General liability
Nearly always surplus lines for roofing. Read the completed operations and the height limitation before you rely on it for a bid.
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Roofing contractors
Roofing insurance, placed in the market that will actually write it.
Roofing is the hardest common trade to place in the country. If an agent tells you they can put roofing in a standard package, they either have not read the exclusions or they are about to waste three weeks of your time.
The problem
Why roofing gets declined
Most admitted carriers exclude roofing outright, and the ones that do not usually cap it at a small percentage of total receipts. That is an appetite decision made before anyone looks at your loss history. A clean ten-year record does not move a carrier that does not write the class.
Height is the second gate. Many programs stop at two or three stories, and a single commercial job above that threshold can take you out of the program you are already in.
Hot work is the third. Torch-down, kettles and any open flame narrows the market sharply, and the carriers that will consider it typically require a written hot work procedure and a fire watch period after the last torch is shut off.
The result is that most Tennessee roofers end up in the surplus lines market. That is normal for this trade, not a mark against you, but it means the policy needs reading rather than assuming.
Workers compensation class
5551
Roofing
Among the highest rated construction class codes in the country. A roofer's workers compensation premium is frequently the largest single line item in the insurance budget, which makes correct payroll classification worth real money.
Coverage
What we place, and what to read before you rely on it.
Workers compensation
Class 5551. Ask specifically whether owners and officers are included or excluded, because that choice moves the premium substantially.
Tools and equipment
Compressors, nail guns, ladders and lifts, covered in transit and at the jobsite rather than only at the shop.
Commercial auto
Dump trailers and material haulage change the rating. Disclose them rather than discovering the gap at claim time.
Umbrella
Harder to obtain over a surplus lines primary, and worth arranging before a general contractor demands it mid-bid.
Submission
What underwriters will want on a roofing submission
Having these ready is the difference between an indication in two days and a submission that sits for three weeks.
- Residential versus commercial split, by receipts
- Repair and re-roof versus new construction
- Maximum height worked, and the percentage of work above two stories
- Whether any hot work, torch-down or kettle work is performed
- Steep slope versus low slope percentage
- Subcontractor usage, and whether you require certificates and additional insured status from them
- Five years of loss runs. For roofing, carriers usually want the full five.
Related
Send the declarations page and we will tell you what is actually covered.
No fee to shop your coverage. If the standard market will not write it, we go to surplus lines and explain the difference before you sign anything.
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