Frequently Asked Questions

An excess policy provides additional limits to an underlying policy such as GL or Auto. Whereas an umbrella policy provides additional limits to an insured once their underlying policy’s limits have been exhausted by an occurrence.

This coverage is written to respond to a scenario that is not based on direct damage to your property but will be triggered by a predefined set of Parameters or tied to an index. Wind speed, rain amount, and earthquake shake rates can all be used to define a Parametric Insurance Program.

EPLI provides coverage for employees and/or their employees against wrongful acts arising from the employment process, such as discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and other workplace torts.

A wholesale insurance broker is a type of insurance broker who acts as an intermediary between a retail broker and an insurer (such as an insurance carrier), while having no contact with the insured (the client).

COPE stands for Construction, Occupancy, Protection and Exposure. These are the four property risk characteristics an underwriter reviews when evaluating a submission for property insurance. COPE ultimately affects the price you will pay for a commercial property insurance policy.

• Written Exposure which refers to the assets that are included on an insurance policy,
• Earned Exposure which is the portion of the written exposures for which coverage has already occurred,
• Unearned Exposure which represents the portion of Written Exposure that has not yet occurred, and
• In-Force Exposure which is the number of units that are exposed to loss at a specific time across all policies.

Builder’s Risk insurance is a type of insurance that provides coverage for buildings during construction. This coverage protects against damage or loss of equipment, materials, and/or fixtures used during construction or renovation, prior to the acceptance and delivery of the building to the owner.

Faulty Workmanship, Delay in Completion, Property of Others, Debris Removal, Water Intrusion, Ordinance or Law, Testing and Expediting & Extra Expenses.

When a policyholder has an occurrence-based policy, it covers any claim resulting from an event that took place during the coverage period, regardless of if the policy has expired. This could result in a claim being paid out years after a policy has expired. Claims made coverage is triggered when a claim is made against the insured during the policy period, regardless of when the event that resulted in the claim happened. However, it provides little or no coverage for claims made once the policy expires.

A balance sheet is the most important thing to consider when increasing your company’s bonding capacity. Your company’s balance sheet is the cornerstone of this surety underwriting equation. Your balance sheet tells the story regarding your company’s ability to obtain larger bonds.

The simple answer is yes! Even though your company’s WC coverage is based on the state your business is located, your employees still have coverage when they work in other states; this is called extraterritoriality. Your WC coverage is meant to protect your employees, even when they are outside the primary state.

The purpose of this requirement is to protect an Owner, General Contractor and/or another Trade Contractor from potential claims that may arise from work the hired contractor is performing.

Workers’ Compensation disability benefits provide a portion of your income while you’re unable to work due to a work injury. The four types of disability benefits are temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, permanent total disability, and permanent partial disability.

A Certificate of Insurance (COI) provides information on specific insurance coverage. They are used to make sure your company has all the required limits and active policies in place in case an incident was to occur.

There are 3 levels of indemnification: broad form, intermediate form, and limited form.

Your construction company may have employees working on multiple project sites. In addition to their tools and safety gear, they are likely to bring cell phones and laptops onto these projects. These mobile devices create security vulnerabilities. The more employees with company-issued cell phones and laptops increase your cyber risk. Theft of one of these devices could lead to unauthorized access to valuable company information like passwords or account numbers.

The 5 steps include Investigate Promptly, Use Professionals, Policyholder Communication, File Documentation and Be Creative.

These two types of damages interact through enforceability, sole and exclusive remedy, and fair cost recovery. Every construction contract is different; that’s why it’s important to understand your contract and how liquidated damages and consequential damages interact.

Subrogation is a circumstance where an entity (Surety) is substituted into the place of another entity (the principal) about a claim or legal right of the Surety’s Principal. As a result, the Surety will “step into the shoes” of its Principal and assume the principal’s claims, legal rights, and remedies. The Surety promises the Project Owner that it will fulfill the contractual obligations of its principal in the event the principal defaults on a bonded contract.

Though a Surety may be entitled to the legal theory of equitable subrogation, there are many cases where the amount of remaining contract balance will not cover the cost to complete. Under those circumstances, the Surety will need to make up the difference in the cost to complete and the remaining contract balance. It is extremely rare the funds remaining on the contract will cover the cost to complete.

Surety bond is a guarantee by a Surety company to fulfill the obligation of a defaulting Contractor. Bonds protect the Project Owner against a loss because of the Contractor’s failure to meet this contractual obligation. This is done so using Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds and Maintenance Bonds.

The best way to understand EMR (Experience Modification Rate) is to think of it as a Credit Score. With a Credit Score, there are Credit Bureaus that analyze your past and present borrowing history to ascertain your future risk. An EMR, also referred to as (EMOD or XMOD), works in a similar manner. In its simplest definition, an EMR compares your Workers’ Compensation claims history to other companies similar in size within the same industry. A company’s EMR has a direct impact on its final Workers’ Compensation premium costs as well.

