Bouwen partners with Compass Insure

Ariska — Tue, 27 May 2025 11:24:29 +0000

Bouwen partners with Compass Insure as new carrier for engineering portfolio

We are proud to announce that effective the 1st of June 2025, we have officially partnered with Compass Insure as our new carrier for our Engineering portfolio.

We are excited to embark on a new underwriting journey, with the backing of Hannover Re and R+V Re, and the AA+ (ZA) GCR rating that we are now able to offer our brokers and policy holders with Compass Insure.

Our broker partners have been working carefully with us to recontract with Compass Insure, and we invite you to join us by clicking on the link below to apply for an agency.

Please contact us on contact@bouwen.co.za to find out more or be contacted by one of our marketing representatives.

BOUWEN Engineering is part of the Tranquille group, and a Juristic Representative of Tranquille Underwriting Managers, FSP no 54312+

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Plant and Equipment Theft – A challenge Indeed

Jacobus — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 11:09:06 +0000

Plant and Equipment Theft - A challenge Indeed

As we watch the engineering market develop in tough economic times, it seems that the Stolen Machinery Trade is doing exceptionally well. In our experience, machinery theft is on the increase, and we need to talk about the reality and risk management of yellow metal machinery:

How effective are tracking units in Heavy Machinery and Equipment?

It is well known that the benefits of fleet management systems for machinery operations are fantastic and allows a company owner to properly manage the billing as well as maintenance of their machinery, but is there really any benefit for an insurer?

We applaud clients who run a neat operation with constant monitoring of their assets, the monitoring of operator behaviour is also a benefit. However, it seems that when a TLB disappears, it is often accompanied by no tracking report, as the unit is almost always immediately removed.

Let me unpack this:

A vehicle tracking incident is a fast-paced theft and response. The vehicle is moved quickly and often even whilst in transit, tracking units are removed, but in the process tracking companies are presented the opportunity to track and recover the vehicle, wherein the tracking unit is well hidden and more difficult to trace and disarm.

When dealing with machinery theft, tracking units are not well hidden as the machinery does not lend itself to a complex instalment.

When sites are entered, they are more often than not, entered at night, security personnel are tied up and disarmed and the perpetrators are left with ample time to find and remove any tracking units that may assist in the recovery of these items. On discovery of the theft, the stolen items are long gone, and the tracking units are found on site.

To add insult to injury, the keys to these machines are often generic. Machines left on road construction sites are easy targets and entry to them seems to pose no difficulty.

This does not touch on the daytime robbery of machinery, mostly due to confusion of ownership on busy construction sites, as well as the casual theft of compressors and generators, which is a separate issue on its own.

It begs the question: whilst engineering underwriters have traditionally opted not to enforce the installation of tracking units, and now find themselves requesting these installations, are there any claims related benefits in installing tracking units?

South Africa is truly a unique place and, where our international players find themselves occupied with risk management pertaining to Fire and Accidental Damage, we are left scratching our heads on how to manage our theft risk.

A theft is a total loss, there is not recovery in salvage, in most cases, no recovery of stolen items and this has a drastic effect on rating structures in risk pools.

It remains an open discussion, one that we hope that our fellow industry experts will participate in:

What is the solution to the true management of theft risk of construction equipment in South Africa?

Total loss of engineering machinery can be exceptionally devastating to your client. Make sure that you are adequately insured, visit: www.bouwen.co.za. Your Plant All Risk Underwriters of choice.

Bouwen Engineering is a Juristic Representative of Tranquille Intermediary Services, FSP no 48264.

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Cancelling your Contractors All Risk Policy During LockDown

Jacobus — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:30:40 +0000

Cancelling your Contractors All Risk Policy During LockDown: Skype before you Type

BOUWEN CEO speaks about rendering advice in a time where clients are cancelling policies due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

By Michelle Hollenbach

As we get used to the slower pace of the construction industry, it seems that cutting costs is the order of the day. Our clients are taking book of the financial implications of the delayed, if not cancelled, projects that they have on their books.

Along with this comes much consideration of what costs can be cut during this time. It is understandable that insurance premiums are the first grudge purchases to be chopped, keeping our brokers and insurers extremely busy, covering their wickets. Let’s be honest: advisors would rather be spending time canvassing new clients than managing cancellations.

Good advice is of the essence, so simply accepting cancellation instructions from clients, without advising on the repercussions of- or alternatives to these cancellations can have serious financial implications.

Limiting cover to reduce premium, suitable for the current risk that the client faces during lockdown, is a responsible alternative, should the client understand the response of the short-term insurance policy in the event of a loss.

Unfortunately, a Contractors All Risk policy is not your run-of-the-mill policy and advisors should take precaution when simply taking cancellation instruction on these policies.

Annual renewable Contractors All Risk policies are generally policies issued for a 12-month period to cover all contracts taken on during a renewal period. When issuing a policy, all existing contracts are considered to make sure that they are either issued with run-on cover to the new policy, or they are sufficiently covered on another policy. The premium is based on the total value of contracts taken on during this period. If a policy is simply cancelled, all contracts that may be ongoing will be left without cover.

When we all return to our normal activity after this period, it is not as simple as just re-issuing the policy and “ta-da!…”, all projects are covered again. Instead, all projects that may have been covered on the previous cancelled policy, will now fall outside the scope of the new policy.

“Good advice is of the essence, so simply accepting cancellation instructions from clients, without advising on the repercussions of- or alternatives to these cancellations can have serious financial implications.”

Contractors All Risk cancellations present us with some scenarios and considerations:

1) Projects that are ongoing and sites that are still open are left without insurance cover: Has the client and his advisor considered the risk of a loss on these sites during lockdown? Can they afford a loss on one of these sites for their own account and have they taken the necessary precaution on site to limit these losses?

