The construction and real estate industry continue to grow and so do the risk exposures from a fundamental inconsistency between a contract’s commercial intent and insurance policy language. “Additional Insured” is a very common requirement in a real estate or construction contract and many times there is a distinct lack of specificity with what is, actually, being required and why the provision is appropriate. Additional Insured status provides vicarious liability coverage to an outside entity, usually, an owner or general contractor, under the subcontractor’s policy. It is often a requirement in construction contracts, and it can be the source of insurance disputes if not handled correctly given the changes in the regulatory framework of today’s insurance policies.
Topics: Construction, Construction Accidents, Construction Premiums, Construction Project Risk, Insurance, Limit of Liability, Property Risk, Real Estate, Risk management, Risk Management Blog, Strategic Risk Management, The ALS Group, Total Cost of Risk
One of the areas often overlooked, but vital to an insured, is the defense costs coverage a liability policy provides. As some insureds may be aware, there are two types of defense costs payments, those policies that pay “in addition” to the limits and those whose payments are “within” the policy limits.
Topics: Construction Project Risk, defense costs, Employment Practices, Fiduciary, General, Liability, Limit of Liability, Risk management, Risk Management Blog, Strategic Risk Management, Total Cost of Risk
In its 2012 Report to the Nations, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) found that organizations typically lose five percent of their revenue to fraud each year. Even more frightening is this statistic from that report: the medium loss of survey respondents was $140,000. Over one-fifth of the losses studied exceeded $1 million. Small-to-medium sized businesses are often fraud targets because they lack anti-fraud controls. The smallest organizations in the ACFE study suffered the largest median losses.
Topics: Employee Dishonesty, Human Capital, Limit of Liability, Reputational Risk, Risk Management Blog, Risk Review, Strategic Risk Management, The ALS Group, Total Cost of Risk (TCoR)
Jury verdicts for premises liability against those who own or manage land, stores, taverns, shopping malls and apartment complexes just keep climbing. A few California verdicts include a $7.5 million judgment after a chiropractor slipped and fell in a Starbucks and a $55 million verdict for a gang-related shooting against a security company that oversaw on-site safety at an apartment complex.
Topics: Claim Reporting, Claims Handling, Claims Management, Construction, Limit of Liability, Property Risk, Real Estate, Risk Management Blog, Strategic Risk Management, Total Cost of Risk (TCoR)