“We are very concerned about the rising prevalence of fire safety exclusions in professional indemnity policies.”
Those were the words of Ingleton Wood partner David Cresswell when the property and construction consultancy – one of the largest covering Central England, East Anglia, London, and the South East – lamented the impact of the hardening professional indemnity (PI) insurance market.
Following the exit of many underwriters, in part due to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, construction industry consultants and professionals – who take out PI insurance to cover the cost of potential claims – are finding themselves faced with higher premiums and reduced coverage.
Cresswell, whose camp is calling on the government to take urgent action, stated: “Fire carve-outs are shameful documents and essentially mean consultants would be uninsured for any passive or active fire issues, retrospectively as well as in the future.
“As we understand it, many other consultants are taking reduced cover as they simply cannot afford the full cover. This is a hugely damaging position for the industry and will no doubt have wider ramifications for building owners and occupiers.”
In the view of Ingleton Wood, the government could possibly underwrite the policies to ensure consultancies are comprehensively insured.
The consultancy partner asserted: “The built environment relies on competent consultants to apply the regulations in order to safeguard us all.
“It is therefore time for the government to step in with greater regulation or, even better, to underwrite the insurance itself. We are also lobbying local MPs, industry regulators, and other stakeholders to help tackle this very serious issue.”
