Insurance Programs

CSIA's Insurance Program was created to respond to our members' need for responsible, affordable and accurate coverage. Its necessity is based on the Insurance world's long history of being unable to understand the operations of a Control System Integrator. It became clear in 2000 that many of our members believed their insurance arrangements were inappropriate, since they were being misclassified which resulted in their paying higher than warranted insurance premiums.

In 2001 we brought in Paul Barnard, an independent insurance Broker. Paul has been in the insurance Industry since 1967. He started and managed his own business from 1972 to 1996, and has spent the last 25 years specializing in industry specific insurance programs.

Paul worked with our members for 6 months to obtain a full understanding of their activities. He collated historical loss information that proved our CSI members are an excellent insurance risk. With this knowledge he then proposed a long term plan to develop and start an insurance program to permanently address the need for availability of coverage at a realistic price. Launched in November 2001, our program has been in operation approaching our 6th. anniversary.

Our Insurance Program continues to grow and prosper. It remains the only insurance package available to membership that clearly shows the insureds business as "Control and Information Systems Integration and/or Engineering Services". Coverages are crafted to protect against the exposures inherent in Control Systems Integration. A couple of points to look for: -

Many Carriers/Insurance Agents, not understanding your business, propose coverage that does not meet your needs. A prime example is The Hartford. The past month has seen yet another example of a member being non-renewed by this Carrier, not for reason of losses but because of "Class of Business". If you are insured with The Hartford, we strongly recommend that you write to them requesting confirmation that they are aware your business is Control Systems Integration. Typically, the policy issued will be a "Spectrum" and if you refer to the codes used for rating you will see that they bear little if any relationship to your business activities. Yes, their premiums are extremely competitive. The coverage is not!

Another Carrier that we see from time to time is AIG. Their ProTech Professional Errors and Omissions policy form simply does not meet an Integrators coverage needs. The carrier themselves has confirmed to us that they do not wish to insure CSIA membership. As is typical within the market place they provide no coverage for bodily injury/property damage not for losses following the sale of control panels or OEM hardware. The CSIA policy forms fills these coverage gaps.

Here is a recent (Mar. 2006) endorsement from one of our members;

Like a lot of system integrators, Emprise has experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining and keeping an affordable insurance program. It seems that insurance agents and underwriters simply could not understand what we do in our test facility integration business. While our loss record was second to none, we have been canceled numerous times and seen astronomical rate increases. These events always seemed to occur a few hours before the renewal date leaving our management little time to react. With the CSIA program, for the first time, we have an agent and underwriters who actually understand our business! Renewals occur without surprise and well before the deadline. Emprise looks forward to continuing this mutually beneficial relationship and especially the prospect of the captive insurance program. Thanks CSIA for making our life a little easier!

Progress continues towards the launch of our "Captive" Program and this is in the final stages of completion. Based upon a partnership between CSIA, the insureds, and the investors, this will see us reach our long term goals of stability on the availability of coverage, appropriate coverage for our membership, and insured participation in profits generated by their business. Built into our projections are 5% annual rate credits for members plus an additional 10% credit for certified members! Contact our Program Manager, Paul Barnard now to start the ball rolling for a proposal, so that come launch day you will be positioned to immediately take advantage.

A full range of general property/casualty coverage's are available. These include but are not limited to:

Property -Business Interruption -Crime -Transit -Installation Floater
General Liability/Completed Operations -Professional Errors & Omissions
Umbrella -Automobile -Foreign -Bid and Performance Bonds

See attached promotional mailer for additional information on this program.

For more information on our insurance program, please contact Paul Barnard: 610-507-6595, paulbarnard@csia-insurance.com