Fire is biggest cause of loss in construction insurance claims

Image: London Fire Brigade

Fire is the biggest cause of financial loss in insurance claims in the engineering sector worldwide, according to the latest figures.

Finance firm Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) studied over 13,000 engineering and construction insurance claims over five years and found that fire accounted for 27% or $2.35bn (£1.9bn) of the $8.8bn (£7.2bn) worth of claims made.

Defective products caused the most engineering claims by frequency, and comprised the second largest group by severity, according to the analysis.

Storm damage was the second largest cause of loss by number, accounting for one in 10 claims.

Martin Eckel, AGCS senior general adjuster, said: “We are seeing an increase in claims related to defects and quality control across the board.”

Larger developments running for longer periods of time can bring bigger losses and claims, Raymond Hogendoorn, AGCS global head of property and engineering claims, said: “Sums insured are now much larger – projects with values of $5bn (£4bn) to $10bn (£8bn) are not unusual, meaning claims can be in the tens of millions of dollars.”

New technologies, such as drones, laser scanning, and computer modelling can help streamline efficiency and claims, Hogendoorn, said: “There are so many parties on a site at one time, and so many activities happening simultaneously, it can be extremely difficult to understand the sequence of a loss event. 

“However, we can increasingly use technology to access data and information to better understand the root cause of loss and speed up the claims process.”