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O P I N I O N
Percentage of Insurers Planning New or Expanded Coverage (by exposure)
12% Design-build
18% Public-private partnerships
76% Cyber-liability
53% Drone usage
Total exceeds 100 percent because survey respondents gave multiple answers.
A buyer’s market
A new survey by Ames & Gough of 17 leading insurance companies providing A/E professional liability insurance has some good news for design firms with respect to their insurance, as well as insights that might aid their related risk management practices. An experienced insurance advisor can help design firms find the coverage and program structure required to address their evolving needs.
Joan DeLorey GUEST SPEAKER
Conducted earlier this year, the survey showed that even though a few insurance companies consolidated or withdrew from the architects and engineers professional liability insurance market, there’s still intense competition benefiting design firms purchasing this insurance. Here are six key takeaways from the survey that might inform how design firms approach their risk management and professional liability insurance. 1)Good news: It’s still a buyer’s market for profes- sional liability insurance. Even with the modest uptick in rates anticipated from some insurers, a plus for design firms is that the A/E professional liability insurance market continues to have a wide selection of insurance companies offering this cov- erage. For 2018, this will again enable firms with favorable loss experience and less risky disciplines to renew coverage with flat or only modestly increased
premium rates. In some cases, firms with increased revenues may be able to obtain some rate reduction to partially offset premium increases associated with growth. 2)Evaluate opportunities for expanded coverage. Of the insurers surveyed, 76 percent are exploring new or expanded coverage for cyber-liability; 53 per- cent, for drone usage; 18 percent, for certain risks associated with public-private partnerships; and 12 percent for design-build exposures. Check your cur- rent policy to see what additional coverages it pro- vides and see what’s new at renewal. With respect to cyber-risk, assess your insurance needs carefully and determine whether any coverage offered under your professional liability policy is adequate or if you need to consider a separate, stand-alone policy that will offer more robust protection, such as security breach notification and credit monitoring expenses,
See JOAN DELOREY, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER June 4, 2018, ISSUE 1251
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