Contractors in Need of Relief

With the iffy economy and a plague of insurance problems, building contractors may feel like they’re being persecuted. Fortunately, interest rates have been hovering at historically low rates keeping residential building starts from tanking completely, despite high unemployment in the general population and lousy economic figures. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the construction industry was down slightly in 2002, at 6.6 million nationally, compared with a 2001 employment figure of 6.7 million. Construction industry employment reached a peak that year, having steadily increased from 4.5 million in 1992.

As senior writer Dave Thomas discovered while researching “Inside the Contractors Market,” the insurance picture for construction firms is rather bleak with underwriting restrictions and extremely high premiums forcing some residential contractors in western states to go out of state to look for work. Things aren’t quite that bad in Texas, but suspicions are that many smaller contractors may be forgoing insurance. And the outlook suggests that things will get worse before they get better.

When it comes to the involvement of minorities and women in
the insurance industry, the numbers tell the story and the numbers are low. While the population of the U.S. in general is becoming more and more diverse, the insurance industry, especially on the distribution side, hasn’t kept pace with that diversification. Staff writer Kevin O’Reilly details the numbers and what they mean in, “Minority and Women Agents Look to Tap Emerging Markets.”

Speaking of numbers, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner
Mike Pickens has been on the job for six years and is understandably proud of the job he’s done bringing his department up to speed, technologically-speaking, and maintaining a consistently healthy business environment. In “Pickens Believes Competitive Market is Best Climate for Business,” the Arkansas commissioner—who’s currently serving as NAIC president—goes one on one with Dave Thomas, offering his thoughts on mold, workers’ comp, insurance fraud and more.

Finally, in “Parting Shots,” Rick Gentry, executive director of the Insurance Council of Texas, ponders whether a cash prize is the answer to finding a solution to the industry’s public relations problems. Gentry asserts that the inability to effectively communicate the benefits and costs of insurance to lawmakers and consumers alike is a major cause for concern, and dooms the industry to fighting the same legislative battles over and over again.

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Topics Contractors