Benefits of Contractor’s Liability Insurance

When asked what the main benefits of Contractors Liability Insurance Coverage were, here are their most common answers.

#1 They wanted protection against any injury claims

Most contractors fully appreciate that their jobs can be risky and demanding, so they pay for California contractor’s general liability insurance. They are able to sleep at night knowing they are covered for any injured parties, paying for any medical bills, or even funeral expenses for an incident outside of their control.

When a contractor faces an uninsured injury claim, they can quickly face a financial crisis. Many contractors choose to take out liability insurance because they’d heard stories or read the news about people forced to pay claims to compensate for injuries. Many of these people had been pushed in bankruptcy and lost everything that could have been easily avoided.

Even though the annual premium a monthly payment may seem expensive, it pales in comparison to the loss of your business or worse your home. II, a court dictates that you need to pay compensation, this could entail massive sums of money, forcing your you out of business altogether.

#2 They wanted protection against property damage

Construction jobs sometimes go wrong; damage can be caused to either their client’s property or neighboring properties. This damage can even hinder local businesses from operating. As a consequence, they may be forced to pay compensation to any affected parties. This type of scenario is not something that a small or medium-sized contractor can afford to deal with without insurance. Most people take out this type of insurance cover to prevent having their pay offended parties. They want the peace of mind that comes with protection against any damages or unexpected losses.

#3 Cover any legal expenses

If an unexpected accident or injury in the workplace and they’re being forced to defend themselves against the claim, the cost of this and other charges associated can sometimes run into thousands of dollars. If you have the correct liability insurance, it will cover attorney fees, witness fees, and any associated court expenses. You will not have any out-of-pocket expense to hire the best attorneys possible to support your case.

#4 Protect against frivolous lawsuits

In recent years there has been a series of cases where contractors were sued for copyright infringement because their work was deemed to have copied the designs of someone else. If found to be accurate, these cases can result in vast payments of compensation, taking out liability insurance will cover you for this.

#5 Peace of mind

Nobody is suggesting that liability insurance will give you the license wot suddenly let your health and safety standards slip. We are saying that you face enough daily challenges, difficulties that already get in the way of your security, and peace of mind. Protecting against potentially damaging or frivolous lawsuits will leave you with one less thing to worry about. Just make sure that your premiums are paid on time. The insurance companies and your attorneys will look after everything else.

Depending on the level of risk attached to the work that you do, this will be reflected in your insurance coverage cost. It shouldn’t be seen as a negative if you have more risk involved; the possibility of an unforeseen incident or accident is much higher, meaning your need for this coverage even more.

These are just some of the Benefits of Contractors Liability Insurance Coverage, as you see that continuously outweigh the premiums paid.

Internet Marketing for Surety Bond Companies

construction-marketing

Internet marketing is at an all-time high as more companies have gone digital to try to compete for their share of the market. Many California contractor license bond companies have realized the importance of digital marketing. The banking market alone has had to offer more and more services online to keep up with the ever-growing demand of customers that prefer to do as much as possible online because of their busy lives.

There are a few SEO and marketing strategies that everyone should make sure of before launching a new internet campaign. You must be sure you have an onsite content strategy. To get picked up by the search engines you need to have a lot of quality bond content for your readers that offer value. Banks and other surety companies have to not only provide excellent online services, but they need to have content on their pages that is valuable to their customers.

Some banks have a variety of information pages about different strategies their clients might want to read on saving for retirement and how to repair your credit. The sites doing the best jobs at providing high-quality content are the ones getting picked up in the search engines.

Ranking

Internet marketing for surety companies needs formatted in ways that consumers can locate the information they want quickly. Using subtitles and making sure it has been proofread carefully for grammatical and spelling issues is just one of the things that marketers have to do to get the Search Engines to rank their pages.

Content

To succeed internet marketing for surety companies must include a strategic SEO backlinking campaign where the links fit very naturally and attract other websites to link to your site as you gain exposure to the market. Don’t rush it. Sometimes we give up too soon on our online marketing strategies. Make sure you dedicate enough financing to do it right. Don’t sell your site short by not spending enough on content that is not only valuable to your readers but has quality.

Make sure you use the right number of keywords, so you don’t make the search engines feel you are spamming the customer and lower your rankings instead of moving higher in the searches. Surety internet customers have to have sites that have lasting value and attract new readers as well as keeping old customers coming back. Surety customers should post unique content that sets them apart from their competition. As internet marketing for surety companies learn these things, more customers will come to their sites to trade.

California Construction Economy for 2017

California’s Construction Economy is Booming

Homes are being sold for a premium. Jobs are being added. People are flocking to the Golden State. What is in store for the California construction industry in 2017? This article will talk about the economic environment and what the construction sector is likely to look like for 2017.

2016 was a year of uncertainty as the United States elected a new President. 2017 seems to be a year of consumer confidence and job growth. The trust in the job market has many Americans looking for new careers and new positions. The movement in the employment sector has a direct link to buyer confidence in the real estate industry.

In 2017, thousands of new jobs will be added to the economy. Job growth is only one indicator of the construction industry, however. California is expected to maintain a healthy commercial and institutional real estate environment as they will be receiving state and local bond measures to ensure their housing stability. The reduction of contractor bond pricing in California has also stimulated new growth for the industry. To find out how much a bond costs, check with a licensed surety professional.

