Always knock back third party property repairs

— filed under: Insurance, Finance, Print Edition

Under no circumstances should a contractor ever authorise, condone, pay for or agree to pay for, repairs to any third party property.

By Ian Duthie, director Miller & Associates Insurance Broking P/L

This applies regardless of the pressure brought upon him, no matter what degree of liability he believes he may have. Even though conditions of contract may require him to attend to rectification of third party property damage, no such action should be taken.
It should be a standard response to claims in these areas, for the contractor to indicate that the matter will be placed into the hands of his insurer, for their approval and authorisation. Otherwise he would be in basic breach of his policy conditions and may find himself devoid of any insurance protection.
It is often found that injury to a third party, or even serious injury to an employee of a subcontractor, is not notified by the contractor to their insurer. Notification of all injuries should be automatic and immediate. In all such circumstances, make a report, even if you do not believe that there is any liability to your company.
Unfortunately, courts do not necessarily see accidents in the same light, as common sense may indicate.
All too often, in our experience, liability claims for injury arrive by way of writ at a clients office, two or more years after the event, at which time it is often impossible to locate witnesses or to ascertain the true circumstances of the event.
In most instances, courts will find that the head contractor must share some responsibility for any accident or injury, no matter how it is caused, and whether or not there was any direct involvement. It is therefore essential that accidents, particularly to strangers on the site, be notified immediately to the insurer so that they can take over the handling of the potential claim, and take whatever action they deem fit in respect of that occurrence.
By doing this the contractor has fulfilled his obligations to the insurer and, at the same time, has probably greatly assisted it in attending to claims. If not notified, the claim could blow up into substantial settlement demands, and therefore possibly impact on future insurance costs.

Sections

Always knock back third party property repairs

Weekly Top Stories

Document Actions