Tradesmen + Preferred Package Program


General Liability, Auto, Property, and Inland Marine

At AmCom, our approach is to collaborate with our agents on individualized solutions to offer to a complete package to a wide array of artisan contractors from the handyman to the custom home builder.

Eligible Classes

  • 91342 Carpentry – Commercial
  • 91343 Carpentry – Shop only
  • 91405 Carpet, Rug, Furniture or Upholstery Cleaning – On customer premises
  • 91551 Communication Equipment Installation – industrial or commercial
  • 91560 Concrete Construction
  • 91581 Contractors – Subcontract Work – Construction – not buildings
  • 91584 Contractors – Subcontract Work – Construction – for industrial use
  • 91585 Contractors – Subcontract Work – Construction – of buildings
  • 91590 Contractors Permanent Yards
  • 92215 Driveway, Parking Area or Sidewalk Paving
  • 92478 Electrical Work – within buildings
  • 94569 Floor covering Installation – not ceramic, tile or stone
  • 95124 Furniture or Fixtures – installation in offices or stores
  • 96053 House Furnishings Installation
  • 96317 Inspection and Appraisal Companies
  • 96611 Interior Decorators
  • 97047 Landscape Gardening
  • 97050 Lawn Care Services
  • 97650 Metal Erection – decorative or artistic
  • 98305 Painting – interior – buildings or structures
  • 98308 Painting – shop only
  • 98344 Paperhanging
  • 98636 Refrigeration Systems or Equipment – install, service or repairs
  • 98805 Septic Tank Systems – cleaning
  • 98806 Septic Tank Systems – installation, servicing or repair
  • 99003 Sign Painting or Lettering – inside buildings
  • 99004 Sign Painting – on buildings or structures
  • 99505 Swimming Pool Servicing
  • 99746 Tile, Stone, Marble, Mosaic or Terrazzo – interior construction

Ineligible Risks

General Liability
  • Airports or Hospital / Surgical
  • Airport / Bridge / Highways
  • Alarm Install / Monitoring
  • Applicants who work for Condominium or Homeowners Assoc's (work for individual unit owner is acceptable)
  • Applicants with a 3-year loss ratio of 65% or more
  • Architects and Engineers
  • Bankruptcy in the past five years
  • Bulk storage / handling / distribution of fuel oil, gas or petrochemicals
  • Construction of condominiums, tracts, apartments or town-homes
  • Current or past exposures to Subsidence
  • Demolition or Blasting
  • Developers
  • Earthquake Retrofit
  • Excavation below 8 feet
  • Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS)
  • Foundation / Footing
  • Framing
  • Gas Stations
  • Hazardous material, including storage tanks and containers
  • Underground below 8 feet
  • Install / Set up of Mobile or Pre-Manufactured Homes
  • Management for a Fee
  • Maritime Operations
  • Oil Refineries or Railroads
  • Painting of Storage Tanks
  • Paper Contractors
  • Public Street / Road / Highway
  • Roofers
  • Sandblasting Work
  • Scaffolding over 3 stories
  • Slopes or hillsides with a grade of 6% or more
  • Underground below 8 feet
  • Window Washing above 3 floors
  • Work on Landfills
  • Work with pollutants such as asbestos, lead, and chemicals
Commercial Auto 
  • Airport delivery services
  • Airport limos
  • Airport transport services
  • Airport vans
  • Ambulance services
  • Amusement devices
  • Armored cars
  • Auto carriers
  • Auto dealers - new / used
  • Buses
  • Canteen - catering trucks
  • Cherry pickers
  • Churches
  • Courier services
  • Cranes
  • Delivery - time sensitive
  • Driver training
  • Drug store delivery
  • Emergency vehicles
  • Explosive transport
  • Express delivery
  • Farm workers transport
  • Filings - ICC & MCS-90
  • Filings - SR22 & SR1 P
  • Fire department
  • Fast food delivery
  • Fundraising organizations
  • Funeral home limousines
  • Hazardous material hauling
  • High performance private passenger vehicles
  • Garbage removal
  • Ice cream trucks
  • Livery
  • Livestock hauling
  • Logging or lumber trucks
  • Long haul (200+ miles)
  • Mix-in-transit
  • Mobile home haulers
  • Motorcycles
  • Newspaper delivery
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Nurses - visiting
  • Oil & gas delivery
  • Oversized loads
  • Pizza delivery
  • Public auto
  • Radius beyond 200 miles
  • Real estate-legal-accounting-insurance office
  • Rolling stores
  • Schools
  • Security & patrol vehicles
  • Social & fraternal clubs
  • Social services agencies
  • Taxis
  • Tow trucks
  • Truckers - common carrier
  • Truckers - contract carrier
  • Truckers - hauling for hire (not own product)
  • Value - private passenger cost new over $65,000
  • Value - trucks cost new over $250,000
  • Van pools
  • Waste disposal

