Additional Insured on contractors' insurance?

[Donald M.]

I am hiring roofers on behalf of a small condominium complex to fix several areas of the roof where some water is leaking. I obtained a copy of their insurance certificate and they have liability and workman's compensation insurance. I have gotten different opinions on whether the condominium association need to be listed as "additional insured" on the policy. 

I spoke to the insurance agent on their policy who said that it is usually just done for large projects, that it would cost extra to have it done, would take time to do, and that I am free to file a claim if there are any issues. 

I spoke to a real estate investor who said the association should be listed as additional insured, and the benefit is that if there were to be a claim, it would go directly through the workers' insurance and not through the condominium insurance, the downside of that being that I could have higher deductibles in the future, even though it would ultimately go through the other party's insurance.

It seems to me a bit wasteful to pay a bit more to be an additional insured when they clearly have insurance... but is this true that if there were an issue I could have a higher deductible in the future, even if the other insurance will do most of the work?

[Kevin Romines]

Keep in mind, the only way to get that coverage is to be an additional insured.

All contractors policies have coverage for completed products and operations. So to explain this, imagine you build kitchen cabinetry and you also install it as well. You do a job and 3 months later the cabinet falls off the wall due to your faulty installation or manufacturing processes. It hit a person on the head and they now how massive medical bills due to this. The completed products and operations coverage would pick this up.

I hope this helps?