Incredibly, even the global economic crisis hasn’t hardened the Professional Liability Insurance market for Architects and Engineers. Today, there are more insurance companies offering A&E policies than ever. And, thanks to the increasing insurance savvy of Design Professionals (particularly those utilizing the services of specialist brokers), new Professional Liability insurers are offering more in the way of risk management and pre-claims assistance, too.

You’ll find all this information and more outlined in the The Hard Market That Never Came, an analysis of the 2013 Professional Liability Insurance Survey of Carriers, in the February 2014 issue of Engineering, Inc.

Author Maureen Conley interviewed insurance industry experts, including a/e ProNet president Jeff Todd, to supplement the findings of the survey. Having the chance to consider professional liability insurance providers as a group–comparing underwriting criteria and capacity–never fails to yield interesting insights. Among them:

“When shopping for [Professional Liability Insurance companies], experts caution that A/E-specific knowledge and the general quality of claim managers varies, as does access to reliable counsel, claims services, pre-claims assistance and other benefits… Price may well be the clearest distinguishing factor. But this year’s survey reinforces that it pays to read the fine print. Some low-priced carriers feature exclusions which can increase your risk.”

“Building Information Modeling (BIM), integrated project delivery, and sustainable design have not necessarily opened the door to more claims, as several carriers expected. A few carriers have found BIM projects to be low-risk; some even went as far as giving discounts to design clients that utilize BIM.”

“Carriers are on the lookout for potential claims related to climate change and its impact on building materials.” (For a more in-depth look at the way climate change may affect the engineering industry, flip back in a few pages in this issue of Engineering, Inc. and read Extreme Weather Resistance.)

This entire issue of Engineering, Inc. is available online. (We’re proud to have a beautiful ad for a/e ProNet on Page 24!) If you have any questions about your Professional Liability Insurance policy, be sure to contact your local a/e ProNet broker today.

• Read about the 2012 Professional Liability Insurance Survey of Carriers
• Read about the 2011 Professional Liability Insurance Survey of Carriers