Workers’ Comp Insurance for Roofing Contractor: Why Do I Care?

Roofing Contractor

​Most homeowners know that when it becomes necessary to install a new roof on your home, this isn’t a small investment.  You obviously want to save money; but you also want the maximum value for you investment.  You are smart, and you realize that sometimes when you pay a little more, you get a better product.  However, in a previous blog I identified that sometimes when you pay more you get a Roofing Contractor that hires employees and pays Workers’ Compensation Insurance.  What you get by paying more here doesn’t end up on your roof.
 
I already identified that of the individual construction trades, workers’ compensation insurance for roofers is typically higher than any other construction worker.  Many roofing contractors get around this insurance cost by hiring “day labor” or “independent contractors” instead of hiring employees.  Day labor isn’t covered by insurance; independent contractors are responsible for their own insurance (and often go uncovered).  Employees have to be covered by their employer.
 
Before you discount the importance of insurance, I encourage you to think through this.  The cost of insurance is proportional to risk.  It is just like your auto insurance policy, if you have tickets, collisions, and drive an expensive car, your auto insurance premiums are higher because you are more risk.  It is illegal for you to forego auto insurance, but that doesn’t mean that every driver on the road is insured either and some drivers take on excess risk.
 
The same is true for Roofing Contractors; we pay higher premiums for our employees compared to construction workers because we have higher risk.  We work on roofs all day, we have risk of falls and falling off a roof has high risk of injury.  We also work with power tools, we do heavy and tiring labor, and all of this equates to potential for injury.
 
So what does this mean for you, as the customer?  If you hire a Roofing Contractor that uses day labor, or you hire a roofing contractor that uses independent contractors, you are liable for these injuries, as the homeowner.  I encourage you to contact your insurance agent, they will be happy to discuss your liability for hiring uninsured workers to work on your house.  Your Homeowners’ Insurance covers more than just damage to your home, but it may not cover damage to uninsured contractors you hire.  This is like you driving without auto insurance; you need to plan for likely events we hope will never occur.  You wouldn’t think of driving without auto insurance, why would you hire high-risk construction trades that aren’t insured?
 
And a side note, Roofing Contractors that pay Workers’ Compensation insurance are sticklers for safety.  Our insurance rates are based on risk, if we can show safe workplace practices we get reduced premiums.  Which would you rather have working on your roof; a contractor that places an emphasis on safety, or a contractor that places an emphasis on cost and passes the risk to you as the homeowner?  You don’t “see” insurance in the finished product, but if an accident happens you will “see” what happens when it isn’t there.

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