The starting EMR is 1.0. It is the point where a company is no more or less risky than another company. However, if your EMR is below 1.0, it signifies your company is safer than the industry average and it usually translates into lower insurance premiums. When your EMR is above 1.0, not only does your company have higher insurance premiums, but you could face the risk of not being able to bid on projects.

No matter what type of company you own, there will always be some sort of risk. Taking a risk is inevitable to bring your company to the next level. However, understanding the types of risk can be confusing. It’s important that you know what type of risk you’re taking or dealing with, so you can find the proper Risk Management solution. The 3 basic categories of risk include Business Risk, Strategic Risk and Hazard Risk.

A WBE refers to a Woman-Owned- Business Enterprise, meaning your company must be at least 51% owned by women and must be operated and controlled daily by one or more women. A MBE refers to a Minority Business Enterprise, meaning the Minority owner of your company must have 51% or higher ownership, must operate and control the daily operations and must oversee the company management.

CIP stands for “Controlled Insurance Program.” Once you are enrolled, this program provides your company with onsite proof of coverage for the type of CIP you are enrolled – Full Wrap (Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Excess/Umbrella coverage) GL Only Wrap (General Liability and Excess/Umbrella coverage) or WC Only Wrap (Workers’ Compensation coverage – including Employer Liability).

The Sponsor has requested your enrollment in the program. All subcontractors of all tiers must enroll unless specifically excluded from the program by Sponsor. See this CIP Manual (Section 3) for exclusions, or refer to your Bid Documents for additional information.

The Sponsor pays the premium of the insurance(s) provided under the CIP. You’re not “double-covered” – and just for the CIP job(s) you’re enrolled on. You should receive credit from your insurance carrier for your CIP participation; TSIB will provide you with a Certificate of Insurance and copies of any payroll reports, if needed. Keep CIP project payroll separated from your corporate work for your insurance auditor, and keep a copy of your CIP COI for evidence of enrollment.

If you are required to enroll, your lower tier subcontractors must also enroll prior to beginning work on site. Please provide TSIB with their contact information, and make sure they receive a copy of the CIP Manual. The Manual contains all of the information and forms.

TSIB has a Contractor Portal that can be used for a variety of tasks – from enrollment, to payroll reporting, uploading documents, to monitoring your delinquencies or those of your lower tiers. Please contact the Service Center to obtain a User ID and Password. You can access our portal here.

Yes, you need to do a separate enrollment form for each contract you’re awarded on a project. Also, on-site payroll must be reported separately for each enrollment.

Whether it’s from the NCCI or your State WC Bureau, each company is assigned a tracking number for workers’ compensation experience. It is typically attributed after a company has employed workers for 3 or more years. You or your insurance broker can typically access this number online through NCCI or your state bureau by searching with your FEIN or corporate name.

Rate pages are the policy pages from your Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Excess/Umbrella policies that show your class codes, credits and debits the insurance company used to determine the premium for your policies. They need to be from the policy period in which your contract was issued. Also, if your Excess/Umbrella policy is “flat rated,” please send the page from your policy that states that, or a letter from your carrier. Your broker can often assist you with providing these pages.

TSIB does not collect certified payroll. You are required to report payroll using the online Form via the Contractor Portal. Please report only your onsite hours and unburdened payroll. Reports are due by the 10th of each following month, or as required by your project. If you have more than one enrollment on a project, payroll must be separated and reported for each enrollment.

Please be sure to cover all dates in the month from the date your CIP coverage began – even if it’s a weekend or holiday, and no work is performed. Make sure your dates run consecutive from report to report. If one report ends on 12/31/2013, your next report needs to begin on 1/1/2014. Also, if you are not on site in any month, you must submit a “ZERO” report for that month (zero dollars in payroll and zero man-hours).

Reportable payroll does not include the premium portion of any overtime pay. Gross payroll includes the overtime pay. Please note: If you are reporting payroll in a monopolistic state or Pennsylvania, Delaware, Nevada or Utah, they require the entire unburdened overtime payroll to be reported as Reportable payroll. If you are unsure whether to include the unburdened overtime portion as Reportable payroll, please consult with the Workers’ Compensation Bureau in the state where the project is located.

New York State (and a few other states) enacted a law which limits the amount of payroll that is reported for Workers’ Compensation premium purposes for eligible construction classification codes. A payroll cap is applied to the actual weekly payroll, per employee. This limitation needs to be taken into account when reporting payroll to the CIP. The limitation is subject to change annually. If you have any questions regarding the cap, please contact either the Workers’ Compensation Board in the state where the project is located or your insurance agent/broker.

You can obtain a sample COI in the CIP Manual for your project, on the Contractor Portal, or you can call the Service Center for assistance.

