US Construction Risks

I was recently asked a question "how does the London market differ in its approach to the insurance of infrastructure/P3 projects?"  The questioner had heard all about the London market's flexibility but wanted some real life examples.  This got me thinking, perhaps he's not alone and we London market brokers focus on the big picture (flexibility, experience, knowledge) when we need to make it real.  Well here are some of the recent examples I used to answer the question and which I hope will help you:

Railway bridge widening - cat exposed State

Of course, we were able to significantly reduce the premium and improve cover but a couple of things stood out (couldn't be achieved with the existing US insurer):

1. First party property damage on the existing bridge asset as part of the construction placement and incorporated in a broad JLT 'All Risks' form.
2. Addressed the significant natural perils exposure in line with contractual requirements, which provided relief for certain defined events.  This enabled us to secure much higher limits than were previously provided

Major P3 road project
Having direct involvement in over 50% of the 1000 PPP deals that have been closed in London provides us with unbeatable insight.  We understood the complex contracting structure and revenue related exposures and were able to put together a seamless solution. 

At the heart of this was the importance of addressing the existing asset coverage, in this case the existing road, by commissioning an engineer's valuation and including coverage for the operational asset within the Builders' Risk placement.

I think a big advantage JLT and the London market offer is our global experience and writing business in almost every country in the world. As a result we can draw on this to refine and improve areas of coverage. For example, on civil and infrastructure projects London Insurers understand and are able to provide broad cover for defects of material workmanship design plan or specification when required.

Have a difficult technical question - go on send it to me and test my knowledge!  Either post it using the comment area below here or use my contact form on our main site.

Jeremy heads the International Civil Construction Builders' Risks team at JLT.  His expertise is in the area of building and civil engineering construction projects, both employer and contractor controlled. He has been involved as the Account Manager on many multi billion dollar major tunnels and building structure projects in the USA. Find out more...