New businesses and schools being built will mean more apartments and houses requirements.

Falling oil prices have meant close to zero inflation for the entire country. California is experiencing slightly higher rates of inflation because of how large real estate plays in the local economy. Interest rates on real estate and construction loans may rise slightly, but not to a devastating level. Californians are expected to see higher salaries this year and can demand higher wages as the global economy strengthens. The technology industry will also gain more momentum along with this expansion.

To make things even more exciting, Donald Trump has promised to spend trillions of dollars over the next decade on American infrastructure. This means that the country’s deficit will increase, but that there will be plenty of construction projects in store in California. New bridges, interstates, and highway construction will be sure to grow the economy like never before. There will need to be people hired to make this happen.

Employment rates in California have continued to rise, and there is a shortage of housing. Restrictions on policy making and planning committees have eased up, making it easier than ever to build in California. This will hopefully create enough housing to provide for all of the new people residing in California. Taking that into account plus the increasing investments in commercial and institutional real estate, California is poised for growth in the construction industry in 2017.

Why You Should Only Hire a Bonded Contractor

Why You Should Only Hire a Bonded Contractor

Having people you do not personally know in performing tasks on your home, property or business is a very risky thing to do. This is why it is important to hire contractors how are not just licensed, but bonded as well. Otherwise you will be taking a huge amount of risks that may lead to other problems such as lawsuit, where implied warranties provided by the state may be void.

There’s a difference between a licensed and a bonded contractor—both of which you would have to consider before hiring.

Licensed contractor

A licensed contractor gives you assurance through government-based standards that your contractor is capable of any type of skilled labor, for instance, performing jobs on another person’s home. Electricians, plumbers and ‘dry wallers’ are usually required to have a license. Other general tasks need other types of licenses as required by the state. In many other states, being bonded sometimes becomes a prerequisite to obtaining a license.

A bonded contractor on the similar hand, means that your contractor has purchased a “surety bond.” This is a type of insurance policy protects a property owner from risks of further damages, for instance. If they fail to complete the job properly, this bond can provide compensation to a property owner.  Here is some more info on contractor bonds.

So why should you only hire a bonded contractor?

Hiring licensed contractors are a given. Otherwise, it would be like hiring people illegally, by working for people without a government-mandated license. Without having a license just gives more reason that the contractor may also not be following other laws which includes having proper permit, skill and inspection requirements. Having a bonded contractor, on the other hand, is a choice you would have to take wisely, because bonded contractors give you the additive assurance that your warranty claims are protected. When hiring contractors in general, bonded ones protect you from bad workmanship at home or in your yard for instance.

Now even if you win a job quality complaint in civil court, there could still be a good chance that your contractor might not be able to pay you for the damages further caused—more so if he isn’t a bonded contractor. To explain things simpler, bonded (and licensed) contractors make them responsible for paying their damages and that you won’t have to worry much about it.

Additional tip: You may also contact your state licensing board to determine if your contractor is licensed and currently has good standing.

Getting a Contractor Bond In California

A Step-by-Step Guide on Getting a Contractor Bond In California

The process of getting a contractor bond in California, like in any other state, may prove quite difficult if you do not know where and how to look.  We shall look at some of the common procedures you will need to go through to secure the bond in California.

Step-1: Choose a Bond

There are many companies in California offering contractor bonds and a little homework will surely land you in the hands of the most competent.

Now, the first step in getting a contractor bond in California often involves choosing your most preferred bond type. It is important to note that these bond types qualify you for a certain amount, not to mention they cost differently depending on the Credit Score.

The following are the 4 types of contractor bonds you may be eligible for in California;

  • Contractor’s License Bond – This bond qualifies you for up to $15 000 and with a credit score of 680 and up, its cost starts from $99. The cost ranges between $100-700 with a credit score between 679-600 and then settles at $700+ if your credit score is below 599.
  • Contractor’s Disciplinary Bond – The bond amount you are entitled in this kind of bond varies and the following is the trend in terms of cost per credit score; 680 and up [starts at 1%], 679-600 [4-8%] and 599 or lower [over 10%].
  • Qualifying Individual Bond – The Qualifying Individual Bond entitles you to a bond amount of $12 500 and with a credit score of 680 and up, the cost starts at $125. The cost is between $500 -1000 if your credit score is between 679 -600 and then shoots to 1250 or over if you have a credit score below 599.
  • Farm Labor Contractor Bond – This is the last bond type you can get in California and the bond amount you are eligible for here is $25000. The cost begins at $250 with a credit score of 680 or over and then rises to $1000 -2000 with a credit score between 679 and 600. If you have a score of 599 or below, then it may cost you up to $2 5000 or over.

Step- 2: Enter Contact Information

The next step after identifying the type of bond you need is entering your contact information. This is the information that will enable the bond company to avail the required amount to you so it is important that you be as accurate and as detailed as possible when giving such information.

Step-3: Get a Quote

This is the last step and it basically involves the receipt of a free quote. The quote will be issued to you by the company and an ample time allowed so you can go through it and indeed ascertain whether it is favorable or not.