What is casualty insurance for construction?
Casualty insurance helps provide construction businesses with a range of protections against risks that can cost their organizations a great deal. From job-related worker injuries to damage claims by third parties and accidents involving company vehicles, many unfortunate events can result in consequences that can impact company’s bottom line.
Zurich understands the challenges that contractors and developers face in today’s evolving construction industry. Regardless of the size or complexity of your construction project, an accident-related loss is a constant risk on any construction site. Our team of experienced Construction Casualty specialists will help protect your business and your workforce from the expanding range of risk exposures inherent to the construction industry.
Who needs construction casualty insurance?
All construction companies should have a complete portfolio of casualty insurance solutions to provide adequate protection against risks they face in today’s complex and increasingly litigious risk environment.
Through our suite of casualty products, Zurich meets the needs of construction professionals, including:
- General contractors, including architects and engineers
- Trade contractors
- Design professionals
- Environmental contractors and consultants
- Owner sponsors
What casualty solutions does Zurich provide?
Traditional casualty products
- Commercial General Liability – This product helps protect your business against claims of negligent acts or omissions resulting in bodily injury or property damage on your premises or after your construction projects are completed, with terms and conditions tailored to meet the construction industry’s particular needs.
- Auto Liability – This product provides indemnity and/or compensation for injury or physical damage due to the ownership, use or operation of motor vehicles.
- Workers’ Compensation – This product generally responds following an injury to your worker. Zurich can help you create an integrated Workers’ Compensation solution backed by services and tools designed to provide your employees with preventive and responsive care.
Additional liability coverages
- Contractor’s or Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity (CPPI/OPPI) – This specialized coverage offers protection to contractors and developers for construction errors incurred during the course of construction, including the design and engineering phases.
- Pollution Liability – Broad coverage including Contractor’s Professional Liability (CPL), Environmental Services Package (ESP) and Professional and Environmental Coverage (PEC).
Additional construction casualty coverages
- Lead Umbrella/Excess Casualty – Limits up to $25 million on an A/B form to help align policies and reduce coverage gaps.
- Contract Surety – A wide variety of bonds for public and private construction projects with up to $2 billion in capacity.
- Zurich Cyber Insurance Policy – A unified cyber insurance solution customized to meet specialized construction needs, with limits up to $25 million.
Pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation premiums
Because worker headcounts on a jobsite may vary for a variety of reasons, including temporary shutdowns due to weather extremes and other factors, Zurich's pay-as-you-go solution offers construction customers a new dimension in flexibility for managing Workers’ Compensation premiums. This feature allows you to pay premiums weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly or monthly, depending on how frequently you pay your employees. In addition to providing a higher level of transparency in the workers’ compensation billing processes, the Zurich Flexible Payroll Reporting Option places greater control over an important component of a contractor’s monthly expenses by more closely aligning premiums paid with current payrolls.
Consolidated Insurance Programs (CIP)
As a leading provider of insurance for the construction industry, Zurich provides Consolidated Insurance Programs (CIP) “wrap-up” coverage combining Workers’ Compensation and General Liability products for owners for owners and contractors who sponsor programs for their enrolled contractors and subcontractors.
Industry-leading construction Risk Engineering
As one of the industry’s leading construction insurers, Zurich has built a network of highly experienced Construction Risk Engineers who help identify risks, grade exposures, and then create strategic risk management plans to help customers prevent and mitigate risks.
Recommendations are based on in-depth industry knowledge and risk insights that can help create an effective loss-prevention strategy. Some of Zurich’s risk mitigation services include:
- Assessments of worker health and safety
- Quality management programs
- Subcontractor prequalification management
- Enterprise risk management
Dedicated Claims specialists
Our network of claims specialists offers a wide range of risk management and mitigation strategies, cost reviews and claims investigation, as well as case studies to help identify current and future risk exposures. Zurich’s team of dedicated customer service executives works collaboratively to create customized claim-handling procedures, conducting quarterly claim reviews and acting as an escalation point for service needs, as required.
We help construction customers build resilience
The goal of our risk management and Claims services is to help your organization build resilience against the inevitable risks that all construction firms may face during the normal course of business. Our mission is to help your business recover quickly and cost-effectively, should a loss occur.