Securing insurance coverage for a franchise and all of the parties involved can be a bit more complex than just purchasing coverage for a typical company. Normally, a franchisee's insurance agent will secure the coverage needed, and then provide evidence of insurance to which they can add the franchisor as additional insured. In this case, a franchise operation for water remediation and carpet cleaning had General Liability, Auto, and Workers Compensation programs available for all of its franchisees. They were concerned about pollution and miscellaneous professional liability exposures for the franchisees and the vicarious liability for the franchisor. The franchisor offered several classes through third party educators, from basic water remediation to sewer back up and mold detection, monitoring, and remediation.

The insured received a custom program with Contractors Pollution Liability and Professional Liability for each of the 300 owner-operators with coverage tiers dependent on the training and certification. This included a $15M Contractors Pollution Liability and Professional policy for the franchisor. The program provided:

• Consistent coverage, limits, and competitive pricing for the franchise operators.
• Coverage for vicarious liability and professional liability.
• Confidence that the franchise's reputation and assets were secure for the franchisor.

This is a great example of why it is beneficial for an insured/agent to work with a single carrier to allow easier access to the franchise, consistent coverage, a better premium, and more reasonable terms. In this situation, working with one carrier for all lines on the account allowed the franchisor to receive the most appropriate products available in the marketplace to protect their interests.

There are many advantages to offering a multi-line program:(1) Streamlining the insured's account by offering all coverages with the same carrier will save time and the insured will often receive a multi-line discount on premium. (2) This will simplify communication with the carrier. By working with one carrier to handle all lines of an account, there is typically one contact who handles all questions and claims. (3) It will eliminate the possibility of multiple carriers having differing views on a claim or discrepancies on handling the insurance coverages.