So I made a large claim on my insurance for some scratched glass and my insurance company drops the Care/Custody and Control bomb on me. What is it, you may ask? Here is how they have explained it to me.
If a plumber is working on a toilet and he breaks the toilet it is not covered, because it is in his Care/ Custody & Control at the time.
If he is fixing a toilet and he drops his wrench and breaks the ceramic tile around the toilet it is covered because it wasn’t in his Care / Custody or Control.
So my guy scratches a bunch of bad glass and the insurance company says you were hired to clean the glass so it was in your Care/Custody & Control so therefore it does not fall under a covered item.
As far as I know, that is standard unless you have a care/custody/control rider added. Which of course is prohibitively expensive, IF, IF, IF it’s even available.
All that actuaries at HQ figure the probabilities of accidents and other, they can’t control it, but they have statisitcs down to a t
care custody and control is a wild card they don’t want to insure, what if the plumber is accident prone and breaking 5 toilets a week.
they want the person to “try harder” perhaps and feel everyone will be making willy nilly claims for their “lack of effort” if it was included
It’s Vegas odds, and the insurance companies are playing to WIN, big time
I thought it was covered under products and completed operations:
“Completed operations responds to bodily injury or property damage claims that would occur after the completion of a project, resulting from the negligence of the work performed. For example, if a contractor were to build a deck, and fail to secure the railing property, and someone were to lean on the railing and suffer bodily injury, the completed operations portion of the general liability policy would respond. It is important to note however, that this does not cover the faulty work itself, just the resulting bodily injury and or property damage.”
Scratched glass is so well known and such a huge problem here in CT the ins. companies I have spoken with all say it very simply…“we will not cover scratched glass” and I can’t find anyone to offer a rider.
I talked to my agent last year and ran thru some scenarios to see what’s up. The policy I have is all I can refer to, but it pretty much came down to it had to be an accident of some sort, broken antiques aren’t covered if you are moving them, but if your squeegee catches on the shelf they are on and everything comes crashing down, then the same antiques are covered.
so in the quote above I see it as the 2nd floor wood deck and installation itself is not covered, but the person who got hurt as the deck fell to the ground is covered and so is the wall the deck came crashing into along with the car it landed on.
I BEGGED my insurance agent to write me up for a CC&C rider and he said that since I don’t take anything off of the property (like a dry cleaner would take something into his care, custody & control) he was sure that it wouldn’t apply to me. I explained that I had heard horror stories like this, and he said, ok-- I’ll check with the companies (he is a broker of course) and he came back and told me that “There is absolutely no reason for you to have a CC&C rider” I said, would you mind writing that down for me and signing it? He said sure!
So strange. The Hartford & Colorado Casualty BOTH said the same thing.
My heart breaks for you to be in this situation, because I know that’s a big (unexpected) expense which can be painful! I wonder how to reconcile your situation and what I’ve been told?
I spent 22 years in the claims department of a large insurance company. The Care, Custody amd Control Exlusion is standard in all general liability policies. You are right, if you are cleanling glass and you scratch it, it falls under the exclusion. I have a Voluntary Property Damage Endorsement. This gives me $5,000 in coverage for items I am working on. It includes a $250 deductible. I would advise you to speak with your agent, state laws vary, and discuss what you need for coverage. Listen to your agent that is what you pay him for.
When my policy come due, I speak with two to three agents and get quotes. You would be surprised as to the difference of premiums. I am going with a company who offers a three year policy. I have been told my two insurance agents that insurance premiums will be going up next year.
Correct Larry I hold a “Property of others” rider. Which will cover me for scratched glass. It’s a $500 rider for 25 grand worth of glass/windows. But with that said it’s based on the many factors most of which is the age of the window. The insurance company will place a value on the cost of window and than devide by 1/2. So a $250.00 brand new window, installed last month will be covered for $125.00 replacement plus installation costs. Now if the window is 10 years old I would expect the value to be much much lower. Not the best but it’s better then nothing. Luckly I have not had this problem yet. I mainly hold it for window breakage on residential because a wavier is included in my commercial contract. Also with that said, on residential we do not scrape glass. When we have to blade a res window it’s only in the section that needs it. And it’s only after trying very hard with some elbow grease.
Doesn’t that kill your hourly wage? I’m a big fan of steel/bronze wool and use it on maybe half of the windows I clean without touching a razor. However, when the windows haven’t been cleaned in 3-4 years, the scraper is our number 1 choice.
Are you suggesting that if I had, I would rethink using a blade?
I am mostly human( I hope), and feel for WC biz owners who are pursued… However, in my mind, a razor is one of the most necessary tools out there, right behind a squeegee.
Now, scraping a window with known fab debris or concrete or many other things would just be stupid. Common sense scraping?
No, I was referring to the importance of the hourly wage you mentioned. For the number of windows you clean in an hour will not replace 1 window phucked up due to the tempering industry’s FD abortion
I prefer to get a waiver and use the razor. I admit I’ve never been pursued for scratched glass but of course that’s why I get the waiver signed in the first place.
