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Builders Risk – What’s in a Name?

Broken sliding glass door

I don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence, but there’s a misunderstanding that has come up more than once, and we need to make things clear:  Builders Risk does not insure your liability to members of the public.  Clear as mud, right?  Well, don’t shoot the messenger. Whoever came up with the name “Builders Risk” must not have thought about how anyone other than an insurance person would think. It sounds simple. If you’re a builder you have risk, and Builders Risk insurance should cover that risk whatever it is. That should include a person tripping and falling at your jobsite and suing you for his injuries. Right? Wrong.

Builders Risk is a form of property insurance that covers you for the loss or destruction of your materials at the jobsite WHILE IN THE COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION. So fire, windstorm, hail damage, theft, vandalism and so on are covered. Trip and fall claims are not. You need General Liability for these – not Builders Risk.*

When you think about Builders Risk, think about Course of Construction instead. That’s a much better name for this very important coverage. Why all this concern about names? We’ve had more than one or two inquiries from builders looking for Builders Risk, but really needing General Liability. They make the mistake of thinking the two are the same. Some of these builders have allowed their General Liability policies to lapse thinking they didn’t need them. Don’t let this happen to you.

If you are not sure about what coverage you need, give us a call at 1-866-454-2155 or visit us at www.RwcInsuranceAdvantage.com. Allow us a few minutes of your time and we can help you determine your Builders Risk and General Liability coverage needs. We could save you from suffering an uncovered loss. We might even save you some money in the process.

*These statements are not meant to include all that Builders Risk and General Liability covers. For complete information, please read your policies.

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