A federal appeals court decision handed down last week is a victory for a Liberty Mutual surplus carrier, but it highlights what one attorney said is a widespread problem in the construction industry: an alleged “bait and switch” by insurers on contractor-controlled insurance programs.
“It’s very prevalent and it’s a real problem,” said Patrick Wielinski, a Dallas attorney who wrote an amicus brief in the case on behalf of Associated General Contractors of America, the National Association of Home Builders and Florida Home Builders.
In recent years, a number of insurance carriers have begun offering contractor-controlled liability insurance programs, or CCIPs or “wrap-ups” that are pitched to contractors as “improved coverage,” Wielinski said. Those policies remove a number of narrow exclusions that had previously been part of contractors’ general liability policies – but incl