North Carolina landscaping companies dodged a bullet this year when the general assembly put off the requirement for a surety bond to go with the upcoming landscaper contractors license requirements.  But that bullet is going back into the gun for next year and now is the time to take a few simple steps to make sure that you don’t get run out of business in early 2011 because of a regulatory hurdle.

North Carolina Landscaping companies have plenty to worry about in terms of their landscaping insurance needs.  They need landscape liability insurance, landscape workers compensation insurance as well as coverage on their trucks and their equipment.  But the thing that could bring down the house and close their doors is really the cheapest and least expensive.  A landscapers surety bond.  And it looks like every NC landscaper will have to have one by January 2011 if current expectations play out.  This bond will not be expensive, in fact it should cost no more than $100 per year.  But if you are not eligible to get the bond, then you might find yourself unable to operate as a business.

I watched this process play out in NC in 2009 with the newly required irrigation contractors license bond.  This bond is required for any firm wishing to use the word irrigation in their name or wishing to perform irrigation installation, repairs or maintenance.  In the beginning this bond was relatively easy to obtain, but over time became more and more difficult.  In fact, some firms are being put out of business right now because of their inability to obtain this bond.  So what lessons can we learn from that process to protect and prepare landscapers for the next bond requirement.

There are several lessons here.  The first lesson is to act fast.  As soon as you know that the bond is required,  get on board and apply for your bond.  With the irrigation license bond, we were able to issue about 30 of them in the first month before the bonding companies decided that they needed to order a credit report on the irrigation companies.  If you are a landscaping company with marginal credit,  you should act quickly when the bond requirement is announced and perhaps you can get your bond issued before the bonding companies realize how many they will be issuing and start asking for credit reports.

Secondly, understand that poor credit will give you trouble with your bond, so work now to clear up any credit problems that you have.  Pay off those debts and if you can avoid it, don’t file bankruptcy.  Bankruptcy made getting the irrigation bond impossible for some and now has shut down their company.  Don’t let that happen to you.

At Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC we specialize in helping landscapers all over NC with their insurance policies.  If we can help you, or if you have any insurance questions on which you would like a second opinion, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit our landscaper’s web page.

You hear it on the television commercials, how this company or that company will forgive your first accident and not charge you extra for it. But the fine print is hard to read and flies by your screen far too quickly. What they don’t tell you is that every North Carolina auto insurance policy offers you first accident forgiveness. What they also don’t tell you is that this rule is full of clauses that can put the charges back on your policy later. So here’s the truth about first accident forgiveness.

All North Carolina personal auto insurance policies are governed by the same policy form. Part of this policy form and its rules cover exactly when the insurance company can surcharge your policy with extra charges for past or current accidents and moving violations. One of these sections discusses what is called a non-chargeable accident.

Anytime you have an at fault accident or a moving violation, insurance points can be added to your policy. These points remain on your policy for 3 years and they generate additional charges to your policy. This of course is an attempt to raise the rates for risky drivers while keeping them as low as possible for safer drivers. When you have an accident that is your fault, there are a few exceptions that allow you to avoid the associated insurance points. This is the first accident forgiveness section and these are the rules:

If the accident is your fault and the total damages are under $1800 then it might be a non-chargeable accident. The next requirement is that the accident caused property damages only, in other words, no one was injured. Some minor bodily injury charges are allowed, such as an ambulance bill and doctor checkup but only if the result is that no one was actually hurt. The last requirement is that no drivers on the policy have a chargeable accident or ticket in the past 3 years.

Now if all of the above conditions are met, then you should receive no additional charges on your policy for that accident. But there is one additional caveat. If in the three year period following this non-chargeable accident, you or any other driver in your household has an at fault accident of any kind, or a moving violation, then the old accident becomes a chargeable accident and the points associated with that accident are now added to your policy for the remainder of their 3 year term.

So, now you have a better understanding of that fine print that flies by your screen during commercials. Just know that some companies have chosen to use a policy provision to which you are entitled and dressed it up as a special feature that they offer you. It’s a marketing gimmick and nothing more. Don’t bite on that hook for that bait.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston Salem, NC, we work hard to help all of our clients become informed insurance consumers. If we can help you with your auto insurance, your home insurance or your business insurance or life insurance, please call us, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on line at www.ClinardInsurance.com.