AARST_Radon_Reporter_July_2023

30 | July 2023 RISK The Top 3 Radon Insurance Questions Asked by Radon Contractors by Mike Zitek, Ragnar Group The Ragnar Group receives calls every week from radon contractors across the nation who are looking for advice on radon insurance and among those calls are several recurring questions. As a professional working with radon insurance every day, I want to take the time to share the three most commonly asked questions and my answers to help share valuable insights about radon contractor insurance. 1. Why Do I Need General Liability, Pollution Liability and Professional Errors & Omissions Liability? Upon entering a home or business you are exposed to claims. The question is, how do I know which coverage would pertain? Is it a general, pollution or professional liability claim? We get calls from radon contractors who want only General Liability and believe they need nothing else. When a claim is filed, it will be specific, laying out the damages and the demand. Maybe it will fall under the General Liability, but what if the claim comes in as you designed the system wrong, back drafting? What if you told your client that you would get their radon levels under 2.0 picocuries and the system you installed originally brought the home down from 15 picocuries. Six months later, a claim arises indicating the homeowner contracted lung cancer and the latest radon test shows a level of not 2, but 30 picocuries. Would this be a General Liability claim or is it Pollution or Professional? What if you installed a low voltage system, or you did the electrical work yourself and the home burned down? Was it a product defect or an installation error? You provided your client a written bid indicating you were professional with all the designations to prove you knew and understood how to completely remove radon. The reason we have all three coverages is we don’t know with 100% accuracy how a claim will be filed, so ensuring to protect yourself and your business by having all three coverages is important. 2. My Business Is Radon Measurement. Why Am I Paying The Same Premium As A Mitigator? This answer is not an easy one. It has to do with making money. Insurance companies are financial institutions. They collect premiums, invest, and pay out claims. They are focused on their owners, the shareholders. Every quarter, they need to give their shareholders a Return on Investment (ROI). To do so, they offer insurance products to the masses so they can collect the most in premiums. If they determine the amount of premium is sufficient, they will invest time and talent in those industries. When they do, they will come up with insurance products and rates. The radon industry is a new and not large market. Getting insurance companies to break down separate products and rates between radon mitigation and testing is far from happening. 3. I Just Won A Bid From The Local State/County/Housing Authority And Need A Certificate Of Insurance To Comply With The Insurance Requirement. How Do I Comply With These Requirements? This question is a growing question for radon contractors. Radon contractors need to be aware that there may be an additional premium associated with the bids they are submitting. It would be nice if General Contractors (GC’s) were aware of what they are requesting. The GC’s insurance requirements are usually for those subcontractors whose work is structural in nature, not a non-structural subcontractor like a radon mitigator. These GC’s bid specs may want high primary and umbrella limits, Commercial Auto and Workers Compensation policies, maybe Cyber. They want specific General Liability endorsements, and 30-Day cancellation notice. When the radon contractor contacts us with the GC’s insurance requirements, we have that tough conversation about the additional premiums to comply. The additional premium could be more than the job itself. I hope these top three questions answered help you understand radon insurance a little better. Helping radon contractors make the right decision for their insurance coverage is vital.