Earlier this year, we announced our collaboration with the Association of Specialist Underpinning Contractors (ASUC), aimed at delivering an exclusive 10-year Latent Defects Insurance tailored specifically for ASUC members.
As the process of introducing the new guarantee begins in earnest, we caught up with David Gakhar, a key member of the ASUC Executive Board, and Lauren Fairley, ASUC Secretary, to discuss the benefits of ASUC accreditation and the market leading LDI product that has resulted from the recent partnership with LBB.
For those that might not be familiar with ASUC, please could you tell us a little bit about the association’s background and what it stands for?
ASUC is an independent trade association originally formed in 1992 by a number of leading contractors, to promote professional and technical competence within the subsidence industry. We try to set ourselves above other contractors who aren’t members – through technical audits, financial audits, and a strong training regime. We also set targets that we expect our members to hit.
We now take on a broader scope of work than in the early days, and there are three main areas we work within: insurance funded underpinning and other insured perils such as structural repairs, basements – underpinning being a constituent part of building and retrofitting basements – and engineered foundations.
How were you introduced to the team at LBB?
We had a short-term insolvency guarantee in place as a temporary product but were actively looking for the right latent defect insurance. We had previously worked with Alex Lyons, Commercial Director at LBB, who introduced us to Giles and the rest of the LBB team, and subsequently the insurer. The team understand the scheme in detail, which means there is a continuity of interaction in terms of the product, what members expect from us and what we expect from them.
What are the benefits of being an ASUC member?
We set association members up to be better than non-members: there is a stringent process to becoming a member, including financial and safety audits – there are a lot of steps to go through to become accredited.
If someone wants to be an accredited member but doesn’t meet our criteria, we’ll help them work towards meeting them. We work with both larger and smaller companies to help train them and help them through the process, and we’re always here as the members’ first port of call.
The collaboration with LBB will deliver what we believe to be the market leading insurance backed guarantee product, and the only way to access this is to become an ASUC member. We expect to get to a stage where clients that procure insurance-funded works are specifying that contractors must have an ASUC guarantee.
What are the benefits of the partnership for LBB clients?
The partnership gives LBB clients access to the market leading insurance backed guarantee product, that they would not have access to via any other route.
The benefits from an insurance risks perspective are the fact that we audit our members, we make sure our contractors working safely on site, doing the job properly, and therefore mitigating the risk to the insurers. So, they can take comfort in the fact that we audit our members, we are who we say we are, and we’re doing it properly.
We’re in the process now of introducing the new guarantee, and it’s early days, but we’re all excited about a long and successful partnership.
Alex Lyons comments: “This unique collaboration not only demonstrates a dedication to protecting the interests of ASUC members, but also mirrors a collective aspiration for excellence within changing market dynamics, ensuring improved support and security within the specialised subsidence and underpinning sector, including retrofit basement construction.”
Visit the ASUC website to find out more about becoming a member, or speak to a member of our team for more information about the 10-year Latent Defects Insurance tailored specifically for ASUC members.
