Approved Inspectors Information Alert - Griffiths and Armour

The other consequence is that Approved Inspectors will now be free to source their insurance from whichever provider most closely meets the individual requirements of their business, with no government set minimum criteria applicable. Put simply, it means there is now no statutory obligation to insure in a certain way. Approved Inspectors will also need to familiarise themselves with the revised versions of the Statutory documents and ensure their use going forward. Insurance Implications These changes will obviously bring with them profound implications for our Approved Inspector clients some of which are obvious, but others which are less so: 1. Importantly, any policies already in force will be unaffected, with no change required, and they will continue to run until their usual expiry date. 2. For any Approved Inspector renewing their policies on or after 28 July 2022, you will no longer be required to purchase your PI/PL via an Approved Scheme. 3. The minimum insurance criteria will no longer apply. 4. Consequently, public liability insurance no longer needs to meet any minimum criteria and the mandatory PI run-off cover, previously catered for within an AI’s PL policy, is no longer required. As such, AIs may choose to add PL cover to their wider general insurance arrangements, rather than purchasing a stand-alone policy. However, as with PI, we expect that quotations for renewals of PL policies with an unchanged specification to be available until the expiry of the current scheme. 5. Our Approved Scheme no longer needs to be ‘Approved’ by the Government, and that ‘Approval’ is likely to be rescinded in line with legislation. The Scheme will nonetheless continue until its expiry. 6. The insurers who have supported our Approved Inspector clients through the most challenging PI market conditions in a generation have committed to remain involved and will continue to seek to renew policies, on the basis of the current cover specification and wording until the expiry of the scheme. The scheme is currently due to expire on 31 August 2022, but we are actively working with insurers to agree a two-month extension to bring the expiry date in line with our other construction schemes on 31 October. 7. We are continuing to work with insurers to agree an appropriate solution to replace the current scheme from its expiry onwards, with our ultimate aim being to ensure that we are