Comeon guys...Thinking "outside the box" is not a hamburger franchise!
God Bless, my prayers are with you.

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination..."

You forgot stupidity.

But hell, you already know everything, bad things never happen to you, and hell, if you have a serious incident and someone gets catastrophically injured or killed, what the hell...screw 'em...The insurance that would have at least partially compensated them for YOUR actions is non-existent since, damn, you NEED that money yourself!

Like I said, I don't give a crap if you're covered. Just please don't keep trying to convince others that your stupidity is somehow smart.

Mike Williamson
North Florida Pressure Washing
352-213-7765
mike@northfloridapressurewashing.com
www.gainesvillepressurewash.com

I didn't forget stupid...That's why I tried in vain to send something NEW through your neuro-path. You know, sometimes I feel sorry for guys like you...Slogging through what amounts to a set of "knee jerk" reactive business practices.
Before climbing up onto your high horse again. *Did I say I didn't have workmens comp? *And you're washing for Mr. 2mil...for Fun?

Calm down...think through a different set of "rules." I didn't say DO IT, I said think about it.
FerChrissakes stop whipping the poor beast once it's down!