Making a Claim Effectively and Other Insurance Tips

Construction Insurance: Understanding Common Exclusion Issues

There are numerous risks involved in the construction industry. Therefore, it is critical for you to ensure that your business is properly covered in case of an unexpected incident. There are multiple issues that you should consider if you are planning on buying insurance for the first time or are thinking of making some changes. One of the common issues that you must address is exclusions. There are some elements which people assume are covered by their insurance policies, but they might not be included. If you purchase a policy without understanding these issues, you will end up with significant gaps in coverage. Here are the common exclusion issues to remember when buying or changing your civil contracting insurance.

Claims-Made Exclusions

The claims-made insurance exclusion is an important issue to cover when purchasing a policy. This problem is particularly common when dealing with commercial general liability. In general, many policies are written with a claims-made exclusion. This means that the concerned policy will only cover the claims for damages or injuries which occur and are filed within the period of the coverage. If you change to a new insurer, past damages will not be covered. If you would like to avoid this gap, you should get a policy with a claims-occurrence provision. This type of coverage will cover damages occurring during the period the policy was active, even if you change the insurer.

Project Exclusions

There are some projects which are excluded in insurance coverage due to the high risks involved. In simple terms, there are some processes which are performed by contractors, but their risk of failure and subsequent filing of a claim is high. For example, the construction of building frames and soil grading might be considered high-risk and will not be covered by a traditional general liability policy. In some cases, projects such as condominium construction will also be excluded due to the high risk for the insurer. Therefore, you should discuss the details with a qualified insurance agent to avoid misunderstanding.

Third-Party Liabilities

You should check whether your insurer covers third-party liabilities that you might assume in the future when purchasing an insurance policy. In most cases, a traditional cover will not include the coverage of liabilities that the construction company has assumed from a contractor. Therefore, if this is a concern for your company, you should choose a customised cover which will cover these liabilities.

Choosing the right insurance policies for your construction company can be a challenging undertaking. Therefore, you should consult an insurance expert for guidance and advice before making your purchase.