Many real estate related contracts contain antiquated insurance language that has simply been reused year-after-year. This is a major problem that can lead to insufficient protection for real estate clients and may lead to breach of contract issues and costly litigation. The traditional solution is to review the contracts prior to execution and update the language but the Wye River Insurance team aims to go a few steps further:

Closely review the contract’s termination clause and extract the key dates.

Set a tickler system in our contract management process so that we can push through new insurance requirements prior to renewing the contract. One of the most important things to remember about ECRM is that it is dynamic. Insurance requirements considered among the “best-in-class” in 2020 will probably be outdated by 2021.

Maintain a database of certificates of insurance so that we are positioned to tender a claim to a third-party carrier expeditiously. This not only reduces a client’s exposures but, depending on risk tolerance, may also help justify an alternative risk transfer approach (large retention or captive) that will significantly reduce the total cost of risk.

Beyond improving or implementing ECRM processes, we also have a deep substantive knowledge of real estate and construction-specific insurance requirements and best practices. This knowledge is crucial for an effective ECRM program. The Wye River team consistently stays abreast of important policy provisions by reviewing white papers, trade journals, carrier notices and relevant case law.