I can not emphasize this enough. The single most
important question to ask before you hire a mover is
if you can see their worker’s compensation
certificate. If they do not
have it, YOU
CAN BE SUED. If you hire a
moving company without workers compensation and one
of the movers hurts himself (which is not uncommon),
YOU can be sued. Is
this fair? Absolutely
not. You
should not be liable in any way, the company should
be solely liable. But that is
the law.
Imagine one of the movers injures his spine
(again, not uncommon).
You could be held liable for the cost of his
surgery, rehabilitation, lost wages, etc. Again, we do not
think that is fair but that is the reality. Be careful. Do not risk a
lawsuit. The
“They told me they had it” excuse does not work in a
court of law. Make sure you
see and print out the certificate before
you schedule your move. Even after the
move has been completed, keep your copy of the
certificate with your receipt. It protects you
if a mover later says he hurt himself on your job.
Workers compensation is
insurance that protects a company’s employees and
their customers if a worker gets injured on the
job. If a
company is hesitant to produce proof of coverage,
they probably don’t have it. All
companies that have workers compensation should
have the certificate posted on their website. They should
NOT PUT YOU in the uncomfortable position of
asking them to produce it.
Click this link to see our
certificate. A
certificate should look identical to ours. It will say
“Certificate of Liability
Insurance” at the top. It will
list the insurance company and the moving company
at the top. Under
the “coverages” section it will have the policy
number (which will start with WC) and the
expiration date. If
you question the authenticity of the certificate,
just call the listed insurance company to verify
coverage.
Still considering using a
company that doesn’t protect their employees or
their customers? Trying
to save a few dollars? Well here is
another way to think about it. Worker’s
compensation is required by law. If a company
doesn’t have it they are breaking the law. Do you really
want to entrust all your valuable items to a
company that doesn’t care about laws? If a company
isn’t worried about mandatory laws, I certainly
wouldn’t expect high ethics or professionalism
from them.
Still not convinced? I’ll give you
one last thing to consider. Many moving
companies don’t get workers comp because it is
expensive. Therefore,
they
can make more money by NOT protecting their
workers and their customers. But these
unethical “money hungry” companies usually pay
their men a substandard wage, which means you
won’t have true professionals handling your
furniture!
So please be diligent. The following
are two common lies you may be told by companies
that do not have workers comp:
1. A
company may try to tell you they have their movers
set up as independent contractors. This is almost
always a lie. To
be true these workers would need to show up in
their own vehicle (not a company owned truck) and
bring their own moving equipment.
2. Some
companies may try to tell you they are a small
company so they don’t need workers comp. This also is
almost always a lie. If they have
more than THREE
employees they are required to have it. This includes
office staff.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
A tiny one
truck company may not be required to have
worker’s compensation, but they certainly
should have it. Why? Because THEY
(AND YOU) COULD BE SUED if a mover got injured. It is
unethical and irresponsible for any moving company
(of any size) to go without it. Amazingly,
most moving companies do not have it. It’s no wonder
our industry has a bad reputation.
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