A Story About a Claim

In January of 2017, I received a phone call from a client that the building they were renovating had caught on fire and half of the tenants had to be evacuated to a nearby school. The Red Cross was even activated to help with the displaced tenants.

The CEO of this company had just been promoted from within the accounting department having been groomed for the position for several years. One of the first items she was tasked with was purchasing a Builders Risk Policy for a multi-million-dollar renovation at one of their locations.

The builder had received a quote for the project and I was asked to evaluate and comment. I provided my input, and ultimately the CEO chose to secure the Builders Risk through HUB based on the information my team and I provided. The cost of the policy was nearly double because the builder only addressed their exposure in building the project and not the exposure for my clients, loss of rents, delay in construction, soft costs with regards to permitting, and fees from financing with the bank.

This was my first large loss with a Builders Risk policy and it took several months of working with the client and carrier to accrue and pay costs associated with the loss. My team and I had several meetings with the owner and contractor to address remediation plans and costs. We had to evacuate the tenants of the property to a hotel for several months and get the project back on task. It was a long process, but we had the right coverages in place to protect our client, the families of the property, and the community from displacing hundreds of people.

I also got to see first-hand the compassion of people and their willingness to help others.

The Red Cross, in conjunction with the school, helped these folks get food, clothing, shelter, and access to medications. It was gratifying to know our carrier partners were there to help our client when they were most vulnerable.