[TowerTalk] to sue or not to sue...

[Jim Lux]

At 09:50 PM 9/11/2006, nd8l at juno.com wrote:
>Vic...
>
>Let me open by saying that I'm a licensed property and
>casualty insurance agent in Ohio.  Don't know jackshit
>about towers, antennas, plastic owls and such...but I knows my INsurance.
>
>The takeaway for the rest of us is to insist on certificates
>of liability insurance and worker's compensation insurance from
>---> any <--- outside vendor used around the house...lawn service,
>roofing or crane guys, before any work is done.



Here in California, I think it is a requirement that contractors for 
jobs over a certain size have to provide the homeowner with the 
insurance info (both liability and worker's comp).  I'm having some 
work done now, and all the bidders had a sheet ready to go with the 
company names, policy numbers, etc.  It was the work of 10 minutes to 
call up the insurer and say, does So and So really have a policy 
that's currently effective with you, and do they have coverage for X 
number of workers?

I confess it gets a little hazy when you get down a couple tiers of 
subs (let's see now, what would happen if the general contracts to 
the hardscape guy who contracts to the concrete delivery company, who 
inadvertently cracks my sidewalk by backing the truck over it... I 
figure I go after the general, and let him deal with all the stuff 
below... but now you've got me thinking...)

When we did "really dangerous" special effects things, we'd have all 
kinds of special insurance, with named insureds, certificates 
whipping from one fax machine to another, etc.  (You drive a 
construction crane with a bunch of sprinklers and fire hoses on it to 
simulate rain in downtown LA, and there's lots of people who are 
concerned about such things).