Tony_Scarpelli
Rest In Peace Tony
- Reaction score
- 26
- Location
- Wichita, Kansas U.S.A.
Well this has gone way off topic so apologies to the OP for keeping it going
I looked at whether to have insurance from the outset and soon realised I thought i did. Tony your opinion is that you can just finance things as they happen and save on the cost of insurance. When I started 3 years ago(i'm mostly residential) I quickly realised I would sleep better at night if I had insurance. I had two calls to older style houses that were owned by an antiques dealer and a ex professional photographer. I carry a fairly bulky bag like most do on here and could hardly move in the antiques dealers house with clipping some item standing on the floor or on a table. I don't suppose they were worth a fantastic amount but nevertheless it would have cost me some money if I damaged something by knocking them over. The photographer had a camera worth £24000 right next to the computer I was fixing. Accidents happen and I don't have that sort of money anywhere other than in the value of my house. Only yesterday I was going down a narrow staircase in a 500 year old house with my bag, a netbook, Ipad etc and tripped just catching myself onto the rail with my forearm. What if I didn't and landed on someone/something at the bottom of the stairs? Over here a sole trader risks his assets as they are not limited to the company(it's all one pot). I also don't earn anywhere near the money to replace something worth say £5000.
Professional liability.
What if I did something that put a company out of business for a few days? I know you say you have never heard of that sort of thing being claimed from a business but in theory it could. I don't personally know of anyone struck by lightning but you never know. My insurance costs me about £300 per year, it's tax deductible and I think it adds to my professionalism. As I said I sleep better at night. I think people who have been running businesses for a long time have more clout financially and can take the risk, for people like me who are late to running a business and just really created a job for themselves a claim is game over, I don't want my retirement savings going.
Martyn,
If a man sleeps well because of his insurance policy then good for him. If he doesn't need those resources for something more productive that is great. WE live in a society where the filty rich have scared the socks of of most of us so you are a sign of the times.....you've been convinced you cannot go through life with any risk. although it is an illusion to think you mitigated much risk with your policy.
You describe an accident or slip and fall which would not likely be charged to you but to the building owner, however unlikely. But even then your liability couldn't be more than the amount you were to earn that day. Even as a contractor coming in you are a type of employee. When is the last time you sued your employee for damaging something?
I think it bad advice to make new start ups believe they have some risk and have to pay resources they are low on to buy insurance when actually they have next to no risk of liability.
Unlike most people who talk about this subject I have discussed this issue thoroughly with attorneys on more than one occasion both as a S.B.A. consultant who consulted many small companies and as an owner.
One last question....if a man has a $38,000 Camera and he does not protect it, or insure it himself, who's fault is it if it gets damaged? I think you are assuming it would be you when in fact most of the obligation to protect his camera falls with him.
Solicitor would say "Do you have insurance on that extremely expensive camera?" NO? "What actions did you take to protect that extremely expensive camera when you had workers come to the house?" Nothing?
Your honor I move to dismiss this case on the grounds that the plaintiff doesn't meet his obligations of responsibility and due diligence.
Now if you borrowed your neighbors Camera to take photos with and you removed it from his possession/home and damaged it, even as only a friend you can and are responsible to bring it back in the same condition as to which you took it. Also as a business person if you take any property off site to work on, that is where you become responsible if a tornado picks it up and send it to Texas or any act of god.... When you take possession of a thing business or personal you are responsible to keep it in good shape. The good news if you have home owners insurance they will treat the borrowed friends property as if it were yours and pay out minus limitations and deductions from your home owners policy. In the case of business loss you would need a business loss policy. Most people really do not understand the law. Moral of the story do not remove from the clients premise anything you cannot afford to replace.
So if you want to talk about mal-practise and data loss we are protected here in the USA as well simply by being small independent contractors or small IT shops. Data loss case has already gone to the Supreme Court of the USA and found it is ultimately the responsibility of the owner of data to protect their data.
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I have about 5 years left before I retire, I own my own house and have money in the bank and for the sake of £1500 of insurance I think it is worth it.
