Masonry Magazine April 1965 Page. 7
# Special Report:
On a subject matter of vital concern
to every responsible mason contractor
INSURANCE FOR CONTRACTORS
By Walter T. Derk, Fred S. James & Co.
The Mason Contractors Association of America is pleased to present this Special Report on "Insurance For Contractors". It is a comprehensive guide to liability exposures common to the Construction Industry and the Insurance coverages available to protect against them. The Report will cover General Liability, Property Damage, Contractual Liability, Illinois Scaffolding Act, Automobile Liability and Workmen's Compensation. Make sure you read this and every part of this masonry feature.
Part IV
POLICY EXTENSIONS
Having listed most of the exclusions and limitations common to the basic Comprehensive General Liability Policy form, we shall do the same for standard endorsements designed to extend and broaden coverage:
A-Occurrence Bodily Injury
By endorsement, the word "accident" in the Bodily Injury Insuring Agreement may be deleted in favor of "occurrence", an automatically broader term. The intent here is to cover losses not definitely traceable to a specific time or place, repeated exposure to some cause of injury being one, the inhalation of smoke fumes over a period of time, for example.
Most contract specifications now require this extension and some insurance carriers have made it part of their printed policy. It is widely available for an additional premium equal to 1% of the Bodily Injury premium otherwise developed by the policy, subject to an annual minimum charge of about $5. Recommended.
MASONRY April, 1965
B-Occurrence Property Damage
An endorsement designed to accomplish the same thing for the Property Damage Insuring Agreement is sometimes available, but most insurance carriers are much less willing to write it, and it is apt to cost a good deal more premium when it is available.
Such reluctance to provide the coverage is attributable to a greater loss expectancy here than in Occurrence Bodily Injury. Damage to property allegedly caused by any number of subtle causes over a long period of time may be encountered, including pollution, erosion, fumes, deterioration and other insidious causes which become apparent only after the fact. The policy period itself becomes a problem, too, because coverage applies only to accidents or occurrences which take place between the effective date and expiration date. Who is to say exactly when damage due to such causes took place?
When available, the premium charge normally reflects specific exposure to such losses expressed in terms of a percentage of the Property Damage premium or a flat charge for the project to be insured.
C-Blanket Contractual Liability
Until a few years ago, we had to say that Blanket Contractual Liability Insurance to automatically cover all written agreements was not widely available to contractors. Some of the larger ones could buy it, but the (continued on page 9)
This material is copyrighted by Walter T. Derk, 1963, and can not be reproduced in any manner without the written permission by both Mr. Derk and the MCAA.