Excluded Subcontractors are required to provide an Additional Insured Endorsement (CG 20 10 11 85 endorsement, or its equivalent). This needs to be attached to your Certificate of Insurance and needs to cover both “ongoing” and “completed” operations.

Please complete a Notice of Work Completion. This form must be signed by your Parent Contractor in order to be accepted for processing (the Parent contractor must sign off on all lower-tier contractors). Once processed, your CIP contract will be closed, and you won’t need to send us anything further.

We’re letting you know that the CIP portion of the project is ending. If you have any further work to do at the jobsite, you will simply need to provide your own certificate of insurance. The Service Center can provide you with a sample Certificate of Insurance that will meet the program requirements.

Please call your Administrator directly, listed in your Manual.

Project construction volume (CV) is one factor that helps determine the most appropriate Wrap program. A GL-Only Wrap may make sense for smaller projects around $50M. A more traditional Wrap, which includes General Liability, Workers’ Compensation, and higher excess limits, typically requires CV around $150M+ to make financial sense. There is effectively no CV cap.

There are multiple options depending on the project and the client’s goals. Most programs are project-specific and can be structured as a single-line Wrap, such as GL-only or WC-only, or as a two-line/full Wrap that includes both GL and WC.

No. A broker does not need prior Wrap, OCIP, or CCIP experience to partner with TSIB. Many broker partners work with TSIB because they do not have Wrap experience. Our Co-Broker+ program allows the broker partner to maintain the client relationship while TSIB provides specialized expertise. We can be involved as much or as little as the broker partner wants.

Yes. TSIB provides the carrier and underwriting relationships needed to place the program. We also provide support for introductions, submissions, and marketing strategy.

One of the primary benefits is client retention. The broker can offer a Wrap solution without sending the client to another firm. It also creates additional fee opportunities and helps the broker build knowledge in a new line of business.

TSIB provides support with feasibility studies, financial comparisons, sell sheets, marketing materials, and construction risk management expertise. We also offer administrative support through our Wrap Administration service center.

Yes. In most cases, TSIB helps present the program directly to the client as part of a joint team. We explain the structure, potential financial benefits, and risk management value in a way the client can understand.

The broker of record is whoever places the insurance with the carrier. That can be either the broker partner or TSIB, depending on the services TSIB is providing.

Compensation is fee-based, not commission-based. TSIB and the broker partner enter into an agreement that outlines responsibilities, total client fees, and how those fees are split based on services provided.

Responsibilities are decided upfront based on what the broker partner wants to handle in-house and where they want TSIB’s support. Those roles are then documented in the agreement.

TSIB can interface directly with the client if the broker partner wants us to. In most cases, TSIB is introduced as part of a joint team, but we can also remain behind the scenes. The level of client interaction is determined with the broker partner.

The project owner typically controls the communication, but TSIB often works directly with the GC during pre-construction and setup. That includes reviewing exposures, enrollment procedures, and safety coordination to make sure the program is set up correctly from the start.

The broker partner retains ultimate control over the client relationship. TSIB works collaboratively with the broker partner on strategy and provides specialized Wrap expertise and recommendations based on the agreed division of responsibilities.

TSIB operates as part of the broker partner’s team, not as a competitor. We do not engage directly with the client unless approved, and are careful to reinforce that we work with the broker partner, not around them.

No. TSIB supports the broker partner and helps strengthen their client relationship. The goal is to make our broker partner look good and help them retain and grow the account.

In many of our Co-Broker+ partnerships, TSIB’s Wrap Administration service center handles day-to-day enrollment and administration. We work with the GC to help ensure required contractors and subcontractors are properly enrolled in the program before performing work on site.

The insurance carrier has ultimate authority over claim handling and settlement under the policy. TSIB and/or the broker partner can provide claims management services to monitor reserves, advocate for appropriate claim outcomes, and support timely resolution.

Reporting is flexible and can be tailored to the client and stakeholders. Reports may include updates on enrollments, certificates, delinquencies, claims reviews, and related claim status reports.

Wrap Administration is one of TSIB’s most frequently utilized Co-Broker+ services. As subcontractors finish work, the Wrap Administrator closes them out. The overall program closes according to the policy term, although extensions may be necessary based on the construction schedule. Collateral is controlled by the carrier and may remain in place through the applicable statute of repose. Over time, collateral reductions may be negotiated based on the remaining exposure.

No. It usually does the opposite. It allows the broker partner to offer a specialized solution they may not have in-house, which can strengthen their client relationship.

If claims are higher than projected, anticipated savings may be reduced or eliminated. In some cases, the Wrap may end up costing as much as or more than traditional insurance. That is why upfront feasibility analysis, safety culture, and claims management are critical. Even when savings are reduced, the program can still provide risk management value.

The main risk would be if the project underperforms against expected savings and the client is unhappy with the outcome. TSIB helps mitigate that risk through upfront feasibility analysis, clear expectations, ongoing program administration, and claims oversight.