Well-insured building means finer work

"There are still contractors who think calamities mainly happen to others. Until disaster strikes one of their projects." Speaking is Age Tanja, partner and broker at Rotterdam-based Anchor Insurance B.V. Starting as an insurance broker with a focus on the marine world (founded in late 2005/early 2006), there Anchor Insurance now also serves the GWW sector. "From insuring shipbuilding and vessels, it soon moved to the 'wet contractor' and thus the link to the GWW sector became a reality," Age outlines.

Among other things, Anchor Insurance handles corporate liability insurance (AVB). "In addition, we do a lot in property and liability. We are a specialist broker and offer a full range of insurance. We now employ 38 people at Anchor Insurance, 11 of whom are shareholders. That makes us 100% independent."

Four pillars

Looking at the four pillars on which Anchor Insurance rests, we distinguish property, marine, construction and liability. With resounding names in the clientele of the well-known large dredging and construction companies, it is clear that Anchor Insurance has quality to offer. "For ships, we arrange Protection and Indemnity insurance. I myself am a specialist in Construction insurance, then it can be for example quay walls, pipelines, offshore wind energy, oil and gas," Age explains. "We come into the picture as a broker when constructing ports, building tank terminals and renovating or building quays. The insurance starts when the first day of construction arrives. Throughout the construction period, our client is insured. The maintenance phase following construction is often insured as well, just not all-risk. Then you have to think more about damage resulting from mistakes in the construction period or design phase."

Custom advice

In principle, projects are not subject to mandatory CAR insurance. "However, what you almost always see is that the client's contracts stipulate that the contractor be properly insured. In such cases, we request those contracts and look at the liabilities with them. That way, we can seamlessly match our client's insurance with the client's requirements. Real tailor-made advice," says Age.

Anchor Insurance always looks at what is already taken care of by the customer himself and, where necessary, supplements the insurance by buying in the right parts. Age: "We look at the customer-insurer-broker triangle. Our way of working is always transparent; our client doesn't like unwanted surprises any more than we do. Sharing information is of the utmost importance here. After all: as long as the policy is in the drawer, everything is okay. In the event of a claim, however, you want to be as well insured as possible."

At home in the GWW

"We are now well established in the GWW," Age continues. "When we stop by to talk, we do the same with the tender manager and the project manager, for example."     

Anchor Insurance offers Construction All Risks (CAR) insurance for the construction industry. "An umbrella coverage, you might call it. All parties involved in construction are insured under CAR insurance. The whole work is covered, the client, the contractor, his subcontractors, suppliers and also the architect. Own risk with such insurance varies, depending on the size of a project. If the work is large enough, large contractors often have no problem with a higher deductible (often also prescribed by insurers. Often a contractor does alert his subcontractors to the presence of CAR insurance, but he makes it clear to them that they are responsible for mistakes they themselves make. Those subcontractors in turn can take out insurance that covers their own mistakes, with a deductible."

Why all the work in one insurance policy?

"By having the work in one insurance policy, you try to avoid blaming each other for things," Age explains. "Nobody is waiting for a discussion. As a broker and in consultation with insurers, when calamities occur we assign an expert who finds out for us what the actual damage is and how it could have occurred. Of course, they also help settle the claim, together with Anchor Insurance's dedicated team of claims handlers (8 people). This puts the adjuster in a four-way relationship with the client, the broker and the insurer."

CAR insurance is made up of a number of sections including the work itself, liability, existing property of the client, tools, chain and sheds and property of management and staff," Age outlines.

Matching insurance policies

Damages can occur and occur in many ways. Possible damages include subsidence, ground or material slippage, weather damage, execution errors, design errors and material defects. "We therefore link insurances to make everything fit together. AVB, CAR, P&I ... we as Anchor Insurance take care of the right balance and overlap and make everything fit together seamlessly. Service is a top priority for us (answering the phone -really being reachable-, doing what you promise), as well as coming to the table early, thinking along and being transparent. In the end, we too like to see our customers come back," Age concludes.