PRODUCT: Builders risk insurance
COMPANY: Victor O. Schinnerer & Co. Inc.
BEST RATING: A+ (Superior)
AVAILABILITY: Coverage is available through independent agents and brokers.
FOCUS: ABC Construction is about to complete a new, custom single-family home. The construction crews pack up early one afternoon just before a severe thunderstorm is expected to hit. During the storm, lightning strikes a tree, causing a large branch to break off and crash through several of the newly installed windows. The storm also scatters debris throughout the jobsite, damaging the structure.
Additional expenses are necessary to repair the structural damage and replace numerous custom windows. The time required to replace these windows, repair the damage and clean the site delays completion of the home.
That’s where Victor O. Schinnerer & Company’s builders risk insurance program comes in.
“Natural disasters, fires and theft are all risks that buildings and homes under construction can experience,” explains Jeff Benson, vice president and senior underwriting manager of Schinnerer’s builders risk program. “And when they do happen, owners and builders are the ones responsible.”
To protect residential and commercial construction sites against these hazards, Schinnerer expands its builders risk program to include commercial, remodel, renovations and installation floaters in addition to residential coverage.
“We listened to the broker community and created a program that provides excellent coverage, broad eligibility, superior customer service and state-of-the-art technology,” Benson says. “With our new portal, we make it easy for brokers to quote and issue policies in just a few simple steps—and even print the policy in real time right in their office. We call it doing business with fewer clicks.”
UNDERWRITING: Coverage options include theft of building materials, interest of subcontractors, pollutant cleanup and removal, ordinance or law, soft costs, expediting expenses, business income and extra expenses, testing, permission to occupy, protective safeguard warranty, and state or county level rates and guidelines.
Owners or contractors can purchase the policy. If a construction loan is involved, the lending institution may require builders risk insurance to protect the funds.
If clients experience a loss, the Schinnerer policy provides an automatic $50,000 coverage limit to expedite expenses. If a loss causes a delay, the policy pays for soft costs incurred during a delay period caused by a loss of $100,000. Examples include interest on a loan, real estate taxes and ground rents, advertising and promotional expenses, project administration expense, and insurance premium. The Schinnerer form automatically includes this coverage.
MINIMUM PREMIUM: $400.
TARGET: New residential and commercial construction, residential and commercial remodeling, and installation floaters.
COVERAGE TERRITORY: Residential coverage is available in all U.S. states except Alaska and Hawaii. Commercial, remodeling and installation floater coverage is currently available in most states and expected to be available in all 50 by the end of 2016.
CONTACT: Jeffrey Benson, vice president and senior underwriting manager; Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc., 4600 Touchton Road, Building 100, Suite 150, Jacksonville, FL 32246; 904-565-2949.
Ronimarie Acord is an IA contributor.
