Why choosing an agent who knows the ins and outs of the crane business can make or break your policy.
Jeff Haynes, a national heavy construction practice leader for USI, a leading insurance brokerage and P&C consulting company with 150 offices across the country, has been in the crane insurance industry for more than twenty years.
In that time, he’s accumulated a lot of industry-specific crane insurance knowledge. We had a chance to ask him a few questions about what makes a crane insurance agent proficient.
What does a successful crane insurance agent need to know about the industry?
Heavy construction companies should look for an agent who understands the industry as an industry, and not simply from an insurance standpoint.
They should be able to advise them on critical items like crane-specific OSHA rules and regulations and ASME standards.
They should also help incorporate those rules, regulations and standards into their contracts in order to develop meaningful risk-transfer tools.
A good agent will advise the insured on the proper contract terms and conditions needed to assume and transfer risk accordingly.
What does a successful crane insurance agent need to know about contracts and contract language?
The agent should also be actively engaged in claims strategy, litigation management, and any sort of contract redrafting that needs to occur.
What does a successful crane insurance agent need to fully understand the crane insurance market?
Experience matters. You can’t teach experience.
Companies should look for an agent who has extensive references within their particular niche – a crane broker who can dissect the actual scope of work that you are performing at a job site while using the standards and rules that apply to the parties on the job to transfer risk accordingly.
What does a successful crane insurance agent need to fully understand crane insurance coverage?
When you have the right agent, they’ll have the knowledge and expertise to work with your carrier, using a network of industry specialists, to navigate to your best result.
A good agent will help make sure that all the engineers, adjusters, and lawyers working on your claims are well versed in the crane and rigging industry and working together.
Having the right agent helps give insurance buyers control of their total cost of risk now and in the future.
