Workers comp insurance rates killing my LVP install business

I've been doing flooring installs for 8 years now, mostly LVP and hardwood refurbs, and this workers comp insurance is screwing me over bad. Just got my renewal quote and it's up 25% from last year, even though I only had one minor claim from a guy tweaking his back lifting 50lb boxes of Coretec planks. We're in Texas so the heat's already a pain during those big commercial jobs, but now I gotta pay $8500 a year just to cover my three-man crew? I called my agent and they said it's because of rising claims in the construction industry overall, but damn, that eats into my margins on every $5k kitchen floor job. Saw a similar rant in the Flooring Contractors Network group last week, everyone pissed about the same thing. Thinking of switching to a PEO or going non-union to cut costs, but not sure if that's smart for liability on these glue-down installs. Anyone else dealing with this BS?

Insurance companies are vampires, sucking you dry on every renewal. Laugh if you want but I started quoting jobs with a 'screw you tax' line item just for this crap.

Same here, bro. My epoxy floor gigs got hit with a 30% hike last quarter.

This sucks man, been there with my carpet crew last year.

Frustrated as hell too, insurance is the silent killer in this trade.

SharkBite for insurance? Nah, just kidding, but seriously, shop around every year.

Switch to a high-deductible plan and self-insure the small stuff, saved me $2k on laminate jobs.

Man, this hits close to home with my tile installs.

Ugh, workers comp is a joke these days.

I feel your pain on those Texas jobs, heat plus premiums? Brutal.

Switch providers, I went from State Farm to a specialty broker and dropped 15%.

This is bullshit, every year they find a way to nickel and dime us.

Same struggle here, man.

Goddamn insurance lobbyists ruining the game for all of us.

SharkBite fittings are overrated, but insurance hikes? Those are the real scam.

Totally feel you on the crew coverage.

This crap is everywhere, not just flooring.

I hear ya, premiums are out of control.

Man, it's the worst part of running a small flooring outfit.

Insurance companies can go to hell, all of them.

Shove it, insurers. We need a union for this stuff.

Feel bad for you solo guys getting hammered hardest.

Yeah, same boat, trying to figure out how to dodge the bullet.

Document every job meticulously, it helped me fight a rate increase.

Insurance is a racket, period.

Haha, remember when premiums were reasonable? Good times.

What kind of coverage do you have exactly? Liability or full comp?

ALL these companies are crooks, time to revolt.

PEOs are the way, cut my costs in half on hardwood refinish jobs.

How do you handle claims from underlayment slips?

Insurance hikes are BS, but have you tried captives?

LOL, my agent said the same excuse about industry claims.

Totally commiserating, it's killing my margins on vinyl plank installs.

Screw the big insurers, go independent broker.

Yeah, this Texas heat makes claims worse, they blame everything on it.

Haha, I just tell clients the premium's baked into the quote now.

Insurance is predatory, especially for hands-on trades like ours.

We switched to a group plan through the Flooring Professionals FB group, saved 20%.

Dispute the rate with your state's DOI, worked for me once.

ALL y'all need to band together and negotiate as a co-op.

I feel this in my soul, premiums doubled after one minor incident.

Go bare bones and eat the small claims yourself.

Proud I finally got under the $5k mark by going part-time crew.

Hit a milestone dodging a big claim last year, feels good.

What PEOs have you looked at for flooring specifically?

Screw this, insurers are the enemy of every contractor.