Insurance

[Joel Ficke]

I'm planning to offer a few classes out of my workshop (mostly hand-tool in nature), and found out this week that there is no rider I can add to our home owners policy to protect against a mishap to any of the students.

Does anyone know where to go for such specialized insurance? I googled a bit and there's a few places to call Monday, but none of them looked like a great match. There's a great deal of hesitancy on my part to go through with this if good insurance isn't in place.

Thanks in advance,

Joel

[Craig Kershaw]

Joel - I've been responsible for buying commercial insurance for over 20 years. Here are my thoughts -

All insurance companies set up their policies with a list of what risks or perils are covered and usually an even longer list of what items are not covered. The devil as you are finding out is in the details.

What you are looking to have covered is not unreasonable. What you need to find is an insurance broker that has access to multiple insurance companies. The typical "household" name brokers(Nationwide, Allstate, etc) represent only one company and are only familiar with one product line.

A broker that represents multiple companies will know which companies are more willing to take on certain risks as compared to others. Most cities have insurance brokerage firms that focus on commercial accounts but also have a "personal lines" department. This is the type of broker you need to find. Do a web search in the nearest good size city for commercial insurance brokers or ask someone you know who is in business for a recommendation Try to find a broker who handles a lot of contractors, as they are used to dealing with the type of issues you have.

[Kev Godwin]

Joel,
I understand your desire to offer classes out of your house. I am going to assume you will be charging a fee for this. If so, you might consider setting up a separate company such as an LLC for such an operation. This would also permit you to purchase certain types of liability insurance thru your new company. This method would also tend to isolate your personal assets from potential claims during your new operation.

I also have a home based business in which many clients come to my office and conference area. Those spaces are also located adjacent to my shop area where I also test building materials for clients.

I have professional liability insurance in place as well as general liability insurance with an umbrella policy as well. None of these are associated with my home-owners policy.

The post before mine is certainly correct in that you need the services of an independent broker that works in this arena. It may not hurt to also consult an attorney that can give you advice on protecting your personal and business assets.

I'm fortunate that my college roommate is also now an attorney specilizing in such business formation and asset protection.

Perhaps some of the lawyers that are Creekers can chime in or offer better advice.
Kev

[Joe Pelonio]

It's good that you thought of this before having classes in your home where tools are involved. If you are hosting some sort of club meetings I would be very surprised if the homeowner's didn't already cover it, just as it would cover any guest in your home.

Once you collect money for it you have a home based business. In my case,
customers never set foot in the door, and only a few come to the front porch to pick up, but it costs me about $1,400/year for full business insurance. Hopefully your classes will produce more revenue than the insurance costs.

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

Do you belong to any groups? ARA, Elks, Costo, Sams, etc. Does not hurt to check.
I have my Business insurance with a carrier that gives the ETA, Embroidery Trade Ass, a discount and found very good rates and they do cover just what you talk about.
It is independant of my home owners ins.
Many offer differnt discounts in other areas.