Why Your Electrician Needs Insurance Before Doing Electrical Repairs

We all make mistakes and accidents happen, so no matter how reliable the electrician or electrical contractor is, comprehensive and adequate insurance is a necessity.  Checking for proper insurance may be more complicated than just asking your electrician if he has insurance.  Sometimes the electrical contractor’s insurance consists of minimum insurance on his truck which happens to be leaking oil all over your driveway or parking lot.

For our blog post this week, we are featuring a guest article from our commercial insurance agent, Wilson Vickers, who will explain the importance of requiring proof of insurance from an electrical contractor who you employ whether it be to work on your electrical system at your business or your home:

IMPORTANCE OF REQUIRING PROOF OF INSURANCE

Just as every business that uses a contractor requires a certificate of insurance to prove that there is proper insurance coverage, so should the individual homeowner when employing any home service professional.  There are several reasons that require the prudent homeowner to do this.  These are outlined below:

1. It shows that the contractor is responsible not only to himself, but to his customers.  In other words, he seeks to protect himself from lawsuits, but also the customer if he does damage while doing the work.
2. In that light, he would have general liability insurance.  While this would not protect him for his faulty work, it would protect both him and the homeowner from resulting damage.  For example, if an electrician wired a stove incorrectly and a fire resulted, the insurance would not reimburse him for the time worked or materials used, but it would pay for any fire damage that resulted from that faulty work.
3. Another important point is the limit of insurance.  If you have a $1,000,000 home replacement cost, you don’t want someone with a $300,000 general liability limit doing the work.
4. Another issue important to the homeowner is an injury to the contractor.  If the contractor has no workers compensation coverage, he may sue the homeowner if he is injured.  Although he must prove negligence, it still could prove costly to the homeowner.

This is a general outline of the importance of requiring a certificate of insurance.  For more specific details, please contact your insurance agent.

This information is provided by Wilson Vickers of The Leavitt Group.  The Leavitt Group was founded in 1952 and has over 115 independent agencies located in 14 states.  Leavitt writes over $2 Billion in annualized premiums as of July 2010.

Wilson Vickers
The Leavitt Group of Atlanta
(770) 734-1501 Direct
(770) 368-9158 FAX
wilsonv@lgatlanta.com