By: Ken McComb
A while ago, I got a call for help from a producer who writes a growing engineering firm. This engineering firm secured a design contract on a large project. The prime design firm on this project had a contractual requirement that all sub-design firms carry professional liability insurance limits of $5,000,000.
This broker had written this risk though a very large, well-known wholesaler at limits of $2,000,000. When presented with the contractual requirements, the wholesaler went back to the insurance company they placed the risk with for increased limits. The carrier presented just a couple options and those options were very expensive. This is when the Broker came to PDI for help.
PDI’s success has always been our knowledge of the design professional product and our relationships with our underwriters. In many instances, a cookie-cutter approach to this coverage simply won’t work for insured’s. Knowing what our underwriters are able to do, and helping them think outside the box is the best way to tackle a tough issue.
In this example we were not able to get what we wanted with their current carrier, but we were able to create a hybrid product with another carrier that this wholesaler doesn’t have access to. We increased their primary limit to satisfy the majority of contracts this engineering firm signs and added a blanket endorsement that would satisfy the limits required on this project and any other that they may work on going forward.
The design community relies on their Insurance Broker to take care of their insurance needs. Our Brokers rely on the experts at PDI to make sure they can. Give us a call and let us go to work for you on all of your Design Professional and General Liability Insurance needs.
About PDI
PDI is an Indianapolis-based wholesale brokerage firm with a national network that includes thousands of insurance agents, brokers, architects, engineers and contractors in all 50 states. Since PDI’s beginning in 1980, we’ve handled a single line of coverage: errors & omissions (E&O) for design professionals. Contact Us today for a review of your design client's insurance program.
