A guy that was helping me out crashed my install truck a month or two
ago. He didn't see a stop sign. He t-boned an old couple in their
mid-late 70s. The woman more than had enough injuries to qualify for
the 100K personal liability/personal disability (PL/PD) I had on the
plan. But wait......My truck didn't have commercial insurance. It
wasn't even in my name or company name, but I owned the truck. Anyway,
the way my lawyer explains it, that 100K coverage it almost automatic
for when someone gets hurt. (they also said that within hours after the
accident report was filed the insurance lawyers would be all over this
couple offering to take the case) Anyway, all the couple has to do is
ask (sue) for the 100K and it is theirs. We'll see how it plays out. I
hope my coverage wouldn't be denied if they decide to walk to the lotto
store and cash in the winning ticket (as my lawyer put it).
I have since switched to my own commercial policy, but there is one
thing that really ticks me off. the commercial policy is CHEAPER! That
is insane. I pay every 6 months. It was like $400 and now it's $350,
even though I got a speeding ticket 2 months ago. He says he clocked me
at 35 in a 25, but I was in manual 3rd gear and you can feel those
RPMs. I looked down and saw 28. I was pissed I went right home stuck
the gps on the roof and drove. I had 9 satellites and my speedo was
dead nutz. Anyway, because the wreck was my truck I got an at fault on
my record, but so did my helper along with a failure to stop and the
automatic 3 points for causing a wreck. I went from a clean record
single driver on regular insurance to a commercial policy with 2 drivers
and a combination of 2 tickets, 2 at faults, and 7 points...and I saved
$50. WHERE YOU AT NOW GECKO!
The moral of the story is if you are not on commercial insurance you
need to go get yourself a few tickets and switch. You will be better
protected and have cheaper rates.
Brian
Tom DeReggi wrote:
Tim,
I agree, there is risk of not getting covered, if full disclosure is
not given. That is something that the WISP should consider in advance.
(But doesn't mean it won't be covered, as they'd need to prove that
having the bucket was something both parties typical would think
relevant to disclose. The insurance company wrote the contract and it
would be their responsibility to bring up the things that should or
should not be disclosed. I'd not suggest a WISP lie, if there was a
question or text referencing wether there was or wasn't a bucket, as
that would guarantee not getting covered.) But I think it is also
relavent, what a WISPs intent is for use of the truck and bucket.
Someone that wants a bucket truck, but only plans to use it once a
month for the "tough" job, should not have to pay the same high rate,
as say a Lineman that may use the bucket all day / every day around
high voltage lines. Very few insurance companies have provisions for
that, as they do not have a way to control what the usage will
actually end up being. This means a WISP then needs to make cost
versus risk assesments, on what they want to do. I'd also argue, that
it would be rare for me to ever justify making an insurance claim,
based on the risk of loosing the insurance or no longer being able to
afford it, after making the claime. (except for extreme cases like
someone falling and breaking their neck). If the owner or a
supervisor are the only ones that will be using the bucket, more care
can be taken and less risk taken, than if the intent is for the truck
to be used by all/any installers frequently. Some people buy insurance
for compliance to do business, not necessarilly for the coverage
itself. Just like every other type of insurance (health, life,
business, etc), one must waiver wether they really need insurance, or
can afford to pay to releive the risk or not.
Quite honestly, I'd rather take a chance of not getting covered in a
bucket, and minimize the risk of someone getting injured because they
have the bucket, than have the installer taking risks on a dangerous
ladder all day long. I'm not downplaying the risk involved for a
bucket truck, I'm jsut saying that Ladders are dangerous to,
expecially for single man crew. I know about more personal injury
suits in the trades, via falling off ladders, than any other cause.
Its not that I don't believe in insurance, or in doing it
legitimately. Its just that if a WISP is not careful, there insurance
policy costs can put them out of business, just having an uninsured
injury. For example, many "amusement" companies go out of business
because they can't afford the insurance and can't jsutify takingthe
risk without it. I'd hate to see the same thing destroy wireless
companies.
I prefer to handle the issue from the other side... Inforce strong
safety policies and safety awareness education. The safety training
is much less expensive than the insurance and paying claims. Not that
that negates the need for insurance, but it will keep the rates down,
if WISPs as an industry don't put themselves in the position to be
claim happy.
For the record, I personally do not have a bucket truck yet.
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Wolfe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Insurance for use of bucket truck or lift for
installs.
Tom DeReggi wrote:
If its a standard VAN / Truck body, Don't tell them about the bucket!
Call it a VAN, not a Bucket truck!
Tom DeReggi
RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc
IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband
As an insurance agent for the last 16 years in the state of
PA(Besides running a WISP too for the last 5 years), I can tell You
that there are some negatives to just "Not mentioning" the fact that
it has a bucket on it. The first one is that when You sign the
insurance application(This info. only applies to the state of PA
where I am licensed, keep in mind the every state has different
insurance laws, but almost ALL of them adopted the laws from the
state of NY, as they were one of the first to actually clamp down and
adopt them, and this is what PA uses), there is a paragraph that says
all of the information You have submitted to the insurance CO is
correct and You then sign underneath it. It is a great possibility
that by "omitting" the fact that Your van had a bucket on it, the CO
could deny Your claim based on the fact that You chose to omit the
information about the bucket on purpose, as You knew this would stop
You from securing coverage?. While I do understand that securing the
proper insurance is becoming expensive, maybe even out of hand?, I do
not want to see You or any other small CO lose everything buy trying
to cut corners and get around something by being dishonest?. Almost
all insurance have something called "Good faith" agreements in them.
This Good Faith agreement is based on upon the fact that both You and
the insurance CO have been up front and honest with each other about
what coverages You are receiving from the CO and what type of risk
the CO is actually insuring. They fulfill their half by giving You a
policy that specificly states what they will and will not pay for,
and You fulfill Your responsibility by filling out the application
with all of Your information so that the insurance CO can decide what
to charge You based upon the information You provided them. If You
lie, or as the politicly correct term used is "Omit" some vital
information that would stop the CO from issuing insurance, then the
contract is broken by You right up front, and this fact alone could
cause You some grave financial harm if You employee tears down some
fiber and/or phone lines. Just some food for thought.
--
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