Latest Contractors Headlines

All the headlines from our Contractors Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Workers’ Comp Institute Compiles List of Bills Signed by Brown

Oct 19 2011 // The California Workers’ Compensation Institute on Wednesday released a review and compilation of 20 bills signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2001. The bills include: • AB 55, Gatto: Extension of the right of...

FEMA Warns N.Y. Residents to Avoid Scams in Wake of Tropical Storm Lee

Oct 17 2011 // New York residents are urged to be alert for potential fraud during recovery and rebuilding efforts following Tropical Storm Lee, officials with the New York State Office of Emergency Management (NYSEMO) and the Federal...

Inconsistency Is the Norm in Construction Liability Coverage

Oct 17 2011 // In construction liability insurance, there is a great deal of inconsistency in determining whether faulty workmanship is an occurrence. The answer is all over the map, according to Finley Harckham, a veteran insurance...

U.S. Sanctions BP, Contractors for Gulf Oil Spill

Oct 13 2011 // The U.S. offshore drilling regulator Wednesday formally issued sanctions against BP and the major contractors involved in the 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and spewed more than 4...

Texas AG: Roofing Contractor to Pay Restitution for Misleading Homeowners

Oct 3 2011 // A Rosenberg, Texas-based roofing contractor has agreed to reimburse all homeowners who improperly paid the company’s “liquidated damages” contracts, the Texas Attorney General’s Office reports. In...

IRS Gives Employers Break on Misclassified Employees

Sep 23 2011 // The Internal Revenue Service is offering a break to employers who come clean about wrongly classifying workers as independent contractors to avoid paying federal payroll taxes, the agency announced this week. What happens...

Associated Builders and Contractors, CNA Partner to Advance Construction Safety

Sep 20 2011 // Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and CNA’s Construction unit have partnered to advance industry best practices in the field of construction safety. During this three-year partnership, scheduled to launch...

Tennessee Court Gets General Contractor Liability Case

Sep 19 2011 // The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering a case that could change a homeowner’s ability to recover damages when a subcontractor botches a home repair or remodeling job. The case involves a Hamilton County couple...

U.S. Report on BP Oil Spill Imminent

Sep 14 2011 // A U.S. government team investigating last year’s massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill will blame BP and its contractors for mistakes that led to the disaster in a report expected out as early as Wednesday, according to...

Mass. Court Rules on Joint Employers’ Responsibilty for Workers’ Comp

Sep 8 2011 // Two employers can be held jointly responsible for workers’ compensation benefits for an injured worker whom they both classified as an independent contractor, a Massachusetts appeals court has ruled. The...

Tennessee Supreme Court Hears General Contractor Liability Case

Sep 6 2011 // The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering a case that could change a homeowner’s ability to recover damages when a subcontractor botches a home repair or remodeling job. The case involves a Hamilton County couple...

Contractors Acting As Public Insurance Adjusters Irk States

Sep 5 2011 // Public adjusting activity is not welcome or licensed in all states and even in some where it is, the practice is coming under close scrutiny. In particular, states are cracking down on roofing and other contractors who...

Louisiana’s Suit Against Katrina Whistleblowers Dismissed

Aug 26 2011 // A federal judge on Aug. 24 dismissed a lawsuit by the state of Louisiana accusing two self-described whistleblowers of illegally copying and circulating documents containing confidential information about homeowners...

Vermont Contractor Gets 30 Days for No Workers’ Comp

Aug 22 2011 // The Vermont attorney general’s office said a Williston County contractor was sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating Vermont’s workers’ compensation laws. Donald Bevins, who operated “Twin City...

Chartis Expands NextGen Protection to Project Contractors

Aug 18 2011 // Chartis has expanded NextGen Protection, a suite of environmental insurance products offered through its Environmental division, for project contractors. The latest product in the NextGen Protection suite is CPL...

Group of Allstate Agents Votes to Unionize

Aug 18 2011 // A group of Allstate agents who say the insurer controls them like employees rather than as independent contractors voted to affiliate with a union — a move the agents hope will help dissolve some of their concerns...

Tennessee Still Cleaning Up After April’s Tornadoes

Aug 12 2011 // The Rev. Bill Akers stood in a yard in Lookout Valley, pointing across a small valley at two stumps, gnarled remnants rising out of barren dirt in a place once flush with trees. Just a few hundred yards away, brush lined...

Navigators Expands Online Contractors Pollution Liability Insurance

Aug 8 2011 // The Navigators Group Inc. and its principal underwriting agency subsidiary, Navigators Management Co. Inc., expanded its online system for contractors pollution liability insurance. New enhancements to the online platform...

Chartis Expands Building Services Contractors’ General Liability Coverage

Aug 5 2011 // Chartis introduced a new general liaiblity product for building services contractors to address several target casualty exposures in a single endorsement. As part of a full suite of primary casualty solutions for the real...

Travelers Builds Marine Construction Program for Contractors

Aug 1 2011 // Travelers has developed a new marine construction program for construction contractors working with both the marine and non-marine exposures in and around the water. The Travelers Marine Construction program can be...