Marsh has collaborated with specialist insurer Beazley to offer construction contractors access to additional professional indemnity cover based on their environmental, social and governance performance. The additional capacity is available globally to clients outside of the US that complete Marsh’s ESG risk rating, subject to their score meeting a set threshold.

Launched in March 2022, Marsh’s ESG risk rating is an assessment tool that measures an organisation’s ESG performance, enabling them to identify their sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities, and gain access to additional insurance market capacity. Measured against more than 10 internationally recognised standards and frameworks, the scheme scores a client’s performance across 19 ESG themes.

PI insurance protects contractors and sub-contractors in the event that claims are made against them relating to alleged errors in their professional activities, including issues relating to the UK’s Building Safety Act 2022 and cladding matters. Construction contractors that meet the underwriting criteria can qualify for an additional US$1m in PI cover – 20% more on top of Beazley’s US$5m maximum line – when they score six or higher on the risk rating.

Kelly Looney, CEO for UK construction, infrastructure & surety at Marsh Specialty, said: “ESG concerns are a growing area of scrutiny for the global construction sector, and financial institutions are looking to ESG performance as a marker of sustainable and resilient businesses. Despite their best efforts, many contractors are not always able to satisfactorily display their positive ESG goals in a way that allows them to obtain meaningful risk and insurance benefits.

“As well as being able to access additional insurance market capacity for professional indemnity risks, our contractor clients can use the results of the ESG risk rating to identify their most critical sustainability and climate-related risks, and build greater levels of transparency as they further develop their ESG strategies.”

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