RCABC PROTECTS MEMBERS
WITH INSURANCE PACKAGE
A
An insurance chill has swept through the $13 billion British Columbia construction industry, forcing some architects, contractors and engineers to the sidelines during the biggest building boom in the province’s history. But, taking the initiative that has defined the organization since its founding in 1958, the Roofing Contractors Association of British Columbia is now offering self insurance to its members, the first such organization in Canada able do so. RCABC incorporated its own captive insurance company with the help of insurance manager Lowndes Lambert Group (Canada), and three underwriters. The Langley-based RCABC, whose members handle most of the large government and commercial roofing contracts in the province, began the process of creating a Special Purpose Insurance Corporation by surveying it’s members, hiring an independent actuary, developing a business plan and presenting it to the re-insurance market.
14 Ops Talk
By Frank O’Brien Known as the Roofing Contractors Association Indemnity Corporation (RCAIC), the insurance corporation is wholly owned by members of the RCABC and licensed and regulated by the Financial Institutions Commission, the provincial regulatory body that oversees licensing of insurance companies in British Columbia. The RCAIC policy offers members $5 million in liability insurance. RCAIC began writing policies in December 2004. At the end of February 2005, 1/3 of the RCABC Members have switched to the new insurance corporation. RCA Indemnity marks the first time that a trade association has been able to meet FICOM’s rigorous regulatory criteria, according to Brian Hofler, RCABC executive vicepresident. Hofler added that a long-standing Association warranty on its member’s work, its highly rated training programs and tough standards for membership, convinced the underwriters that a captive insurance program would
