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Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Professional Practice Insurance Brokers, Inc. (PPIB) has been dedicated to the delivery of specialized insurance and risk management services to the architectural and engineering professions for more than 15 years. Since it was founded in 1982, it principals and staff have focused their energies on the pursuit of three specific objectives:
PPIB's focus on these objectives has enabled it to develop a client base of more than 2200 professional firms, ranging in size from sole practitioners to ENR 100 market leaders. PPIB serves its clients from office locations in Northern and Southern California and Charlotte, North Carolina. The extraordinary expertise with which our principals and staff are able to address the professional liability concerns of our clients and the partnerships we forge with them in doing so have been the keys to our success.
SPECIALIZED RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES
PPIB's specialized knowledge includes a thorough understanding of the issues typically raised in agreements for professional services, the management of professional practice, and the dispute resolution process. We apply this expertise to continuing efforts to develop and deliver unique services and valuable information. Our services include the following:
Contract Review and Negotiation Assistance
A fundamental component of effective risk management in professional practice is the ability to negotiate agreements for the performance of professional services which reflect equitable allocations of risk and reward. We routinely review contracts drafted by owners and assist our clients in their negotiation. Because of the depth of our professional liability expertise, we are able to look well beyond insurance and indemnification provisions to address all aspects of the contractual allocation of risk raised by owners and their attorneys.
Wherever the opportunity arises, we will work with our clients to achieve a fair and equitable outcome. We are generally successful in our efforts, for we have seen every issue, made every argument, rebutted every counter-argument, and developed countless back up positions designed to help clients weave through minefields of objections. In those cases in which we are rebuffed, we can often come up with creative alternatives. Where this is not possible, our clients are at least positioned to make informed business decisions about the risks they are being asked to assume.
PPIB's contract review and negotiation services extend to direct participation in difficult client negotiations, where requested, and to the support of internal professional development efforts through in-depth training. Long-standing clients enjoy the added benefit of shorthand communications based on common understandings of the issues developed by working together over time.
Management Support Services
In addition to assistance in the review and negotiation of professional services agreements PPIB works with its clients on a daily basis to assist in meeting their requirements for staff development, timely insurance-related and risk management responses to client inquiries, and evaluation of the risk management consequences of changes in practice. As an integral member of the risk management team, PPIB also assumes an active role in evaluating the impact of client, consultant, and joint venture partner proposals and demands.
In the category of routine, but essential support services, PPIB is committed to make every effort to forward Certificates of Insurance on the same day requests are received, but in any event with no greater than a 24 hour turn around. Our clients appreciate being able to depend on us to make good on this commitment.
Information Resources
PPIB pioneered the development of the principles and techniques of professional liability loss prevention. In 1981, it introduced the Professional Liability Perspective, a monthly newsletter which focused on specific risk management issues in professional practice. Published nationally for eleven years, the Perspective has been widely acclaimed for its practical and insightful approach to controlling the risk of loss. It has been used as a training resource by PPIB, as well as by clients seeking to enhance understanding throughout their organizations of fundamental professional liability issues. Now published quarterly as Perspectives on Professional Liability, the newsletter continues to offer valuable information and advice based on careful research of emerging issues.
PPIB Risk Management Advisories and Insurance Market Updates supplement our periodic publications. The former provides practical assistance in addressing such management challenges as disaster planning, negotiating client insurance requirements, and what to tell employees about renting cars on company business. The latter is intended to keep clients abreast of important developments in the insurance marketplace.
In addition, PPIB edits, publishes, and distributes ProNet Practice Notes, a publication intended to address broader risk management issues in greater depth than is possible in newsletter format. Examples include reports on CADD Risk Management and the Copyright Act of 1990. Practice Notes are published two to four times per year and are distributed to PPIB clients as a client service.
Claims Services
Like all brokers, PPIB reports claims to appropriate underwriters and maintains records of the filing of claims and their disposition. Because of our specialized expertise, we are able to expand on this service and assume the role of advocate in the legal and insurance communities. We maintain ongoing relationships with the claims departments of all major professional liability insurers, and it is well positioned to rely on those relationships when considerations for its clients are called for. We also routinely apply our experience in the resolution of professional liability conflicts to consulting with clients on claims management strategy development and execution.
