Going the distance

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By keeping pace with changes and challenges its agents and insureds face, Victor Insurance evolves alongside the market it serves – including fostering agile expertise in specialized areas like General & Artisan Contractors coverage

LOOKING AT its track record, Victor Insurance can go the distance: its longevity in the marketplace, ability to evolve alongside the areas it serves, and deep expertise within the products offered make it a standout in the field. “Many of our underwriters and risk-management colleagues have been with us a long time, and this is what we do every day,” says Kathleen Curry, vice president at Victor Insurance and long-time professional liability underwriter. “I’ve underwritten architects and engineers, consultants, and contractors as well and that’s the norm here. You get a breadth of experience with Victor: we know what we’re doing.”

Victor Insurance Managers LLC is a leading global managing general underwriter. At Victor, underwriting management has been a distinct discipline for over 65 years. Our expertise lies in evaluating and underwriting risks, developing and executing risk management activities, and servicing accounts on behalf of our insurance carrier partners. We carefully select leading insurance carriers to partner with in our chosen markets and, in most cases, we act as the exclusive managing general underwriter. We then distribute our solutions through a large distribution network of licensed insurance agents and brokers. Victor’s mission is to consistently create superior products and to provide outstanding service and exceptional value to each and every customer. Our vision is to be recognized as an elite specialty insurance provider/distributor and grow through valued service, innovation, and expertise. Victor is the insurance enterprise of the future. Large but nimble, rooted in rich history but fueled by the latest technology, we are driven by the view that disruption is simply an opportunity for progress. Victor offers a unique combination of global reach and specialized expertise with core capabilities in underwriting, technology, distribution, and capital. Together, we are all victors.

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“Many of our underwriters and risk-management colleagues have been with us a long time, and this is what we do every day. I’ve underwritten architects and engineers, consultants, and contractors as well and that’s the norm here. You get a breadth of experience with Victor: we know what we’re doing”

Kathleen Curry, Victor Insurance

Victor Insurance keeps pace with the changes and challenges its insureds face, and one of the biggest issues for contractors is COVID-19’s continued presence. Onsite work is the nature of the job, and contractors have to take measures to protect their employees while also ensuring adequate protections on the project end, through extra resources for things like filtration systems in office buildings or restaurants, for example. “Contractors, in conjunction with design professionals on the job with them, must educate the owner with respect to the pros, cons, and costs for the right solution,” Curry says.

COVID-19 also battered the supply chain, causing contractors to look closer to home for supplies that would historically come cheaper from overseas. The downside of these substitutions is uncertainty: the contractors don’t know the long-term quality of a different product, or the relationship with a new vendor might not be the best fit. Again, it comes down to weighing the pros and cons, but “time will tell as we move forward,” Curry says. The pandemic also exacerbated existing challenges. The construction industry has long experienced labor shortages and is finding it even more difficult to staff ongoing projects. The Associated General Contractors of America’s annual survey found that 80 percent of respondents reported having a hard time filling some or all hourly craft positions and salaried positions. Another 72 percent said they increased base pay from 2021 to 2022 to retain the people they had and get new talent in the door.

With elevated interest rates, constrained capital, and sustained inflation, macro-economic trends are another area of concern. From the cost of borrowing money for a project to the rising cost of supplies throwing budgets out of whack, contractors face much uncertainty. While some predict that interest rates holding steady or decreasing by the end of 2024 would translate to a more positive outlook for general contractors, Curry notes that remains to be seen. There are also several unsettled issues on the global stage that impact contractors, including ongoing conflict in Gaza and Ukraine, and no one can escape the ripple effect of climate change. “Wildfires, hurricanes, record-breaking storms, and just environmental instability in general can create havoc within the building industry: it’s global warming and we’re feeling it and seeing it,” Curry says. “Contractors and design teams have to think about building structures to withstand these extremes that weren’t on the radar before.”

