Latest Contractors Headlines

All the headlines from our Contractors Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Missouri Plumbing Contractor Admits to Safety Violations; Will Pay $225K Penalty

Nov 2 2018 // Arrow Plumbing LLC has admitted to willfully violating federal safety standards by failing to require and enforce the use of trench boxes or other trench protection techniques at a home construction site in Belton,...

Digital Carrier Next Insurance Launches General Contractor Coverage

Nov 2 2018 // Small business digital insurance carrier Next Insurance has launched a new general contractor insurance policy that includes general and professional liability insurance for general contractors entirely online.Next...

Florida Fraud Strike Team Targets Unlicensed Contractors in Panhandle

Oct 30 2018 // Three contractors conducting business in Leon, Gadsden, and Gulf counties have been removed from the Panhandle by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team for unlicensed...

Ohio Supreme Court: Subcontractor’s Faulty Work Not Covered by Contractor’s Policy

Oct 29 2018 // The Ohio Supreme Court in early October ruled that a general contractor’s commercial general liability policy does not cover the faulty work of a subcontractor.In its consideration of Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr....

Regulators, Industry Seek to Keep Florida AOB Abuse In Check After Michael

Oct 18 2018 // In an effort to keep the Florida assignment of benefits (AOB) crisis from further worsening in the state, Florida’s insurance industry, regulators and consumer advocates are on high alert for AOB activity in the wake...

Louisiana Contractor Awarded $62M in Fertilizer Plant Lawsuit

Oct 17 2018 // A federal jury has awarded a Louisiana mechanical contractor hired to help build a fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa $62.4 million after concluding the fertilizer plant’s general contractor defaulted on a...

New York Contractor Pleads Guilty to $800K Business Fraud Scheme

Oct 15 2018 // State officials say an Albany-area contractor has pleaded guilty to scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars out of minority-owned businesses and failing to pay dozens of his employees.Attorney General Barbara Underwood...

Time to Revisit Independent Contractor vs. Employed Producer Status

Oct 15 2018 // Insurance agencies across the country hire some or all producers as independent contractors instead of as employees. The mixed use of employees and independent contractors in insurance is common in other industries as...

Woes of California Wildfire Victims Include Cleanup Crews, Fraud

Oct 11 2018 // One year after a devastating series of wildfires ripped through Northern California wine country, destroying thousands of homes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ first experience cleaning up after a wildfire has...

Florida Activates Disaster Fraud Teams Ahead of Hurricane Michael

Oct 8 2018 // The Florida Department of Financial Services Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team (DFAST) has been activated ahead of what is expected to become Hurricane Michael and will be deployed in the affected areas to protect...

Minnesota Charges Contractor with Workers’ Comp Fraud, Labor Trafficking

Sep 26 2018 // A Minnesota construction contractor has been charged with labor trafficking, insurance fraud and theft by swindle for using undocumented workers on his construction crews and threatening to have them deported unless they...

Jury: Galveston Must Pay Nearly $15M to Contractor in Ike Housing Dispute

Sep 26 2018 // Southeast Texas city has been ordered to pay nearly $15 million to a fired contractor that was overseeing some federally funded housing recovery after Hurricane Ike hit in 2008.The Galveston County Daily News reports...

Decision in Uber Employee vs. Contractor Suit Cuts Driver Bargaining Power

Sep 25 2018 // Uber drivers seeking pay and benefits like those employees get were handed a big defeat by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.A panel of court justices ruled that drivers must go through arbitration and could not...

OSHA Fines Contractors $86K Over Miami Bridge Collapse

Sep 20 2018 // Contractors that worked on the bridge near a Florida university that collapsed, killing six people, have been fined more than $86,000 for workplace violations.The Miami Herald reported Tuesday that the Occupational Safety...

California Cites Garment Contractors $570K, Some Lacked Workers’ Comp

Sep 17 2018 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office has cited six Los Angeles area garment contractors $573,704 for labor law violations after uncovering a scheme where the contractors illegally operated under one license to...

Suit: Uber Saved $500M a Year by Misclassifying California Drivers as Independent Contractors

Sep 12 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. may be saving more than $500 million a year by misclassifying its California drivers as independent contractors, according to a lawsuit that claims the ride-hailing company is flouting a ruling by...

California Cites Garment Contractors $570K, Some Lacked Workers’ Comp

Sep 10 2018 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office has cited six Los Angeles area garment contractors $573,704 for labor law violations after uncovering a scheme where the contractors illegally operated under one license to...

Contractors and Roofing Insurance Program Webinars to be Held for Agents in September

Sep 5 2018 // Atlanta, GA, September 5, 2018— Blue River Underwriters will hold two separate informational program webinars this month. The first webinar on the Contractors Elite program this Thursday, September 6 from 11:30 a.m. to...

Florida Insurance Chief Warns of AOB Scams as Storm Gordon Lingers Over Gulf Coast

Sep 5 2018 // Florida’s top insurance regulator has issued a warning to residents facing damage from Tropical Storm Gordon, the first major storm to impact the state in the 2018 Hurricane Season.Florida Insurance Commissioner...

Constructive Tips for Reducing Equipment Losses at Jobsites

Sep 3 2018 // If you live in a city or nearby one and see new construction projects popping up at a rapid rate, you’re not alone. Cities throughout the United States are experiencing a boom in construction. Optimism is soaring to...