Navigating the Hard Market: Creating a Winner Insurance Claim

Insurance companies are currently overwhelmed with new business and renewal applications. As the insurance landscape becomes increasingly volatile, more project developers and contractors are eager to market their insurance programs and find better options. As a result, applications are piling up on the desks of underwriters across the country. The quality of your submissions can have a significant impact on insurance and warranty terms and rates.

Business How can you be sure your posts will stand out?

Before delving into strategy, it’s important to understand the underwriter’s perspective. Construction projects inherently contain unique risks, and underwriters scrutinize applications with close attention to detail and a focus on mitigating these risks. Their job is to identify and select risks according to guidelines and ensure profitability for the insurance company.

Your application tells the story of your business and provides an entry point for insurance companies to assess risk and make informed decisions. Unfortunately, incomplete submissions often end up on your desk, creating unwanted additional work. This can unknowingly put your business at a huge disadvantage.

Killer submissions are critical to unlocking preferential terms and rates. Here’s what you need to make sure your broker works with you to include:

• Risk transparency: Detailed submissions give insurers a transparent view of your operations, projects and risk management strategy. This transparency increases trust and allows insurers to more accurately assess risk. Identifying and recognizing a risk does not mean that it is wrong for an insurance company to take on that risk. However, attempting to minimize or disguise the risks of a project or program can damage your credibility. Without complete information, underwriters may feel they need to assume the worst in terms of underwriting eligibility and/or pricing.

• Mitigation strategies: Demonstrate a proactive approach to risk management by outlining a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy within your submission. Insurers value organizations that identify potential risks themselves and have concrete plans to address them. A contractor who works at height and can demonstrate a sound risk management plan for this work is at a different risk than a contractor who performs the same work but cannot demonstrate a plan to reduce the risk. This has even greater impact if the contractor can ensure that the plan is properly communicated, implemented and executed.

• Data-driven insights: By incorporating relevant data and analysis into your submissions, you can gain a deeper understanding of your organization’s performance. This can include historical claims data, safety records, and project-specific metrics, giving insurers objective, fact-based insight into their risk profile. Data is also important for analyzing industry benchmarks for similar risks and understanding why certain risks stand out from a quantitative perspective.

Business Building trust and confidence

• Building long-term relationships: Submitting thorough and accurate information establishes a foundation of trust. Insurers are more likely to offer preferential terms and rates to organizations they see as transparent, trustworthy, and committed to risk mitigation. Indicate that you would like the insurance company’s opinion on better ways to manage your risk. After all, they see the good, the bad and the bad of the industry as a whole and can provide a broader perspective than a contractor could develop on their own.

• Attention to detail: A carefully prepared submission demonstrates your organization’s professionalism and attention to detail. This makes the insurance company’s job easier and shows that the organization takes risk management seriously. Anticipate insurance company questions and provide answers before they are asked.

Business Gain a competitive edge with Procore data

In the dynamic landscape of the insurance industry, being competitive is critical. Traditionally, standard rating plans in the insurance industry focus on a few variables that indirectly represent risk. However, Procore data goes to a deeper level by providing dozens of variables that directly represent operational risk. This is why our customers pay attention. Procore’s in-house insurance/guarantee brokerage business Differentiate yourself with Procore’s unique risk data.

Beyond standard filings, we present a wealth of well-curated project-specific insights and industry benchmarks derived from Procore’s extensive data analysis to help explain why your company is a priority risk. Imagine presenting an enhancement to an underwriter.

Procore Risk Advisor recognizes the impact of data-rich submissions. for example, Southeast Clients was implementing a multi-year strategic growth plan to diversify its project portfolio and acquire more federal work. They have recently won several large contracts from the federal government, and their backlog has reached an all-time high of nearly $100 million. Unfortunately, the Guarantor Partners were unable to expand the Kizuna program, which hampered their growth plans. Procore Risk Advisors’ assurance team worked to create a data-driven filing that highlighted the organization’s financial excellence. This has made underwriters more comfortable accepting credit risk. As a result, the contractor was able to receive her 40% increased surety capacity and support on his largest bond to date within five business days.

In a market where contract terms and rates can have a significant impact on revenue, contractors can leverage data to gain a competitive advantage by unlocking preferential terms and building long-lasting partnerships.

Your submission is more than just paperwork. It’s your company’s story and a strategic tool for building a resilient and prosperous future for your team.