Anyone who has inquired with, or hired, a contractor or homebuilder has invariably seen or been told by the company that they are “fully insured.” More times than not, this statement simply means that the company has a standard commercial general liability (CGL) policy. Unfortunately, these “fully insured” statements understandably give the customer a false sense of security that if anything goes wrong with the work performed by the contractor or builder, its insurance company will cover the damage and make things right. In fact, with a standard CGL policy, the opposite is true: the insurance company will not cover damage that arises out of the company’s work (or its contactor or subcontractor). What is often referred to as the “your work,” “business risk” or “exclusion” directs to an exclusion in standard CGL policies that bar coverage for property damage to the part of the real property that the company is performing work on. The language often looks like this in CGL policies:
This insurance does not apply to:
- Damage to Property
Property damage to:
…. (5) That particular part of real property on which you or any contractor or subcontractor working directly or indirectly on your behalf is performing operations, if the property damage arises out of those operations.
Practically speaking, this exclusion bars insurance coverage for damages such as deficient or defective work performed by the company or damage to your property caused by the company’s work. The net effect of no insurance coverage means that any recovery by the aggrieved customer will have to come against the company itself, which, depending on the company’s financial status, can be exceedingly difficult. Not only are many contractor and building companies set up as legal entities designed to protect against liability, but Wisconsin law exempts up to $15,000 in business assets from execution of a judgment. See Wis. Stat. § 815.18(3)(b).
In summary, it is incredibly important to vet the contractor or building company prior to hiring. In addition to their reputation and longevity in the community, you can inquire whether they have any insurance coverage or bond above a standard CGL policy and whether they have the financial resources to pay a judgement if a dispute arises. Moreover, the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access search (https://wcca.wicourts.gov/) allows you to look up a company and see if they have unpaid judgments entered against them. This due diligence is necessary because a contractor’s claim of “fully insured” means little to nothing when the contractor’s work is the subject of the claim.