The economic upswing over the past few years has been a boon for everyone, and perhaps the construction industry most of all. As a bell-weather industry, construction is always out front of all other industries when it comes to feeling the effects of whatever the economy is trying to do. And right now, that’s growth. But that growth also means increased risk as contractors have to delve deeper into their subcontractor pools to meet project schedules and deadlines.
With that in mind, we wanted to point everyone to a really great article recently published at My New Markets. Written by Jody T. Wright, Tom G. McCall, and Tony Page, a group of insurance professionals at Lockton, the article offers a great deal of information about where they’ve been noticing gaps in coverage, issues with additional insured coverage, and narrowing definitions of indemnity.
Bolstered by a resurgent economy and renewed optimism, the construction industry is showing signs of significant growth. Payrolls are increasing, more projects are coming online and the scope of work is increasing. Ample insurance coverage is available for both commercial and residential projects, and pricing is stable with the exception of New York and a few other states where construction defect actions are prevalent.
That’s positive bottom line news for contractors of every stripe. Yet a number of forces are combining to make obtaining the right insurance coverage more challenging than ever. We foresee developments on three major fronts in the coming year:
- Potential coverage gaps in project specific insurance.
- Reduced coverage for additional insureds.
- Limited indemnity leaving contractors potentially exposed
All of these factors warrant careful attention for contractors and risk managers.
We highly suggest giving it a read. It’ll go a long way to helping you understand how to keep your construction company protected in the coming year. Click here to read the full article – “This Year’s Construction Industry Trends.“