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION
PPIB leads the field in the development of innovative solutions to professional liability insurance and risk management challenges. In the late 1980's PPIB founded a/e ProNet, a national association of independent brokers specializing in professional liability insurance for architects and engineers. A primary purpose was to expand the research and development capacity of each of the members, with a view toward developing resources for clients few, if any of the individual members could develop on its own. ProNet Practice Notes emerged from this effort.
Research and Development
Sensing a need to develop a data base of information to assist larger clients in making informed decisions about professional liability insurance limits, deductibles, and rates, PPIB conducted the first professional liability insurance benchmarking study for large firms ever undertaken in 1994. The results of this study were used to assist clients in their efforts to evaluate the adequacy of their limits and the competitiveness of their insurance premiums.
Our benchmarking project was followed in 1996 with the compilation and publication of a comprehensive comparison of professional liability policy terms and conditions offered by 16 major insurers. A matrix summary of this document was published and distributed by The American Institute of Architects in June, 1996. Current R&D efforts are focused on the identification of risks unique to the design-build project delivery process and the development of methods and techniques for mitigating those risks.
PPIB has also developed advanced information technology capabilities, including the automation of insurance applications and the initiation of electronic communications with most professional liability insurers, including key underwriters at Lloyd's. This enables us to communicate directly and rapidly, and in many cases, to conduct the entire application and renewal process electronically. The same system supports enhanced internal and client communications and resource sharing.
Web Site Risk Management Library
PPIB has reformatted for publication on its web site, all past issues of the Professional Liability Perspective, its periodic loss prevention newsletter, ProNet Practice Notes, and various risk management insurance marketplace advisories on subjects ranging from worker's compensation reform to insurance requirements for subconsultants. Full access to PPIB's electronic risk management library is available to all clients.
PPIB enjoys excellent working relationships with underwriters of professional liability insurance, both domestically and in London, and we strive to nurture those relationships through professionalism, quality service, and attention to detail. We are very pleased to have been selected by CNA to participate in its A/E Choice advisory program and by underwriters at Lloyd's of London to consult on the development of a/e Select, a unique Lloyd's facility dedicated to serving architects and engineers in the U.S.
PPIB's relationships with company underwriters and claims personnel are founded in confidence and trust. As a result, we enjoy a high degree of credibility, and our clients benefit greatly from this. There are aspects of every practice which make it a more attractive risk and carry the potential for significant rating credits. Great care is taken to identify these opportunities wherever they appear and to communicate them effectively.
The value of these efforts lies in the responsiveness with which pricing and coverage considerations are addressed during the underwriting process. The results tend to be reflected in more competitive premium quotations. They are also reflected in more responsive handling of claims and potential claims. This can make a vital difference in situations in which early attention can help resolve problems before they escalate into costly, time-consuming disputes.
A Unique Approach to the Marketplace
PPIB departs from the traditional approach to the marketing of insurance on behalf of its clients. The traditional approach follows a linear progression as follows:
The problem with this is that it puts the wrong parties in charge—underwriters rather than clients. We prefer an alternative which begins with the development of clear, client-specific risk management criteria, including coverage needs, claims flexibility, and pricing expectations. It extends further to the mutual development of criteria for the evaluation of prospective insurers, their terms, and the coverages they offer.
With these resources in hand, the task of formulating an appropriate marketing strategy is facilitated. Non-contenders can easily be screened out based on objective as well as subjective criteria. Once the strategy is agreed upon, PPIB approaches the marketplace with client requirements and response evaluation criteria clearly defined.
The underwriters appreciate this approach. They know in advance how their proposals will be assessed, and they can tailor those proposals to specific client risk management goals and objectives. This marketing approach is best based on face to face meetings and the building of solid business relationships over time.
The criteria, once in place, are also used in annual strategy review meetings to evaluate carrier performance during the policy year.
Hilb Rogal & Hobbs
Professional Practice Insurance Brokers, Inc.
© 2005 Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Professional Practice Insurance Brokers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California License #0641361.