You bought a policy, paid the premium, and months after it ended a bill showed up for hundreds or thousands more. That's the audit. GL is priced on estimates; the audit trues it up to what actually happened.
Your premium is based on projected payroll or receipts. At the end of the term the carrier checks the real numbers. Did more work than you estimated? You owe the difference. Did less? You may get money back. It isn't a penalty — it's the true-up.
If you paid subcontractors who couldn't show their own insurance, the carrier can charge you as if that payment were your payroll. A few uninsured subs can blow up an audit. Collect a certificate from every sub, every time.
See our contractor insurance page for how we set these up.
Estimate honestly at renewal — realistic beats optimistic. Keep clean records of subs and their certificates. Tell your agent when the year changes shape — new crew, new type of work. And don't hide revenue; it always shows up at audit.
One caution: keep every subcontractor certificate on file for the whole policy year. At audit, "they were insured, I just don't have the paper" counts as uninsured.
Give us honest numbers up front and we'll set the estimate right — fewer audit surprises later.
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