Four Declines. One Market. When Your Own Insurer Can't Help.

A sole-trader structural and civil engineer based in Western Australia approached us for PI and PL cover. The work was split roughly 80% structural, 20% civil, and included site inspections and pool inspections alongside standard consulting services.

His existing PI policy was through ProRisk. At renewal, his business had grown and he needed a higher limit - $3 million. ProRisk couldn't accommodate the new limit. He came to us specifically for that reason: his own insurer, who knew him and had covered him previously, couldn't meet his current coverage needs.

We took the $3M PI and $20M PL to the market across six insurers.

We submitted to six PI underwriters and four PL markets. The submission included the engineer's occupation split, geographic footprint, and the specific inclusion of pool inspections and site inspections alongside the standard structural and civil consulting scope.

Pool inspections were highlighted clearly. Structural engineers who inspect pools are assessing existing structures for compliance, safety, or damage - an activity that some underwriters specifically flag as adding liability exposure beyond standard design work.

For the PL, we approached four underwriters: QBE, RelyOn, Hollard, and Vero.

The existing insurer, despite knowing the engineer's risk profile, declined to quote at the new limit - and couldn't provide competitive terms even at the lower limit. Three further major PI insurers declined on occupation alone. Four out of six declined without quoting.

That left Vero and Ocean Underwriting as the only two markets willing to assess the risk. Ocean Underwriting was cheaper at both limit options. The better terms were clear, but the premium level was the issue: for a practice at this revenue stage, PI costs represent a significant proportion of turnover. The occupation is inherently high-risk to underwriters, and premiums don't scale down meaningfully for smaller books - the potential liability is the same regardless of firm size.