What Kind of Insurance Policy Do I Need For My Flips?

[Brandon Donahue]

Hello all,

I'm looking for advice on which insurance policies I need for my flips and which policies should fall onto my general contractor. On my past flips, I have done a builder's risk policy (very expensive) and required that my general contractor carry a general liability policy. My previous flips have all been either complete gut remodels and scrapes that have taken +6 months to complete. I have switched GCs and the newest one is making me front the cost of his general liability and workers' comp because he said this was an industry standard and it would be very worrisome if a GC is not passing on this insurance cost to me as the owner of the property. This specific project I am talking about is a $700K scape/new build in Denver that the GC says will cost us about $2,600 for general liability and workers' comp. 

So my questions are: 

1. Is it normal for my general contractor to push the cost of his general liability and workers' comp onto me (the owner/investor) at the price of $2,600? 

2. Does anyone have any other strategies to decrease my insurance costs? Is there certain way you guys shop insurance policies or is there another type of policy out there that I don't know about? 

Thanks!