Underwriting Guidelines

Program Eligibility
  • Valid contractor’s license for those trades where a license is available
  • Licensed handyman repair provided jobs <$1,000 each
  • Subcontract exposure = up to 40% of annual receipts
  • Custom home construction = up to 15 Custom Homes/yr, under contract
  • Comm Auto as part of G/L
Limits

Each Occurrence/Aggregate

  • Commercial CGL 500,000 / 1,000,000
  • Personal 1,000,000 / 1,000,000
  • Advertising Injury & Products/Completed 1,000,000 / 2,000,000
  • Fire Legal Liability 100,000 / 100,000Medical Payments 5,000 / N/A
Deductible

Standard to all operations is $500, Per Claim, Bodily Injury and Property, with options for ‘0’ to $5000.

Sub-Contract Work

If the insured uses sub-contractors, a premium will be earned and charged on the total cost of the sub-contracted work. The cost of the sub-contracted work includes both labor and material costs. All sub-contractors must furnish the insured with an endorsement and certificate indicating the insured is a Named Additional Insured on the sub-contractors liability insurance policy. Sub-contractors must have at least $1,000,000 CSL Limits of Liability.

Certificates of Insurance

Certificates may be issued by the Producer on ACORD certificate forms only Certificates are not valid if the ACORD form is altered, including but not limited to:

  • Crossing out words.
  • Adding wording such as Additional Insured or Waiver of Subrogation, without reference to the correct form number.
  • Additional Insured, Waiver of Subrogation and Primary wording requires prior written approval.
  • Utility Companies or other entities requiring completion of their own certificates/endorsements are to be cleared and issued by AmCom.
  • Certificates requiring any alteration to the ACORD certificate form require submission for consideration by an AmCom underwriter. See AI Request Form. Certificates must be filed with Amcom within one week of issue. AmCom will enter all certificates in data base and notify all holders of any cancellation.
Additional Insured Endorsements

Additional Insured Endorsements are available for the charge shown below. All Additional Insured requests require a submission for approval to issue. See AI Request Form

We require a description of the project, the work being performed by our insured, and the cost of the total project versus the insured’s job cost portion. Homebuilders, Developers and Homeowner Associations are not eligible for Additional Insured coverage except where required for our contractor to gain access to do work for an individual unit owner. Scheduled Additional Insured Endorsement Rates CG 20-10 & CG 20 37 $100 Each, or 1% of the unmodified liability premium for Blanket, subject to a Minimum Charge of $500 for Blanket. The 07/04 Date of the CG 20 10 will be utilized for any significant Products & Completed Operations exposures.

Cancellations
  • Pro Rata Cancellation Policy is cancelled pro rata and return premium is rounded to the next whole dollar when cancelled:
  • At Company’s request
  • Cancelled and rewritten in the same Company
  • Non-Payment of Premium
  • Inured no longer has an insurable interest in the business operation
  • Short Rate Cancellation - When the policy is cancelled for any reason other than the preceding, a short rate factor will be applied. Fees are fully earned regardless of the cancellation method.
  • Reinstatement With Lapse - To avoid a coverage lapse, all issues that initiated the cancellation process must be cured prior to the effective date of the cancellation.

Rating Information

  • Calculating the general liability premium for the artisan contractor is based on ISO filed rates per $1,000 of issued payroll and per $1,000 of subcontracted costs for hired subcontractors.
  • Payroll is defined as remuneration, which is money or substitutes for money.
  • Rating the Tradesman Preferred General Liability account uses ISO filed rates for California and Arizona. Rating is based on payroll exposure along with cost of subcontracted work and sales if applicable.
  • In California, individual insureds, co-partners, and executive officers are rated at $33,600 in payroll.
  • In Arizona, individual insureds, co-partners, and executive officers are rated at $26,400 in payroll.

 

General Program Information

The Tradesmen+ Program is designed for contractors engaged in building construction, maintenance, or repair; contractors with a special trade; and service contractors who provide a service but do not build or construct. Contractors may sub-contract up to 40% of their gross annual receipts. The program is NOT intended for “paper” general contractors.

A valid contractor’s license is required for those trades where a license is available. Licensed Handyman Repair provided jobs do not exceed $500.00 each. An exclusion for jobs exceeding this threshold will apply.

Contractors who also hold a license for a trade that is ineligible for the program cannot be considered due to the exposure of past, present or future work performed under that license. We can reconsider if the insured can provide a statement that they have performed no work under that license for the past 10 years and de-activates it with the Contractors License Board. 

