Industry News
Author, Dave Garcia, President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The National Weather Service has issued heat warnings for many parts of California starting today, and excessive heat warnings for some other areas. Temperatures are expected to rise to 110ºF in some parts of the Sacramento Valley, for instance. In the desert areas of Imperial and San Diego counties, they will soar as high as 114ºF.
Author, David J. Garcia, AAI, CRIS, President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
With the recent ruling by the California Supreme Court concerning how 1099 employees (independent contractors) are defined, the construction industry's approach to utilizing these workers has changed significantly. The Court adopted a new test to determine whether the worker should be classified as an employee or independent contractor. The previous test to determine if a worker was an employee or independent contractor was whether the employer had the right to direct the manner and means by which the worker performed the services.
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
An OSHA officer can show up to your facility or worksite for any number of reasons: employee complaints, accidents, programmed inspections, sweeps, follow-up or a drive-by observation. In order to ensure a smooth inspection, we suggest you prepare before OSHA appears at your door. Here are some key steps to take before, during and after an OSHA inspection.
Author, Andy Roberts, Account Executive, Surety, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
When a surety carrier is evaluating a bonding program for a contractor, they use many different underwriting factors to determine an acceptable amount of bond capacity. They will consider a contractor’s working capital, net worth and work in progress schedules, to name a few. Another important factor that can help increase a contractor's bonding capacity is a bank line of credit.
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
At first glance, most painting contractors don’t think they need pollution coverage. One might think that if they're not pouring sludge into a lake or toxic gasses into the atmosphere, then it wouldn’t apply to their company. Everyone sees the oil spills and thinks that this is what pollution coverage is for, but how does it apply to your smaller business? How can one event jeopardize your company’s success?
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
For the first time in 20 years, the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) will not collect its annual assessment. As a result, California employers in the guaranteed cost workers' compensation insurance market will save 2% on their premium in 2019.
Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Subcontractors in California regularly enroll in OCIP/CCIP or wrap programs. These programs are insurance policies that cover many of the participants in a construction project, including the owner/developer, general contractor and subcontractors. As many contractors learn the hard way, they do not control the program or the coverage terms, leaving the possibility of significant gaps that can impact the contractor in the future.
Author, Matt Gaynor, Director of Surety, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
I recently had the opportunity to work with a new client who is a landscape professional. He wanted to bid on a maintenance project for a local municipality and wasn’t sure if he would qualify for the required performance bond.
Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Workers’ Compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue their employer for the tort of negligence.
Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) now require certain employers to electronically submit their completed 2016 Form 300A. OSHA has created a website that allows employers to manually complete the information or upload a formatted CSV (comma-separated values) file
Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Monday, April 30, 2018 it has “taken action to correct an error that was made with regard to implementing the final rule” which required some employers to electronically submit their injuring and illness reports via the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) online.
Author, Yvonne Gallagher, Landscape Division Account Manager, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
California State Capital Building.
State Bill 189 (SB 189) (Bradford) was recently enacted by the California State Legislature. It is intended to correct issues resulting from the passage of Assembly Bill 2883 (AB 2883) (Daly et. al) in 2017, which changed the requirements for business owners to exclude themselves from workers' compensation coverage.
Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
In response to the hundreds of mass shootings taking place each year, the insurance marketplace has produced new workplace violence products to help employers and employees recover from a crisis.
Author, Kevin Howard, Account Executive, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Metal theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country. Copper, aluminum, nickel, stainless steel and scrap iron have become the desired target of thieves looking to make a quick buck.
Author, Drew Garcia, NALP Program Director, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The Experience Modifier (i.e., experience MOD, MOD, XMOD, experience modification rating, EMR) weighs heavy on the calculation of your workers' compensation premium. With a MOD rating of 1.00 signifying unity (i.e., the average for your industry), any MOD above 1.00 is considered adverse. Thus, any MOD below 1.00 is considered better than average. Higher MODs will debit the premium, resulting in higher workers' compensation premiums, while lower MODs will credit the premium, resulting in lower workers' compensation premiums.
Authors Sam Clayton, ARM, CRIS, Vice President, Construction Group and Daniel Frazee, ARM, CRIS, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Contractor’s Pollution Liability (CPL), once viewed as expensive and unnecessary, has now become an integral part of every trade and environmental contractor’s insurance program. The industry is seeing requirements for this coverage from a combination of building owners, developers and general contractors for projects of all sizes.
Author, Jim Malone, Claims Advocate, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
When a work-related accident occurs, as a business owner or manager, it is our nature to want to analyze the situation in order to learn how to avoid it in the future. However, the reporting of the incident is equally as important. With the recent requirement to report first aid claims, timely reporting for all claims is recognized as being critical for a number of reasons.
Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
In the workplace, employees can be exposed to potentially harmful hazards. Identifying these hazards and using precautionary measures such as personal protective equipment (PPE) can mean the difference between a safe jobsite and an injury.
Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
According to a recent memo, the State of California Department of Industrial Relations would like to remind employers that they are required to physically post their 2017 annual summaries of work-related injuries from February 1, 2018 through April 30, 2018.
Author, Kevin Howard, CRIS, Account Executive, Construction Gorup, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Insurance is often considered a necessary evil by business owners. It can represent a significant line item on a profit & loss statement rivaling the cost in some cases of payroll, material costs and rent. With deductibles that can range from $15,000-$25,000 per claim, why then would a business spend dollars on an insurance policy that is not required by either state law or part of any General Contractor’s insurance specifications?
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