Contractor Insurance Up 22%, Rate Cuts, and AI Answering Services

Your general liability premium went up again this year, and unlike tariffs, there's nobody to blame and no easy way to put it on an invoice. The average GC doing $5M in revenue is paying about $48,000 more in premiums than they were two years ago. Most contractors are absorbing all of it.Kosta and Johny break down what's actually driving the increase, including the new coverage requirements (pollution and cyber) that builders are starting to demand on startup documents. Johny walks through what happened when he finally took a 15-year insurance relationship to market after another 20% hike, and what it saved him. They also get into the Fed's rate cut and what it might do to renovation work, plus a real conversation about AI answering services and whether they help or quietly damage your client relationships.If your overhead keeps climbing while your prices stay flat, the fix usually starts with knowing what each job actually costs you. That's the part Jobtable handles, so your receipts, job costs, and invoices all live in one place instead of a truck console and three spreadsheets. 👉 Learn more at https://www.jobtable.comNew episodes every week, subscribe so you don't miss one.00:00 – Intro00:56 – Contractor insurance is up 22% this year02:52 – Cyber and pollution insurance: the coverage GCs now ask for04:43 – 15 years with one broker, then taking it to market09:32 – Should you price insurance increases into your jobs?22:25 – Rate cuts, the housing market, and renovation work29:32 – AI answering services and 60 calls a day40:06 – Charging more because a human picks up