Beware many Roofing Sub Crews Often are not Covered by Workers Compensation Insurance. Since construction is a dangerous job, laws mandatorily require businesses who perform services in the construction industry to provide Workers Compensation Insurance coverage for their employees. But those same laws provide a loop hole which allows “owners” (those having at least 10% ownership in a business) to waive Workers Compensation Insurance coverage upon themselves. So, many sub-contractors have taken advantage of this loophole by creating Limited Liability Corporations (a.k.a. LLC’s) consisting of 10 laborers or less, so that each of these laborers will then own a minimum of 10% of the LLC The LLC then purchases an insurance policy which will indicate they have General Liability Insurance AND Workers Compensation Insurance. However, if you were to investigate, you would often find that the policy provides Workers Compensation Insurance coverage only for the LLC’s “employees.” But the LLC actually has no employees. It only has “owners” which have all waived Workers Compensation Insurance coverage for themselves. This can literally save a sub crew hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but in the event of an accident they are NOT covered by Workers Compensation Insurance. It’s a big risk for the workers, a big risk for the contractors who hire these workers, and can be a big risk for the homeowners who allow these workers on their property. Yet, this has actually become the standard method of operation for many roofing contractors in the construction industry these days! So how do homeowners protect themselves from contracting with a company that does not provide Workers Compensation Insurance coverage for those performing work at their home? My insurance company suggests you: 1)require an insurance certificate be provided “directly from the issuing insurance company” (not directly from the contractor) 2) require a certificate of insurance be provided for not only the roofing contractor you are doing business with, but also require an insurance certificate from every “independent contractor” (i.e. sub crew) being sub-contracted to perform work at your home 3) require the insurance certificates indicate that “All employees of the above named insured, including officers and members, are covered under the above listed workers compensation policy” 4) and be sure the policies indicate that “residential roofing” is the classification for which the general liability coverage and workers compensation insurance coverage is being issued. Of course, you are likely to find a lot of contractors are “unwilling / unable” to meet these requirements, so you may have to search a little harder. But, finding a contractor that provides Workers Compensation Insurance coverage for “all” (including those performing the dangerous task of replacing your roof) is definitely worth the effort! To help you with your search, I can recommend the name of one company right now that provides Workers Compensation Insurance Coverage for “all of its employees, officers and members” and that is Larry L. Vaught Roofing!