Construction Project Manager - Five Insurers, Competitive Placement

A construction project manager working in property services contacted us needing Professional Indemnity insurance. They provided project management and contract administration services across property and construction developments.

The primary requirement was $1M PI cover, though we also obtained options at $2M and $5M limits so the client could scale up if project requirements changed.

Construction project management sits in a tricky space for insurers. It's a professional advisory role, but the exposure relates to large-scale construction outcomes - program delays, cost overruns, and contractor coordination failures. Not every insurer is comfortable with that combination.

We approached five insurers to compare options for $1M PI cover:

• Woodina: approximately $1,650
• DUAL: approximately $2,050 (most competitive overall terms)
• Vero: approximately $2,900
• Brooklyn: declined
• Allianz: referred, no terms offered

We also secured quotes at $2M and $5M limits from the willing markets, giving the client a full picture of how costs scale with higher cover.

A sixth insurer was approached but wouldn't quote for project management scopes at all - a reminder that not every market treats construction management as a standard occupation.

The main challenge was the spread of insurer appetite. Two of the five insurers we approached either declined or couldn't offer terms. A further market wouldn't consider the occupation at all. That's three out of six markets unable or unwilling to quote.

For construction managers, this is a common pattern. The occupation sits between professional consulting and construction delivery, and some insurers aren't set up to assess that hybrid risk properly.

The pricing spread among the three willing insurers was also notable - roughly $1,650 to $2,900 for identical $1M cover. Without comparing the market, the client could easily have paid 75% more for the same protection.

We placed $1M PI through DUAL at approximately $2,050. While Woodina was slightly cheaper on premium alone, DUAL offered the strongest overall terms and policy wording for this type of construction management exposure.

The client renewed the following year. At renewal, we went to market again and the premium came down to approximately $1,200 - a reduction of around 40% - reflecting a clean year with no claims and established trading history.