I’ve started my window washing business and I just wanted to see if you guys thought getting bonded was worth it. Have you ever NOT gotten a job that you know of because you weren’t bonded? What kind of rates do you guys get on bonding policies? Thanks ahead of time for the help.
I’m a self employed window cleaner with no employees. When I shopped around for liability insurance my broker said he’d throw in a basic theft bond to the policy which shouldn’t make any significant difference to the premium.
I know people have mentioned that they called me because I’ve stated on my web site that I was insured but no one to date has commented on being bonded.
Bonding is just for show really when you are self employed. You’d be nuts to steal from your clients because they are your bread and butter.
If you have employees I would say it’s a must.
We arent. It is a good selling point tho.
Im self employed too. I think my theft bond was around $100 for the year. Cheap.
You are not covered under a bond if you are a one man band. Owners of businesses are not covered. People who were told they could be covered might want to call their insurance company again to find out 100%, or read your bond. Bonds only cover your employees and only pay after they are found guilty of the crime.
Bonds are good and have their place, that’s why they are offered as an addtional rider. But most home owners have no idea how they work. They are more of a selling point then anything else “Yes I’m bonded”. I have had maybe 2 customers in 3 years ask me for it. If you can get it on your policy at no addtional cost then put it on there. Depending on the cost it’s up to you. Even if you are a one man band it’s nice to be able to tell the customer you are bonded if they ask, even though you should let them know it does not cover you as the owner of the business.
We are a fully insured company and also have workmans compensation insurance and this is what insures our employees in the case of injury. A bond is used for people that need to be bonded because they are carrying or tranporting money- stuff like that. What that does is insure the money. now there are also other kinds of bonds but they should not affect you. There is nothing more you can do when working commercial or residential but to get the proper insurance and if you have employees, you by law need to get workmans comp. If one of your employees did something like broke the law, then that is a criminal matter and you would not be responsible. If you are working for property manangement and there is what we call an add on to your insurance, that means the company has special terms for insurance and you the owner need to know in advance so you can call your insurance company to add it on to your policy, and you also need to know the requirments and see in writing if there is additional requirments. When there is additional requirmants the costomer is charge and it will be added to the bid. Other wise they are just asking a question are you bonded? Which means yes if you have insurance and in any case you can call your insurance company to get a add on if there are other terms. I Hope this is helpful. If this is not clear you can always call me.
I am bonded and have no employees. As Ray stated, an employee dishonesty (or theft) bond only covers employees.
I purchased this bond when starting my business due research revealed that many property management firms require it as a condition. This has been the case within my service area, including municipalities.
I pay ~$100 yearly for $10K coverage.
It is a good selling point, more often being the kicker in a customer deciding who to go with than many people may realize.
Other than that, it depends on what kinds of jobs you are after. Almost every city, state, and federal contract requires it, and so do many contractors who do work for them, due to the sensitive nature of many of their products (think defense contractors and such).
Also, many private businesses will require you to have it, if you’ll be serving them on off hours, such as when no one is there so as to avoid disturbing their work day.
It’s a cheap investment any way you look at it.
Well that answers my questions. Thanks for all the posts guys. I’m a one man show right now so it wouldn’t really make sense for me. I’ll keep it in mind though when I finally hire some employees. Thanks again!
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I have a janitorial service bond that covers my guys in case of theft. Theft has to be PROVEN before they will replace the money or items that were stolen. A homeowner cannot simply “CASH IN” on your company unless they have proof like surveillence or an admission of guilt.
Our policy is cheap $100.00 a year. It is very difficult to build a case against a company when you dont have proof of anything. Did the homeowner really have a $1,000 camera or $3,000 in their wallet sitting on the dresser? Cops and Insurance companies have seen homeowners try to pad a claim to make it look like something was stolen but did it really exist in the first place?
If you dont have an admission of guilt, Its pretty much a dead case to detectives. We were accused of theft of a wedding ring a few years back. Lady had my company (2 man crew) cleaning and a houseful of scumbag painters working at the same time. She left and we finished the job an hour later. Monday morning rolls around and we get a call accusing us of theft(along with the painters). I fully complied with everthing. I told her to call the detective right away. She wanted to wait 24 hours to see if someone would come forward or not. I found out that she was going through a divorce at the time and I actually saw her husband there that morning picking up their kids for soccer practice. Too many at the scene of the crime to point fingers. My guys and I complied with the police fully and I heard that a few of the painters quit that company from what I was told. Humm:confused:
Bonding does sell jobs. That is the main reason why I have it. Will I use it? Probably not. My bond covers up to $10,000. I give my policy to the homeowner when I quote their job. Makes you look like you are looking out for them.
Steve
Yes it is , we only pay $170.0 a year.
Phil
Were bonded. 100 bucks a year. Did it to satisfy a commercial account
My area too, the really large companies require a bond too, and I have lost out on 3 bids because I dont have it. I thought that a bond was also if you dont complete a contracted job, they can go after your bond because you didnt complete the job…but then again, I did not do any more research other than how much it would cost me and asking another window cleaner what it was for.
Johnson Controls wanted me to have a bond for a million, and it was gonna cost me 3 grand! So, I shined it on and just never got it.
A performance bond is for protection if a contractor does not fulfill their portion of a contract.
Yep. Essentially it’s insurance for the assurance, so say if you stop doing a contracted job, or get fired from one for a contract violation the performance bond in essence pays the company so that they can find a new contractor right away to not disrupt day-to-day operations.
Then the bond company comes after you for the whole amount. Repo style.
