Our consultants discuss with clients their specific requirements to help them:

• Identify risks through contract reviews
• Control risks with solutions in line with our client’s business strategy
• Arrange and oversee risk surveys
• Transfer risk through innovative and bespoke solutions. Our Clients are as individual as their businesses.

Our relationship with Standard and Poors 'A' rated global insurers affords our clients the highest quality of protection and all our insurance policies are individually tailored to the construction project and the contract applying to it. Our project policies are all Contract Certain from the beginning of the project. This enables the developer or contractor to negotiate preferential financial agreements on agreed and approved wordings.

We understand that using insurance as an investment tool can enhance a major construction project’s commercial value. This unique approach sets Ascent’s specialist consultants apart from the rest and is the reason why many major developers and contractors are part of our expanding client portfolio.

Latent Defects
Following the sale of a property, one of the most significant costs that the purchaser subsequently faces is repairs caused by an latent defect caused by defective workmanship, design or materials. For the owner, establishing liability and seeking compensation from third parties such as contractors or architects can be a long and expensive process. It is possible to boost revenue either by increasing the sale price or enhancing the rental income by offering a Latent Defects policy.

With extensive experience of arranging Latent Defects policies, Ascent can arrange tailored and competitive cover for up to 12 years cover which can then be freely reassigned if the property is resold within the 12-year period. A large part of the appeal to construction or development firms of this policy is that the costs involved are often significantly less than the resulting increase in the asset’s sale price.

Brownfield Sites

Until recently the arrangement of insurances for a construction project on a Brownfield site has been piecemeal with developers relying upon the numerous participating contractors each to arrange cover for their own works or the liabilities placed upon them by contract. This approach leads to gaps in covers, arguments between contractors as to who insures what and for how much but, most importantly for the developer, causes a duplication of insurance that unnecessarily increases the cost of the project

In recent times, Ascent Insurance Brokers have been changing the way insurance is viewed. Traditionally, insurance is seen as a cost that adversely impacts on the profit margin. We believe that insurance can be an investment tool to increase profit.

Our 'Owner Controlled Insurance Programme' (OCIP ) is an employer-controlled policy covering the 'Contract Works' and includes the main contractor and all sub-contractors extending to cover all liabilities for the employer and the contractors of any tier.

By using OCIP, the employer gains many advantages including:

• Insurance of revenue otherwise lost through a delay to the project from an insured event
• Debt servicing and the cost of a potential tenant’s alternative accommodation whilst they await the project to be restored
• Control of the overall insurance costs as well as control of any claim settlements.

There are numerous advantages to the contractor including:

• They do not have to rely upon their own annually arranged insurance covers. In essence this means that the work expended by a contractor on a project covered by an OCIP is declared separately to the turnover figure declared in their annual declaration to their insurance company.
• Their annual insurance bills are reduced. This allows the contractor to reduce their estimates for non-OCIP contracts. Should an incident occur on an OCIP policy, this does not affect the contractor’s annual insurances and so the contractor won’t be penalised by the insurer for perhaps many years following an incident, as normally the insurer would try to re-coup their claim payouts
• Annual insurance costs are reduced

Financiers derive comfort from an OCIP because they can see a specific policy wording designed for the construction project and, with debt servicing and future revenue insured, an employer or developer could secure project finance at preferential terms.

The National Federation of Demolition Contractors'(NFDC) Site Audit Scheme assists the developer by enabling them to access potentially cheaper insurance premiums for the OCIP but also makes the selection of the contractor simpler and less drawn out. This 'differentiator' puts the participating contractor at an advantage compared to non-participating companies because they are helping the developer maximise his profit and so the participating contractor is more likely to be selected for the job.

The UK Government and EU legislation is increasingly focused upon environmental issues. However, the burden of clearing up historical pollution and contamination of industrial land is ever more likely to fall upon property owners and developers.

The responsibility of such legislation could have a devastating effect upon a company’s business because of the potential costs involved in site remediation. Selling on land does not completely absolve a company from total responsibility for future clear up costs.

Insurance in the form of OCIP can enhance the asset value of a project and, by encouraging early participation in a project with soil remediation and demolition contractors, the project will get off to a good start. The “One Team” approach ensures that the developer is never delayed at any stage should damage occur. Acting quickly can make or break a development.

Ascent Insurance Brokers introduced 'Key Plus' specifically designed for property owners, developers and contractors involved with Brownfield site remediation. This is more than an insurance solution. It is an initiative that brings together all parties to a project including contractors, financiers, insurers and the developer’s project team. At each stage of the project ‘Key Plus’ delivers an opportunity for the maximising of profit and protection of the project itself. Our one team, one project, one aim approach has been widely endorsed throughout the UK.

Brownfield sites are a golden opportunity. Despite the introduction of legislation to burden the developer with the clear up costs of our industrial past, selective use of our insurance solutions coupled with initiatives like the NFDC Site Audit Scheme can be a great 'asset enhancer' to the developer. Contractors can reduce their insurance costs and reduce exposure to a major loss.