2) When the client is operational again and requests the advisor to re-issue the cover, will the new policy and/or re-issued policy cover the contracts that are existing and ongoing?

3) Is the client bound by his principal to maintain this cover at all times? Cancellation of this policy in this instance may place him in breach of contract, which will surely aggravate his financial difficulty.

The tragedy in this situation is that it will in all probability be the SMME client that is left exposed and who can least afford an uninsured lost. I say this not because these clients do not matter, but because your larger construction companies are usually experienced in managing their insurance portfolios and considering their risk when sending instructions to their brokers.

It is not all doom and gloom; the solution lies in good communication:

“Skype before you Type”:

Set up a call with your client and gather the necessary information on the projects ongoing, the progress and percentage completion of the project and the current situation on site. Relay this to your underwriter. With ZOOM, Microsoft TEAMS and Skype at your disposal, the recording of these conversations have become so simple, but can add value to all involved.

A few ideas that your engineering underwriter may present to you is as follows, but not limited to:

Present an interim declaration of the contract values and ascertain whether the premium already paid in the insured period that has gone by is enough to cover the “run-off” of the projects that are currently on the client’s books.
Negotiate a payment holiday and extension of the renewal period to relieve the premium obligations of the client until his income is stimulated again.

A trusted engineering insurance partner will hold your hand and guide you through your client’s options.

This will also ensure continuity in your cancelled book to retain clients once the lock down period has been lifted.

The caution is as follows:

Think before you simply forward a client’s instruction. This could mean serious liability to your institution and render you liable for poor advice.

We are here to help, whether it be our policy or not, it is all our responsibility to ensure that our clients get through this lock down period unscathed and sufficiently covered.

For more information on this and other topics, visit our website, our BLOG, or get in touch.

contact@bouwen.co.za

We are here to help.

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Trying Times Facing Engineering Insurance Advisors

Jacobus — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 10:27:00 +0000

Trying Times Facing Engineering
Insurance Advisors

BOUWEN CEO speaks about Engineering Insurance and Navigating the National Lockdown

By Michelle Hollenbach

“You WILL receive claims when lockdown is lifted, and your advice WILL be tested more than ever…”

As so many of us have been brought to a forced standstill, and we read many articles on how to stay positive and reflect, it is the perfect opportunity for us to share some engineering insurance reflections on how to add more value to your client base.

We are facing a time in our industry where we witness the internal struggles and workings of our client base. We will see how fine profit margins turn into even “finer” profit margins as our clients work every day to ensure that their businesses survive the challenge of our non-existent economy.

Whilst you may believe that you can sit back and watch debit orders run at month end, we urge you to take this time to establish interaction in your client’s risk management plan and to be relevant to his path of survival.

The relevance of the insurance products that we provide to our clients in these testing times will come under the microscope, and we need to be confident that they are appropriate, cost-effective and in the client’s best interest: You WILL receive claims when lockdown is lifted, and your advice WILL be tested more than ever…

Have you considered what the impact of site abandonment or shut down is on your client’s cover?

Have you discussed this with your engineering insurance provider, and have you appropriately communicated this to your client base?

We have made many tools available for you to:

• Provide better and more cost effective engineering cover.

• Identify short coming in cover and broaden your client’s indemnification.

• Provide services outside the scope of financial services and pertinent to your client’s risk management.

Focusing on the last point – we invite you to consider offering your client our Occupational Health and Safety product, which is a non-financial product, but is offered to all BOUWEN clients on payment plans to implement safety files and all relevant Occupational Health and Safety services, through our partners, The Safety Pros.

Ensure that your client understands that you are invested in his needs during these difficult times by remaining relevant in his path of implementing, not only indemnification, but excellent risk management.

We remain available to all our partners and urge you to contact us for more information on how you can better your engineering service offerings to your clients and to assist with policy conditions and considerations of existing products.

If you have any questions click here or send an email to contact@bouwen.co.za.

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BOUWEN CEO Speaks About Engineering Insurance and Training

Jacobus — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 11:49:39 +0000

Engineering Training with a Twist

BOUWEN CEO speaks about Engineering Insurance and Training the way Forward

By Michelle Hollenbach

Each person’s journey takes him/her on a certain path, and it is interesting how you often find that the journey that you envisioned for yourself, is heavily influenced by the things that you love. This does not necessarily land you in the same success book as you had originally authored.

On my journey, I found myself on an entrepreneurial road trip, issuing new products in the engineering insurance industry and simplifying niche insurance – only to find that a large portion of my time will be spent training others. I could never escape it – it is a part of me.

Where most people in my situation would be on the road, flying from one broker to the next, making deals and moving books of business, I am fortunate enough to be able to focus that energy on inviting my potential partners, and even my competitors to train, debate, influence and grow.

“I could not believe my eyes when I saw Reinsurers and Insurers registering for our sessions and participating in the debate!”

I love people, I love content, I love how policies respond and how different interpretations in different financial climates can have massive impacts on the policy holder. What started out to be facilitator driven sessions, became interactive sessions and I find myself exhausted after every rodeo. But it is fun, and it helps me go home, reminisce on what the intermediary and client’s outlook on the policy is, and lead change in my own organisation where I can. BETA’s workshop sessions started out as a grand way to connect with brokers, and it has grown into high energy brain storming sessions. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Reinsurers and Insurers registering for our sessions and participating in the debate! This venture has truly exceeded all expectations.

The moral of the story is that if you do what you love, you will always remain relevant and you will always add value to others.

When BOUWEN was but a concept – I underestimated the impact of our slogan: Inform – Inspire – Insure. But here we are: onwards and upwards!

Michelle Hollenbach is a new age entrepreneur, specialising in engineering insurance and training for over 14 years.

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