Approved Inspectors (AI) help developers, designers and contractors achieve building regulation approval for construction projects – from extensions and one-off homes, to large commercial office developments and infrastructure projects.

As with other areas of the PI insurance market, it is also experiencing reduced capacity and increased premiums for cover. However, the situation is exacerbated in that AIs need to meet the minimum criteria set by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) via an approved scheme.

For insurers, that specification is often considered onerous which both limits the number of insurers involved in the market in the first place, and restricts the ability of those insurers to amend coverage in line with their risk appetite.

In an effort to increase the options available to AIs, MHCLG agreed to amend the insurance criteria, and it was updated and published in November 2019.

Since then, Griffiths & Armour has, building on its long-term relationships with insurers, been liaising with key stakeholders from both Government and the insurance sector to establish a new scheme which both meets the MHCLG criteria and is attractive to insurers. The end result is a scheme which builds on 25 year track-record of delivering cover for AIs.

These new schemes are now approved by MHCLG and available to all AIs with renewals from 1 May 2021 onwards. Find out more at their website.

Carl Evans, CEO, Griffiths & Armour, said: “We provide trusted and proven solutions for our clients, having now consistently delivered a bespoke and continuous offering for AIs since 1996. This is the result of our understanding of the AI role and the particular nature of liabilities attaching to the services that they provide.”

“We have only been able to provide this stability and continuity through long-term relationships with our insurer partners, who themselves, are high profile household names. In fact, we have only had two lead insurers in the 25-years that our AI Schemes have been in place.”

Tanya Winstanley, Professional Risks Director, Griffiths & Armour said: “We are confident that our new scheme structure offers essential protection that supports the continuity of Approved Inspector services and is carefully tailored to meet individual regulatory needs.”