The E&O product stands out because it’s one of the few in the market that extends to faulty workmanship in the insured’s self-performed work as well as the use of defective products or materials. An example would be someone installing an HVAC system that was an insufficient size so must go back in to correct it – that claim would be covered, and knowing it’s covered also eases the client relationship. “Someone who does work for a big entity doesn’t want to butt heads over who’s responsible for what,” Curry says. “Knowing you can turn it over to your insurance company to be made whole and preserve the relationship with your customer is a win-win.” Another important point is that in the market, the terms “professional liability” and “errors & omissions” are used

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Published Jan 29, 2024

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“We always talk about insurance getting you that good night’s sleep. We’re dedicated to holistically helping firms, we try to make things easier, and we continue to evolve”

Kathleen Curry, Victor Insurance

There are various ways contractors can mitigate risk, from avoiding it completely in some cases to having effective contract language. But to cover the basic transfer of risk, Victor’s suite of General & Artisan Contractors products is a great option. They can purchase Professional Liability, which is written for general contractors, Errors and Omissions, which is written for artisan or trade contractors, as well as Pollution Incident Liability coverage, which can be added to the Professional Liability and E&O policies or written on a stand-alone basis. In addition, Cyber Liability can also be purchased as a separate product. In her role, Curry quite often has customers who say they don’t have any pollution exposure but need coverage for a government contract or because of work with large entities who require it, but when she breaks down for

Always seeking to understand the ins and outs of the industries it serves as well as emerging areas of opportunity, Victor doesn’t stand still: since its inception, the company has embraced constant change and consistent improvement. Pioneering an Architects and Engineers Professional Liability product in 1957, the company recognized other types of firms have professional exposure in the construction industry as well and built out a suite of coverage for design firms, construction consultants, and, finally, contractors. Looking at the latter’s problems and what they were being sued for, Victor filled a gap in the market and began writing Contractors coverage; then, seeing that artisan trade contractors face some different exposures, it was again quick to meet the need they identified. Now, the website hosts lots of information and resources around the General & Artisan Contractors program for brokers and agents including short-form applications, educational articles, coverage checklists, and appetite guides. Additionally, through Victor Risk Advisory, there is a range of risk-management resources for insureds such as claim scenarios, loss control guidance, and much more. In 2024, a priority is adding more tools and resources for contractors, in particular, Curry says. “We always talk about insurance getting you that good night’s sleep. We’re dedicated to holistically helping firms, we try to make things easier, and we continue to evolve.”

The evolution continues

them what the policy covers – including proactive coverage for mold (which is built into the form) and transportation, storage, and disposal exposures – they realize many things can happen on a job site that result in a pollution issue. “Other pollution products in the marketplace may link coverage to a wrongful act, negligent error, or omission, but with us, coverage is linked to the insured’s regular activity, which isn’t defined under the policy,” Curry says. Along the same lines, small construction industry firms often think they don’t have much cyber exposure, but at this stage it’s everywhere. The 2013 Target breach where hackers accessed the information of 70 million customers, resulting in an $18 million settlement, by hacking a refrigeration contractor Target was working with is a prime example – and Curry can’t help but note that this mechanical contractor would have been eligible for coverage in the Victor program. Increasingly, cyber is another area where large entities and governmental bodies are now requiring coverage with at least a $1 million limit, and Victor’s cyber products are a great option for mitigating that risk.

interchangeably but Victor writes distinctive policies for each. Under Victor’s Professional Liability, general contractors are covered for in-house design exposure as well as any vicarious exposure from hiring a licensed design professional. The E&O product was a nice addition for Victor because the coverage it provides is tailored to the specialist artisan or trade contractor. “We will cover them for their design services, but most don’t have that exposure: what they do have is faulty workmanship or defective products or materials exposure, and the E&O policy covers those pieces,” Curry says. “Again, some will tell us they have no exposure, but once we point out what it covers, the response is, Wow, why didn’t I know about this? Where do I sign up? It really is a meaningful product.”

80%

41%

72%

56%

48%

AGC 2023 Survey

Difficulty in filling open positions:

It will continue to be difficult in 2024:

Increased base pay more in 2022 than 2021:

Turned to alternative suppliers:

Main reason for postponed or cancelled projects – Rising costs:

40%

Environmental statistics of note

of global carbon emissions come from the built environment

70–80%

of construction and demolition waste isn’t currently recycled

Source: Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction

Source: www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Shaping_the_Future_of_ Construction_full_report__.pdf