ATLANTA --- Already reeling from a credit crunch and economic slowdown, residential contractors now find themselves in the middle of a fight between their trade association and the company that sells the workers' compensation coverage they are required to carry.
This week, the board of the Home Builders Association of Georgia voted to sponsor a coup to topple the leadership of the insurance company the trade group spawned in 1992. It will urge members to use their positions as policyholder-owners of the mutual insurance company to vote out Builders Insurance's board for padding its compensation, reducing dividends and withholding money from the association.
Builders Insurance says the fight is over the association's inability to charge yearly dues of $400-$750 once the insurer stopped requiring policyholders to join the trade group in April. Now they can buy coverage if they pay dues of just $60 to a rival organization, the Contractors Benefit Association.
Also in April, the company stopped paying royalties to the builders association, causing a 28 percent loss in the group's budget.
Bill Beazley, the owner of Bill Beazley Homes Inc. of Augusta, is among those revolting. He contends that Builders Insurance directors -- including four former association presidents -- are looting the company through their overcompensation. He served on the insurance board when it was founded to provide a reliable and affordable source of coverage for contractors. He said association members weren't paying attention as the company changed because of who the directors were.
Builders Insurance issued a statement Friday slamming the association's "self-serving effort ... to grow and maintain its membership rolls."
Comments
The sub prime loans aren't being lent so there's a credit crunch? The economic slow down is because the growth this year isn't as great as the last six years? The only economic problem is the endless hammering on consumer confidence by the far left in an effort to glean votes. How sad it's working on a poorly educated public. Thank you government schools. The dumbing down of America is a big success.
How much insurance do contractors pay on illegals? None. Remeber, only 45% of kids in Richmond County passed the math test. Dumbing down of America is this centuries understatement. I could care less about these contractors, especially in this area. I've seen some shody, minimal building practices elsewhere, but they take the proverbial cake here!
I wish Walter Jones had done a little more research - I would like to know what the compensation is for the directors of Builders Insurance. How much has the compensation increased since 1992? How much have the premiums gone up for the builders? What is the increase (if any) in claims paid during the same time period?
the credit crunch or the forclosure crisis is just now getting warmed up. the downward spiral of local tax bases (property values) along with the govt created inflation with be the death nail to our republic. obama the marxist awaits.
I wonder if this is the same worker's compensation insurance that Columbia County requires an individual to buy if they choose to build their own house. I am sure that the builders had a hand in getting that started. Now they want someone to feel sorry for them. I don't think so..
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