Prospect Mutual Management and Sanctuary Insurance Brokers have combined their expertise to create the Architects Insurance Scheme (AIS).<\/p>\n
They said policies offered through the initiative \u2018meet the specific needs of SME architects\u2019 and claim that practices using it could see their premiums fall by a fifth. However, the ultimate aim is to gather enough companies from the sector together to form a mutual, which would be owned by those insured by it.<\/p>\n
Legal experts warned earlier this year<\/a> that a Supreme Court ruling, which interpreted important elements of legislation including the Building Safety Act 2022, increased the need for practices to hold \u2018comprehensive\u2019 professional indemnity insurance.<\/p>\n Yet premiums and exclusions have been rising since the Grenfell Tower tragedy<\/a>, and the price of cover has been cited in company closures<\/a> and conduct hearings<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018AIS was developed in response to concerns shared with us directly by architectural practices,\u2019 said the pair behind the latest product launch.<\/p>\n \u2018Professional indemnity insurance had become expensive, restrictive and out of step with how modern firms actually work. Practices were paying more but getting less with exclusions they couldn\u2019t challenge and claims processes that felt one-sided.<\/p>\n \u2018We built AIS to offer something better. A scheme tailored to the realities of architectural work today. Designed with input from architects, backed by experienced brokers and with a clear roadmap to becoming a mutual.\u2019<\/p>\n Prospect and Sanctuary said their product covered legal costs and expenses from defending claims, as well as compensation for financial loss due to errors, omissions or negligence in delivering professional services.<\/p>\n They added: \u2018AIS is a professional indemnity insurance solution built for small to medium-sized architectural practices. It provides tailored cover that reflects how modern firms work and the real risks they face.\u2019<\/p>\n Rikul Patel, head of mutual management at Prospect, said \u2018hundreds\u2019 of design firms were looking at the scheme, which is in its infancy but could evolve into a mutual within two years.<\/p>\n \u2018The entire focus of a mutual is to reduce the level of profit taken out by others,\u2019 he added. \u2018They are there for people who are risk aware and willing to operate in line with legislation and focus on training and development.<\/p>\n \u2018A mutual can pay claims a traditional insurance company might not, the people managing the claims understand the issues you face. And any surplus has to be used for the benefit of the members.<\/p>\n \u2018The AIS is an incubator; we expect it to be a year or two before we can launch the mutual. In the meantime we aim to offer a 20 per cent reduction on expiring terms, when comparing apples with apples.\u2019<\/p>\n