Waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory, in plain words

Subrogation is the right of an insurance company, after it pays a claim, to step into your shoes and go after whoever caused the loss to get that money back.

Picture a job where your crew's work is damaged by another trade, and your policy pays for it. Your insurer may then try to collect from that other trade, or from the GC who ran the site. That is subrogation. It is normal, and it is one way insurance companies keep claims costs down.

The GC does not want to be on the receiving end of that lawsuit. They hired you, they may be named on your policy, and now your own insurer is suing them. That is the problem a waiver of subrogation solves.

A waiver of subrogation is an endorsement, a written change to your policy, where your insurance company gives up its right to recover a paid claim from a specific party, usually the GC or the property owner.

• It is added to the policy. A contract that says "waive subrogation" does not bind your insurer by itself. The endorsement on your policy is what does.
• Blanket or scheduled. A blanket waiver applies to anyone you agreed to in a written contract. A scheduled waiver names each party by name, so a new GC means a new endorsement.
• Timing matters. The contract and the waiver should be in place before the work starts. A waiver is meant to cover losses that happen after you agreed to it.
• It can show up on more than one policy. Many contracts ask for it on general liability, and also on workers' comp and commercial auto. Read which policies your contract lists.

Because the insurer is giving something up, some policies include a waiver and some add it by request. Check the quote before you sign the subcontract.

When a claim comes from your work and the GC is an additional insured on your policy, two policies could respond: yours and the GC's own policy. Primary and non-contributory decides the order.

• Primary means your policy pays first for that claim, before the GC's policy is touched.
• Non-contributory means the GC's policy is not asked to share the cost with yours.

Without this wording, the two insurance companies could argue about who pays what share, and the GC's own policy could end up paying part of a claim caused by your work. With it, the claim stays on your policy, within your limits and the policy's terms.

Primary and non-contributory usually applies to the additional insured coverage you give the GC, so the two requests travel together. It also shares your policy's limits. It does not add new money.

A GC hires many trades. Every claim that lands on the GC's own policy can make that policy harder to renew. So GCs write their subcontracts to push claims from your work back onto your policy, and to stop your insurer from turning around and suing them.

Property owners, management companies and many commercial clients ask for the same three. When a contract asks for all of them, make sure your policy can provide all of them. A certificate of insurance can show these in writing, but the endorsements on the policy are what make them real.

1. Find the insurance section of the subcontract. It is often an exhibit near the end.
2. List what it asks for: additional insured, primary and non-contributory, waiver of subrogation, completed operations, the limits, and which policies each one applies to.
3. Check the quote. See whether each endorsement is included, blanket or scheduled, and whether it applies when required by written contract.
4. Send the GC's details: legal name and address, and the exact wording from the contract.

With Aster, you enter your CSLB license number, answer about a minute of questions, and quotes from multiple A-rated programs arrive one by one with limits, deductible and what each one includes and excludes. Tap "Submit for approval" on the one that fits. A licensed agent handles it and emails you the final quote to sign. Nothing is bound until you sign. Once you are covered, our agents send the certificate to your GC. The quotes are for $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate, the limits GCs usually ask for. See also what general liability does not cover and insurance by trade.