Hutch Underwriting has made two new professional indemnity insurance wordings available to brokers through the Ebix Sunrise Exchange. The PI Design & Construct and PI Trades wordings have entered the market as conditions improve across the construction insurance landscape, where insurers have expanded capacity and appetite following a return to profitable premium rates.
According to Lockton’s market analysis, premium rates have stabilised at profitable levels, enabling insurers to expand underwriting capacity and appetite. Many insurers are either increasing lines on existing accounts or offering rating decreases to firms with strong claims records and sustainable growth patterns.
SME buyers stand to benefit disproportionately from these market conditions due to their lower relative risk exposure. While insurers maintain hesitation regarding multinational exposures, premium rates continue to decline in appropriate circumstances.
The new products offer coverage limits up to $5 million and include professional indemnity and cyber coverage as standard components. The launch of the two new wordings comes in response to longstanding placement difficulties in the construction PI market.
Ross Chambers, head of financial lines at Hutch Underwriting, said brokers have reported increasing complications when placing coverage for construction-related risks that involve a design or advisory component. “Brokers have told us it’s getting harder to place PI for construction-related risks where there’s any design or advisory component. They’re often forced to stitch together multiple policies or wait days for a response on what are, in reality, well-run SME businesses,” he said.
Chambers said Hutch designed the wordings to reduce underwriting delays and simplify the process for brokers seeking quotes on these risk types. “With these wordings, we’ve focused on clear appetite, streamlined questions, and digital access. The aim is to give brokers faster answers on Design & Construct and Trades PI, so they can spend more time advising their clients and less time chasing quotes,” he said.
The PI Design & Construct wording targets SME building and construction firms engaged in individual or low-rise residential and commercial projects with typical values below $10 million. The wording covers businesses providing professional services in-house or through subcontracted engineers, as well as construction-only firms offering incidental professional services on projects.
The PI Trades wording addresses licensed trades including electricians, carpenters, and painters where reports, advice, or design represent part of service delivery. This wording applies to individual and low-rise projects within defined value limits while excluding higher-risk categories such as civil, mining, and high-rise work.
Both wordings provide professional indemnity coverage for civil liability arising from professional business conduct, with general limits available up to $5 million and aggregate limits reaching $10 million. Cyber coverage is included as standard, with sub-limits for third-party and first-party cyber events including data security breaches, client network infection, and cyber-crime losses. Optional extensions include Sudden and Accidental Pollution, Previous Business, and Mitigation Costs, with Design & Construct also offering Proportionate Liability Waiver and Novated Contracts options.
The new Hutch PI wordings are available exclusively to authorised insurance brokers through Sunrise Exchange using product code HUTPI.
