All Forum Posts by: Jason Bott

2 things to consider from an insurance perspective,

You will need to purchase a work comp policy if hiring him as an employee or as an independent contractor who does not carry his own work comp policy.  If he is injured on the job and there is not work comp coverage in place, you are on the hook for his injuries.  He may say you don't need to worry about it, but when he breaks his leg and his wife/girlfriend/mother are stuck supporting him, they will be looking for someone to pony up some funds.

Regarding damage to your property/rental.  If you hire contractors with their own insurance, and you structure the contract correctly, damage done during rehab/maintenance would most likely be paid from the contractors policy.  This keeps you policy clean and your premiums stable.  If you hire all your own in house guys, and damage to the premises is done, like a small fire, this would be on your policy....rates could creep up.

good luck

Keep in mind a traditional Builders Risk policy covers the property, but does not include Liability coverage.  To duplicate the coverage in a traditional landlord policy you will need to purchase both policies. 

@Pat, MiddleOak makes you have the highest building values of any insurance company I know of.  Make sure to review those values before jumping into another policy as you could potentially be paying for excess coverage you will never claim.  In the Midwest, MiddleOak's building estimators are almost double the other insurance carriers.

Let us know if you find a competitive, viable option I can reference in the future.

Good luck

How many units?  MiddleOak has very broad coverage, but have 16 unit minimum.  CIBA is also an option.

@Kyle, I had a client who had a tenant state he fixed the leak under the sink.  Upon the tenant leaving, they discovered the slow leak he had "Fixed" was rerouted between the wall and the cabinet and it rotted all the subfloor in the kitchen, about $6,000 to fix. 

One of my largest clients, owns 740 units, told me unless I am planning on getting to 15 units, don't bother.  He felt that the benefits of owning and self managing did not out weight the negatives until you get to this tipping point.

Brian, sounds like you have a claim.  a few things to consider given your comments.

1)  The longer you wait to file the claim, the greater the chance they will fight you on it.  Most insurance policies have some language stating you are required to report claims in a timely fashion.

2)  If you don't file this claim, but have another bad storm by Sept 2015, it's probable the future storm damage claim would be denied on the basis that you knew about the damage and decided to not fix the property.  They could claim "wear and tear" or "neglect". 

Good lcuk

Kyle, "Student Rentals" can be considered high risk to most insurance companies.  Just make sure the #'s you are quoting on the insurance are for a student rental and not a home owners policy.

Good luck!

Leo, you should do great with your back ground. Are you looking for more copywriting work? If so, please connect with me as I have been looking for a copywriter with knowledge of the REI world.

A work comp policy (each state is different) employees, independent contractors AND volunteers have work comp rights.  Basically, anyone who is bettering you financially can make a case that it is your responsibility to take care of their injuries, directly out of your pocket or through a work comp policy.

A common misconception is that tax law and work comp law are interrelated, but they are independent of each other.  Just because you claim everyone as an independent contractor with your accountant, does not mean the State will automatically classify them as independent contractors.

2 Quick tips

- If they can make a profit or loss on a project and control their own schedule, it hard to argue they are an employee.

- Always get the certificate of insurance from the contractors insurance agent, not the contractor.  I have had 2 cases this year where ther certificate of insurance has be doctored.