We've all been here, trying to pick the best insurance. This is a tough decision for anyone really. Only, this time you are trying to pick the best insurance for your lumberyard business. This one is going to be a little more tricky, as you need to pick the absolute best one. Not only for yourself and your business, but for your employees as well. Don't worry we got you covered, here is how to pick the best lumberyard insurance.
The risk of not having insurance
This is a pretty basic, but risky theory. Not having insurance for anything is scary, especially when you own a business or have someone else you are responsible for. The risk you take not having insurance is huge. So let's discuss why you need it and then we will show you how to pick the best one! Sound good?
Like we said, not having insurance is risky, but why? Well, a lot of factors go into this particular subject. First and foremost and what all insurance is supposed to do, is cover your butt if anything happens. Accidents and problems occur daily, especially on the job site so you need coverage from all things possible. You do not want a lawsuit on your hands! Therefore not having insurance opens you up to all kinds of things that can go wrong. Now that we have a good understanding of why you need it, let's discuss how.
The best time to choose lumberyard insurance
So now we know why, but when? This is one of the most important things to know when choosing lumber insurance. The answer is simple, sooner than later! The faster you can get covered, the sooner you can rest assured. If you haven't already, get covered as soon as you can. This way both you and your company are safe and secure. Most of the time people wait until it's too late, they think they have plenty of time until something happens. Honestly, the best time to get insurance is as soon as you go to plan on opening your business. It should be one of the most important things to do before completely opening up. If you didn't do that and waited until now - that's okay too! Just keep in mind the best time to choose insurance is as soon as possible! You can never be too safe - so get that insurance!
Choosing the best type of building material dealer coverage
This one is a little self-explanatory. Of course, you are going to want the best insurance, but how? Let's talk about it for a bit. So again, a lot of factors go into this as well. What your company is, how you do things/work, and what you want - all go into this. When choosing the best one you will want one that is reputable and offers high-quality services. You will also want one that has everything you will need. In order to choose the right one, you will want to do your research. Luckily you are already halfway done just by reading this blog!
The key to choosing the right anything, whether that is hardware store insurance, millwork insurance, or fleet safety - is research. You want to make sure what you choose is the best for you and your company. Everybody and every company is different, so making sure you pick an insurance company that has all your needs and wants is really important. It can get a bit confusing, so just make sure you write everything down and keep everything neat when choosing a company. The best strategy is making a list of what you need/want, then looking up said insurance.
You also want to make sure the company you pick is highly knowledgeable and ready to answer or take on any questions/concerns you may have. You will want a very reliable insurance company and someone who actually cares about their customers. There are a ton of lumber insurances out there, but we wanted to narrow it down and make it a bit easier for you discussing the different types.
With any good insurance coverage, the following things should always be included. Lumber Insurance Services happens to offer all of these things and more ! Here are just a few of the things they offer for building material dealers:
DOT Compliance Preparation
A DOT on-site audit simply evaluates a company's safety performance and confirms proper and complete record-keeping. The review also determines if the company has adequate management controls in place to ensure FMCSR compliance.
Fleet Safety Program
A fleet safety program establishes the policies and procedures that are needed to help ensure a safe work environment for employees and others on the road. For companies with a fleet of vehicles of any size, help implement a formal fleet safety plan that can provide a number of advantages, including improved safety, improved insurance costs, and the potential to improve fleet efficiency.
SAFER Report Analysis
This report is a snapshot that provides a concise record of a company's fleet size, cargo type, DOT inspections, out-of-service units, crash data, and safety rating. Clean SAFER reports help to control insurance pricing. If a business is looked upon more favorably by underwriters, it results in superior insurance pricing. We have found that these reports are one of the main things underwriters are looking at when investigating businesses with auto exposure. Also, these are the first reports that will be pulled by attorneys if there is a claim. If they can prove negligence via a SAFER report, it can substantially increase the cost of claims, which in turn drive up insurance premiums upon renewal. Because these reports are available on the internet for anyone to pull, the information in them can be dangerous. We pull them at several points throughout the policy period, identify trends, then help the insureds to improve those trends to clean up the report.
Pricing
Last but definitely not least, pricing. Now that we've covered why you need insurance, the best types you can get, and the best time to chose - let's talk about pricing. This can and will differ so much depending on what you get, obviously. The best thing to do is like we talked about earlier - research. Weigh out every option available to you, then see what would work best with your company. Pros and cons go along with anything you chose, but it definitely does with insurance.
Everything is priced differently when it comes to what plan you want exactly. As everyone usually wants, you will probably want the cheapest yet most reliable one. In order to achieve this, like we said earlier research everything possible! Come up with a game plan. Take note of everything you would like your insurance to be and cover. Look up plans and see all of your options. Then once you have an idea, compare prices with everything you have found. Some insurances have package deals as well, and that could potentially save you a lot of money! The most important aspect to remember when comparing companies is this, does the company you are going to hire specialize in what you need.
Conclusion
Picking the best lumber insurance can be difficult, but it can also be easy if you follow these three key steps. Knowing why you need insurance is of course the first step. Then knowing the best time to purchase is the second step. After you've done those two steps, it's time to choose the best lumber insurance. Knowing what you need can be tricky, there is a lot that goes into it.
Research, as you've read over and over is very important. You want to make sure you are getting exactly what you and your company/employees will need. Types, pricing, and the pros/cons of it all go into picking the best plan. Accidents are inevitable, so insurance is always going to the best route to go. No matter the business you are in, you will want to be covered. As we mentioned earlier, hard labor jobs such as lumber - logging and sawmill work can have more accidents compared to other jobs. It is strenuous work, using dangerous equipment, so having everything you can to be as safe as possible is smart.
Knowing your company and employees will also help you out. If you are still iffy and you don't really know where to look, you can always get a lumber insurance specialist. Finding a specialist in your niche is always key. This way you will have someone who specializes in this exact area and can find you what you need/want. So, to pick the best lumber insurance, you really want to just do your research. Find out what works for you, what is available around you, and compare everything you find. The key to picking the best one is making sure it fits all of your needs and wants. If you follow all of these steps you will be golden! Get that insurance and rest assured! Or should we say, insured!
"When we started LIS, we set out to approach the agency model in a different way. As we looked at the competition around the country we realized that there are far too many generalists agencies that dabble in every industry. We feel that what sets us apart is our specialization and industry expertise. We want to bring true differentiation to our clients and build our value add services around issues that really help them improve." -Lumber Insurance Services
