Why Underwriters Won’t Quote You Without This

Insurance underwriters used to price for safety. Now they qualify for it.

Here's what's happening: Contractors are calling their broker 60 days before renewal, expecting a quote like always. Instead, they're getting a question they've never heard before: "Do you have a documented safety program?"

When the answer is no, the underwriter won't even run the numbers. No quote. No negotiation. Just a polite "we'll pass."

This isn't happening because insurance companies suddenly got picky. It's happening because juries are handing out verdicts that could bankrupt entire carriers. The average massive jury award—what the insurance world calls a "nuclear verdict"—jumped from $21 million in 2020 to $44 million in 2023. That's more than double in three years.

So underwriters stopped asking "how much should we charge this contractor?" and started asking "should we even cover this contractor at all?" If you can't show them a basic safety program, their answer is no.

Why Underwriters Actually Care About This

There are two reasons underwriters want to see your safety program, and neither one is bureaucratic nonsense.

First, it shows you take safety seriously. They're not expecting perfection. They're expecting intention. A contractor with a three-page safety policy and weekly toolbox talks is a completely different risk than a contractor who says "we just try to be careful." The first guy is thinking about safety every week. The second guy is thinking about it when someone gets hurt.

Second, it helps them defend you in a lawsuit. When something bad happens on a jobsite—and eventually something will—the question isn't just "what went wrong?" The question is "did this contractor even try to prevent it?" If a jury sees a company that can't show basic safety procedures, they'll assume you were careless. That's a multi-million-dollar assumption.

Your documented safety program becomes your first line of defense. It's the difference between a plaintiff's attorney saying "this company had no safety program whatsoever" versus "this company had written policies, conducted weekly safety meetings, and trained every employee." One of those stories gets you a manageable settlement. The other gets you a verdict that follows you forever.

Why You Should Want A Safety Program

This isn't just for the insurance company. You get three things out of a good safety program:

Fewer people get hurt. This is the actual point. When you write down the rules, train people, and talk about safety every week, accidents drop. Your guys go home to their families. Everything else below flows from that.

Lower prices. Carriers compete hardest for accounts they can defend. Right now, contractors with documented safety programs are seeing rates 15-20% lower than contractors without them. That's real money.

Better defense if you get sued. Most construction companies will face a lawsuit at some point. When that happens, your safety records become evidence that you were responsible. A clear, signed policy can mean the difference between a $75,000 settlement and a $2 million verdict that wipes out your business.

Less chaos on the job. This is the benefit nobody talks about but every contractor notices once they implement it. Jobsites run smoother when everyone knows the rules. Your experience modification rate drops. Hiring gets easier because you can prove you take safety seriously. And your insurance pricing steadies out year after year instead of spiking every renewal.

The Five Pieces of Paper You Can Build This Week

Here's what "bare minimum" actually looks like. Not a 100-page manual. Five pieces of paper.

1. A Written Safety Policy (3 pages)

This covers the basics: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements, ladder safety, fall protection, housekeeping, how to report problems. You can download a template from OSHA and customize it to your trade in an hour. Print it, sign it, date it.

What it proves: You have an approach to safety and someone is accountable.

2. Training Records

One-page form for every new hire showing they got a safety briefing before they touched a tool. Takes 15 minutes. Keep the signed forms in a folder.

What it proves: You trained every worker before they touched a tool.

3. Toolbox Talk Log

Every Monday, spend 10 minutes on one safety topic. Ladders one week, extension cords the next, heat stress after that. Keep a sign-in sheet. OSHA publishes free one-page topics—you don't need to create these from scratch.

What it proves: Safety isn't just a day-one conversation; it’s on-going.

4. Incident Report Form

Even if you've never had an incident, underwriters want to see you have a process. Who fills out the form? Who investigates? What gets fixed? One page.

What it proves: You learn from mistakes and take corrective action.

5. Trade-Specific Hazard Controls

For construction, address the Focus Four: falls, struck-by, caught-in, and electrocution. Document how YOU address YOUR specific risks—not generic boilerplate. Photos of PPE, equipment inspections, and job site setups help enormously.

What it proves: You understand what actually kills people in your trade.

That's it. Five pieces of paper. Put it all in a three-ring binder or a Google Drive folder. When your broker asks "do you have a safety program?" they can say "yes, here it is" instead of "let me get back to you."

How to Get This Done

Week 1: Download OSHA templates (or get them from AGC or NAHB). Customize for your operation. Name your safety lead—could be you, could be a foreman. Get it signed.

Week 2: Set up your binder or Drive folder. File your certificates, licenses, and insurance documents. Schedule your first toolbox talk for Monday morning.

Time investment: 3-4 hours total setup, 30 minutes per week to maintain.

This doesn't need to be perfect—it needs to exist and be followed. Pro tip: Take photos. Visual proof of PPE in use, guardrails installed, and toolbox talks happening is worth a thousand words to underwriters.

Grab the free 5-page safety starter kit and get ahead of the underwriter before renewal season hits.

What Happens If You Don't

Last year, a framing contractor got sued after a jobsite fall. The plaintiff's attorney asked one question in court: "Show me your fall protection policy." The contractor didn't have one. The jury awarded $18 million. His coverage limit was $2 million. He lost the business, his house, and his retirement.

At renewal, you'll either get no quote or you'll get quoted in the "surplus market"—the place where high-risk accounts go. Expect to pay 30-50% more than contractors with documented programs.

And if something goes wrong on a jobsite and you get sued, the plaintiff's attorney will ask one question in front of the jury: "Did you even have a safety program?" When you say no, you will probably lose the case. The "we're a small company, we keep it informal" defense doesn't work when someone's dead or permanently injured.

Start This Week

This is the new table stakes for getting insurance at reasonable rates. The contractor with the three-page safety policy gets quoted. The contractor with nothing gets declined.

A safety program is like the foundation under your house—you never see it doing its job until something goes wrong.

Safety isn't about perfection. It's about proof—proof that you care enough to write it down and do it again next week.

Underwriters don't expect zero injuries. They expect zero excuses.

Make this week the one you start your five-page safety program. You'll thank yourself at renewal time.

Want a sample safety program checklist to get started? Email me at matthew@dragonflyinsurance.com and I'll send you a simple template you can customize in an hour.

Stay safe out there.

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