Uninsured builder and mason

[Vinnie]

Retained builder to demolish and rebuild my residence. foundation wall collapsed on 3rd day. mason and builder are both registered and licnesed in NJ but builder only has carpentry insurance which is only for remodeling but not for construction IS THIS FRAUD ? and maosn has no insurance at all. builder still retains mason as his sub-contractor for his jobs..can this be considred as CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE ? which dept. in NJ can throw book at them who has robbed about 8 or so home owners

[Big Dog]

I've never heard of "carpentry insurance". General Liability insurance, whether properly classified or not, should cover the builder's legal liability...unless of course there are exclusions/limitations that have been placed on the policy that limit the coverage to only carpentry (which would be highly questionable).

Many of the states do not have insurance requirements for licensed contractors. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to find licensed contractors that are not properly insured. Your best option is to retain legal counsel at this point.

There's also something to note here, and that is that the consumer needs to be proactive in making sure that whomever they hire is both qualified and has the correct insurance. i.e. request a Certificate of Insurance, make sure that there is a contract between yourself and the GC that makes the GC fully responsible for the job site, etc.

[pita3333]

I disagree with Big Dog's statement regarding "Carpentry Insurance". What likely is happening is that the contractor has a policy based on Carpentry and has an endorsement limiting coverage to that specific exposure.

So even if you get a cert, you really would not see that this endorsement/exclusion/restriction applies.

Might have been caught is the poster had involved his insurance agent in the cert/coverage review process...but only if they were reasonably versed in contractors exposures.

But in end...Big Dog is correct...time to hire an attorney and hope that the contractor has the assets to effect repairs. Otherwise we are dealing with a "you get what you paid for" situation.

[gregcw]

Vinnie,

This topic seems to be being added to rapidly since the second reply was added while I was considering a response. I don't disagree with either Big Dog or pita3333.

I'm not familiar with the NJ Construcion Contractor requirements but in Oregon they are required to have both Liability Insurance and a Bond and I'm unaware of any state that does not. In addition to contacting an attorney you should also file a complaint with the Construction Contractors Board or whatever agency regulates contractors in your state.

I just googled NJ for a Construction Contractors Board, and it does appear that Electrical and Plumbing contractors may be the only contractors regulated by the state. Although they do not apear to be as well regulated as they are in Oregon and Washington they should be able to direct you to the local government agency that does license them. Below is who to contact in New Jersey

Department of Banking and Insurance
Division of Banking
Office of Consumer Finance
P.O. Box 040
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-5340
http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/index.html

[Big Dog]

I think we're saying the same thing, in that I noted that there may be an endorsement that limits the coverage to just carpentry. And you are correct that a COI wouldn't normally indicate this (unless the agent was upfront in putting this in the COI).

[mightyquinn]

Bottom line: Contractors invariably buy price instead of coverage -- anything in a storm so that they can give certs. There are exceptions but guys of the ilk that you discuss usually fall into that category.

Unfortunately, that puts their customers at a disadvantage unless you have a 20 Questions session with them and get a complete copy of their GL policy and READ IT.

A certificate of insurance is a piece of paper saying that he has GL, WComp, Auto, XS, Property coverage -- check one or more. It doesn't clarify what he has so that is your responsibility.

In your case you're lucky that he wasn't injured by the falling wall in which case you could have been sued for his injury if he were a sole proprietor or inc'd and not covered as an owner.

Time to cut your losses and learn.