Chad Hollingsworth
HHow many general insurance management agencies can say they helped renovate and protect from damage a national landmark? Let me explain the context. You know that spiraling material costs, labor shortages and other challenges make it difficult for contractors and developers to stay on track and on budget. Any delay or interruption can devastate profits.
Purchasing builders risk insurance is a standard method of providing financial protection and risk transfer for damages and delays arising from covered incidents such as flood, fire or vandalism. It is bought by an owner or a main contractor. But when it comes to the losses that most often cause payouts for these policies, the source is not natural disasters as many expect.
By dollar amount, natural disasters represent a relatively small portion of builders’ risk losses. In contrast, industry data shows that non-flood water damage claims account for more than half of all payouts, totaling about $15 billion each year.
Unfortunately for policyholders, many costs fall outside policy recoveries, such as uninsured delays and project disruptions. Meanwhile, the price of these claims is rising with the average cost of construction water damage claims increasing by more than 20% and losses of more than $1 million in recent years tripling.
Proven technology can help solve the problem and ease the burden. By using Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring of small water detection, contractors and developers can prevent or mitigate otherwise costly water damage. You may also be eligible for more favorable insurance terms.
When the National Immigration Museum on Ellis Island recently underwent major improvements, the project team protected the museum and its historic contents with multiple IoT water detection sensors strategically deployed throughout the building. Connected by a wireless network for 24/7 monitoring, the sensors and software allowed the team to quickly detect and correct any water leaks or intrusions.
Here’s how we work the combination of technology and insurance: When a broker gets a builders risk quote from our company and when coverage is limited, my company non-invasively installs sensors around boilers and sanitation rooms, pipes or adjacent to valuable items or artefacts, anywhere there could be leaks. If a temperature change or moisture intrusion damage is detected, an alert is issued via text, email or an app message. The answer is quick.
We helped the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation acquire a water detection system to help us better protect the national treasure that is the Ellis Island Museum. Our company then provided builders risk insurance for the renovation project beginning in 2024. Because IoT technology was implemented, the insured received premium credits and deductible relief.
Not surprisingly, projects with active and properly installed IoT solutions tend to have reduced frequency and severity of claims, and some insurers have begun to reward this proactive approach with reduced premiums, lower deductibles or preferential access to coverage.
dDifferent solutions offer increasing levels of protection combined with a corresponding purchase deductible and price adjustments to help offset technology costs. The result is lower deductibles for water damage, up to $50,000, than can normally be several hundred thousand.
While IoT technology offers an advantage in new construction, it’s a bigger deal for contractors and developers in large adaptive reuse projects. These places often face a high risk of water loss. In these situations, installing active IoT monitoring, along with documenting water event responses and maintenance data, demonstrates measurable evidence of loss control that bolsters an insurance filing.
Permanent use of such sensor detection could reduce cost or enable improved program approvals in permanent property policies. Monitoring systems give developers and owners of a high-risk, tight-margin industry a long-term risk management advantage.
I look forward to visiting Ellis Island with my children and grandchildren to not only show them its tremendous history, but also to let them know, “Hey, I played a very small part in making it as beautiful as it is.”
