Workman's comp insurance

Very common and in California, the annual cost is about $600. Great protection

We also have no employees. Our insurance company does insurance audits every year. We must provide contractor name, nature of work done, whether we provide any tools, amount paid to contractor annually, copies of contractor's insurance certificates. If we don't provide all the info for the audit, our insurance rates go up.

Sorry, it is late and my last statement was not complete.

Our annual coverage for the association in which we live is about $400.00, which works out to slightly less than $4.00 annually per property owner.

The cost is approximately the same per property owner in the associations which we manage, depending on the common areas/amenities.

Jim D,

No doubt your insurance agent would like to sell a workman's comp policy. May I suggest obtaining advice from your association's attorney before buying this coverage?

I was advised by an attorney years ago that workman's comp covers injury claims between an employee and his employer. The exact terms will vary somewhat by state; In AZ, for example, an employee who accepts an award under workman's comp is barred from suing anyone else.

Since this coverage is between the employer and employee, I have my doubts that your workman's comp would cover a claim made by an uninsured contractor's employee. Your general liability policy, which you should already have, would be more likely to provide coverage.

You might also want to see if workman's comp covers unpaid volunteers. I used to receive coverage for employees through the state compensation fund but coverage was for a specific person in a specific job category and the premium based upon the amount I paid him. I am not sure how keen they would have been to pay a claim for someone for whom they never collected a premium.

I'm with Tim an Larry on this topic.

Jerry

Are you employed and/or paid by the BOD to do whatever?

If not, then you are not an employee.

The reason why we added WC insurance in the association in which we live, and why we recommend it, (and our master association recommended it where we live, and our attorney recommended it)is the scenario discussed by Jerry and John: an injury to someone who everyone presumes will be covered by some other aspect of WC.

Texas is a dichotomy: there are very conservative people here, yet we have legislative imposed mandates which stipulate HOA management guidelines the likes of which I have not previously seen; and I was moved here in 1997 from the Bay Area. Some of the recent Texas legislative mandates have not been challenged or tested in court. Until they are, $400 annually is inexpensive insurance against lawsuits, regardless of the merits of who is, or is not, an employee.

I do agree with Larry. Talk with your association attorney before you purchase insurance which may not be needed.

All

Yes $400.00 might be short money but left up to most insurance agents, they would short money you to death for "additional" coverage.

Well it is only so and so more....how many times have you heard that? It is called an upsell.

The acid test would be to file a claim and receive compensation. I have some serious doubts that the HOA's WC is going to cover a subcontractor's employee's claim.

I spent more time than I should have today researching Workman's Compensation (WC) in the Arizona statutes.

From what I can see, HOA volunteers are not covered by WC. The only volunteers who are covered are those who serve in positions such as a sheriff's posse, search-and-rescue, or some other first-responder job. There is a provision for covering some volunteers who work for government entities. In each case, the law requires fixing an income level for the covered employee; the income level is as low as $400 for some volunteers and the equivalent of entry-level wages for others.

My own experience is consistent with what I read today; that is, premiums are based on the type or work the employee performs and how much he is paid.

While I found provisions for sole proprietors and partners to be covered by WC, I found nothing in the statutes that would support obtaining coverage for those who are not your employees. The law requires the employer - and not the employer's customers - to provide WC coverage.

This leaves me curious as to just what those who purchased Workman's Compensation policies really bought. I hope someone can provide a link to a pdf of one of these policies.

Roger, Who is Pinnocol? Is this the HOA? If so did they already have a workmans comp policy for other employees?

As I stated "Pinnacol, the Workers Comp insurance company in Colorado".

Jim,

If you go that route, double-check to ensure that a $600 policy will cover every non-insured "handyman" that works on your property and not just one individual person. It would be better to hire only vendors who carry worker's compensation if you can help it as that business choice, which is free for the HOA, will save you cash and headache.

Our HOA has a number of members who do volunteer work such as putting up holiday decorations or doing painting, gardening, and other odd jobs. They are not paid. What policies are available to cover them should they be injured? Either insurance company name or another source that we can use to obtain coverage such as you describe. We are in GA.

Similarly, we provide "casual labor" jobs in the summer for our teens. We ask them to keep the pool area clean, put/takedown umbrellas, etc. We pay them about $150 per week for 1-2 hours a day. They are not employees per se. Most teens receive about $300-$450 over the course of the summer. In a few cases, when they receive over $600 we submit an IRS form 1099 to the IRS. How do we cover them for possible injuries while helping the association?

I agree.



I think so.



What do your covenants say about insurance and contractors?

Unless this gentleman has a business where he installs lights, with all the usual insurance, I am thinking a HOA attorney would advise against this.

MichaelS42, talk to your HOA's insurer.