Ever wonder why housing is so expensive?
Construction is a dangerous industry. Naturally, our workcomp rates are way higher than your desk job.
That being said, fraudulent claims are rampant.
Disgruntled employees can file fraudulent claims, insurance denies the claim, the former employees sue, WC settles and then applies an "experience modifier" to the contactor based on the amount they had to pay out to settle. That modifier is applied across ALL employees and increases WC costs (i.e. Shawn saw a 2.3x modifier).
You pay for the fraud because homes don't get built until the sales price exceeds the cost to build the housing.
Life can be so FU#%$D sometimes:
Reminder: in 2017 I had owned a demolition company for 20 years.
It was cranking
I had great workers
Everything was paid off
Income was high
Then one day one of my worst workers (who I should have fired, but we needed laborers) was upset because I gave him $300 LESS of a Christmas bonus compared to those with me longer
He was upset
So he called a dirtbag workers comp attorney to sue my workers comp for a "back injury"
Then the attorney said Ill pay you $1000 for every other friend you have with the "same injury"
All of a sudden 5 of my workers (out of 80) had "back injuries"
(its always a back injury because its soft tissue and cant actually be proven, you just have to keep repeating it still hurts)
Workers comp settles these claims for $30,000 all day long and the worker gets 60% of the settlement
After 20 years of workers comp, millions of dollars paid in - $150,000 was paid out in fake claims
When renewal came my worker comp mod went to 230 and it equated to a $700,000 increase in premium
HOW FUCK#% up is that?
It cost me $5,000,000 in income
Get this, 2 of my foremen bough trucks from me, took my customers, and have been doing the same job, no license, no insurance for 8 years
CA can be so jacked up sometimes
I am still F'ING pissed
My entire livelihood stolen - a company I slaved for, I earned it - taken away at no fault of mine
I might cosplay as a RE guy on X - and I love RE and I own RE - but I bleed blue collar. I am a contractor at my core, dont let my tweets fool you.
I was born to be a demolition contractor, I am F'ing good at it.
Oh guess what, all 5 guys who sued me, fake social security numbers, not here legally, still paid out - dont judge, almost all the hispanic labor is illegal in so cal. They all have a social number they hand you. I collect the info I need legally, I dont enforce the legality. Any service business owner who tells you all their workers are legal (in so cal) is lying or they are just playing dumb