Two Insurers Balk at Coverage for FIGG on Florida Collapse

Exclusions said to back position of Travelers, Phoenix on claims

A view of the pedestrian bridge during rescue operations last March. Teams were examining the shattered bridge’s top chord, which served as a canopy, with “anchor blisters” where tension rods were protruding.

AERIAL PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI DADE FIRE RESCUE

August 16, 2018

Richard Korman

3 Comments

为FIGG工程提供财产损失和人身伤害的保险公司说，他们不必为与3月在佛罗里达州的桥梁倒塌相关的索赔赔偿。

In a lawsuit in federal district court in Miami, Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut and Phoenix Insurance Co. say that the policies provided to FIGG specifically excluded professional services, such as design and construction inspection.

Phoenix provided the basic coverage and Travelers provided umbrella coverage. They are asking the court for relief from claims by FIGG for coverage and defense costs.

The exclusions are detailed in the court complaint. According to the insurers, FIGG’s role as structural engineer of record for the bridge, as part of a design-build project with MCM, the prime contractor, involved professional services as an engineer.

FIGG要求延长时间来准备其答复。该诉讼的公司律师Amanda K. Anderson无法置评。

The identities are not yet clear of other insurers facing claims from the March accident involving a pedestrian bridge at the Florida International University campus in Miami. One personal injury attorney has estimated that based on past Florida settlements,the total for losses related to the six deaths and injuries sustained could be $90 million.

Deputy Editor Richard Korman, who has edited ENR's Risk Review newsletter since 2012, helps run ENR's business coverage, selects ENR's commentary and op-ed viewpoint submissions and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. He recently completed a fellowship on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. In 2015 he won the Timothy White Award from American Business Media for investigations of individual surety fraud and workplace bullying. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, pay before the earth completes its annual orbit of the sun, record zero injuries and assign risk to parties who control an activity or willingly finance the risk.