Phillip Lane, J.W. Edens Insurance & Bonds
I became a member of the FRSA at the beginning of 2008, just before the financial crisis and the resultant “Great Recession.” The construction industry in Florida had already slowed and it was preparing to come to a screeching halt. Getting involved has always served me well and I seized the opportunity to follow the wonderful example of service that a co-worker of mine had set.
Fast forward more than eight years (and many hours of meetings, phone calls, ideas, goals and good times) and I now sit on the Board of Directors of FRSA, the FRSA Credit Union and the Space Coast Licensed Roofers Association and the Treasure Coast Roofing
and Sheet Metal Association Affiliates. In addition to my board positions, I’ve been chosen to chair the Membership Committee this year for the first time after co-chairing this important committee since 2014. As an independent commercial insurance agent, I’ve been entrusted as an advisor to both the FRSA and the FRSA Self Insurers Fund (SIF) as their insurance agent.
Just being a member of the FRSA would not have gotten me to where I am today. What got me here was being involved and developing relationships with many amazing individuals around the great state of Florida who are in one way or another connected to the roofing industry. I’d like to share a story in this article that I feel embodies everything FRSA means to me.
One of my favorite people and clients is a roofing contractor based in Ormond Beach. Greg Hageman owns and operates Greg’s Roofing Inc with his wife Diane, and they have been working in the roofing industry most of their lives. I got a call from Greg one morning earlier this year and he explained that a local building official wanted him to secure USL&H coverage for his employees. Greg’s crew was working on the reroof of a building that sits on stilts over the Intracoastal at the end of a dock. The building official was threatening to shut the job down and suggested that Greg contact his workers’ compensation insurer to add USL&H coverage
to his workers’ compensation policy. As a long time FRSA Self Insurers Fund workers’ compensation policyholder, Greg reached out to the FRSA-SIF and they advised they were not able to add USL&H coverage to his policy and suggested he contact me. USL&H is short for United States Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation and without going into great detail, it applies to employees engaged in maritime employment who are injured upon the navigable waters of the United States.
It was clear to both Greg and I that the work was being done over navigable waters, but it was also clear to us both that his employees working on this project were not engaged in “maritime employment.” Despite both of our efforts to explain our position to the building official, it was not enough. We worked quickly to price adding the USL&H coverage on a separate insurance policy and
discovered that the best (and in order to keep his FRSA-SIF workers’ compensation possibly the only) available option was a $10,000 minimum premium USL&H workers’ compensation policy. The total cost of the job was under $30,000 and adding this coverage just to appease the building official made absolutely no sense. That’s when we brought out the big guns, Trent Cotney, P.A. Greg and I
have both known Trent for years and we knew he could help us. Trent was already familiar with the situation as he and I had discussed it after Greg reached out to me. I placed a call to Trent shortly before 8 am and had a legal memorandum on my desk before noon that same day. Greg sent the legal opinion to the building official who then forwarded it to a County attorney. The County attorney agreed that the building department should not be requiring USL&H workers’ compensation coverage for the project.
Between Greg, Trent and myself, we were able to solve this problem and it was an incredible feeling to be able to help straighten it out. So many times, we are told that something “just is” even though we know it doesn’t make any sense. We can’t win all of the time, but when we do win and when we get to do it with professionals we respect and admire, it is priceless. It’s difficult to quantify the member benefit of an experience like I just shared with you. Being involved in the FRSA has taught me many things, but the people I have the privilege to work with as a result of my involvement, are the biggest membership benefit of all.
Phillip E. Lane has been an insurance advisor at J.W. Edens Insurance & Bonds for over 10 years and works with roofing contractors across the State of Florida. For more information contact Phillip E. Lane at 800-223-6295 or plane@jwedens.com.
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