Eligibility

Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements of our preferred auto program and are on the Eligible Classification List, are welcome from authorized AmCom business partners: 

  • Applicants whose business is one of the classes listed in the “Eligible Classes” section of this manual.
  • New business ventures if the owners have less than three years experience operating a business will be debit rated accordingly.
  • Applicants who sub-contract no more than 40% of their annual receipts.
  • We will consider General & Specialty Contractors who engage in remodeling work including room additions.
  • We will consider Contractors who build no more than fifteen (15) Custom Homes per year if they do not subcontract more than 40% of their gross receipts (roofing work must be sub-contracted to a licensed and insured subcontractor). The custom home must be built for specific owners under contract. “ Spec” or “Owner/Builder” homes are NOT eligible.
  • WE REQUIRE THE COMMERCIAL AUTOMOBILE COVERAGE FOR ANY ELIGIBLE APPLICANT. WE DO NOT OFFER THE GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE AS A STAND ALONE COVERAGE. 
Coverage / Limits

Each Occurrence/Aggregate

  • Commercial CGL 500,000 / 1,000,000
  • Personal 1,000,000 / 1,000,000 
  • Advertising Injury & Products/Completed 1,000,000 / 2,000,000
  • Fire Legal Liability 100,000 / 100,000
  • Medical Payments 5,000 / N/A
Forms
  • ISO Commercial General Liability, Occurrence, CG 00 01 (12/04)
  • ISO and Company Endorsements
Territory

State of California, follows ISO Territory Definitions.

Policy Term

Maximum of one year (12 Months) policy term

Application

Signed ACORD 125 & ACORD 126 & the following:

  • AmCom Contractors Questionnaire
  • Minimum of 3 Prior years, preferably for the Past 5 Years
  • Latest Full Annual and Year To Date, Income/Expense & Balance Sheets
  • 3 Completed Work References
  • CC of CA License(s)
  • Substantiation of Payroll Records
Payroll Definition

Each Owner/Officer/Proprietor/Partner, Payroll to be rated is $33,600. Field Employees, payroll rated at actual paid value. Leased Employees, payroll rated at what would have been paid if the leased workers had been direct workers. Clerical Office Employees, payroll is excluded.

Auditable Premium

Liability premium and exposures are estimated and subject to a final and possibly a mid-term audit of the records of the insured. At the Company’s option, a self-audit may be used to determine the final premium. When the Company decides to do a physical audit of the records of the insured, the insured is not responsible for the expense of the audit.

Program Fees

All fees are fully earned and non-refundable.

  • Inspection Fee - $350 Covers cost of phone and/or site inspection services as well as any financial services needed to analyze the risk such as credit reports, and any audit of records.
  • Reinstatement Fee - $100 Covers costs of re-writing/reinstating coverage that has been disrupted by a cancellation process.
  • Billing Fee - $15 Per Bill Covers the cost of inputting premium items other than annual premiums (installments/monthly reports etc).
Payment and Billing Option
  • Producer Full Payment Option - Remit the full estimated annual premium plus fees net of producer commission.
  • Premium Finance - Producer collects a Deposit sufficient to cover fees and commission and Finance Company Deposit requirements. Producer remits fees and deposit net of commission to AmCom and Finance Company remits net annual premium direct to AmCom.
No Binding Authority is Extended

Complete application information must be submitted to AmCom for written confirmation of binding. The Producer may fax, mail, or Email, the information required to consider binding coverage: 

  • Complete/signed applications ƒ
  • Complete Project list ƒ
  • Reference from Completed Jobs ƒ
  • 3-year currently valued (within the past 90 days) loss runs or if loss runs are not available, a letter on the insured’s letterhead stating 3-year loss history, signed by the insured, may be acceptable. (Note-Company loss runs and three years of prior premiums are required for Experience Rating) ƒ
  • Substantiation of employee payroll ƒ Copy of the Contractors license ƒ
  • Written request to bind coverage, stating effective Date and Payment Choice ƒ
  • Evidence of the deposit payment made by applicant. if outside financed, the name and address of the Premium Finance Company.

FAQ

Are loss runs required?

  • Yes, AmCom requires at least five (5) years of currently valued loss runs. Applicant contractor must be in business for minimum of three (3) years with loss runs for all years.

Will AmCom accept any supplemental questionnaire?

  • AmCom will accept any comparable questionnaire to the Tradesman Supplemental Questionnaire signed by the applicant insured.

Is subcontract work acceptable?

  • Subcontract work is acceptable up to 40% of the contractor’s work.

What type of artisan contractor is eligible?

  • Those artisan contractors doing service, repair and or remodel work related to commercial projects or buildings.

Is residential tract work eligible under the Tradesman Program?

  • No, Accounts doing any work deemed residential tracts or any residential contracting tract work of any kind or any subcontracting of this exposure are ineligible.

What states are available under the Tradesman Program?

  • The only states available are California and Arizona.

Is a deductible required under the Tradesman Program?

  • Yes. Deductibles apply for both premises/operations and products/completed operations coverages for Bodily Injury and Property Damage combined per occurrence.