The financial crisis has emphasized the importance of insurance as a risk management tool in large-scale construction projects and property entities, according to an AXA statement.

Large construction projects require careful risk management. Insurance is a critical part of that risk.

AXA Gulf, AXA Cooperative and AXA Corporate Solutions — the AXA Group entities dedicated to the Large Risks segment of the insurance market — have combined resources to optimize their respective strengths, local knowledge and international technical expertise, bringing to the Middle East market place an unrivaled insurance offering and risk consulting for large construction projects.

Insurance is one of the key mechanisms available to manage and transfer construction project risks.

As construction projects in the region become larger and more complex, so do the risks associated with them.

The sheer size, scope, and timing of today’s projects pose significant risk management challenges, including identifying risks, determining the allocation of risks among the parties involved, developing mitigation and risk treatment plans in single projects or across an entire portfolio of projects.

The company’s business segments in the Large Risks sector focus on construction projects with a value exceeding $150 million and property entities with annual turnovers exceeding $750 million.

Xavier Luscan, property and engineering underwriting manager, corporate solutions — large risks at AXA Insurance Gulf, said: “We are seeing a shift to public-private infrastructure projects which often have more complex insurance requirements and the need to demonstrate high levels of risk management. Benefiting from a very significant underwriting capacity in the GCC markets for both Construction and Property lines of business, AXA presents the market with significant underwriting resources and expertise for protecting large construction projects and property risks. Our business model is one of a true risk carrier, as we use our own capacity rather than rely on the support of external reinsurance. We are also enthusiastic to promote a coinsurance approach when the need arises.”

Toby Sizeland, chief officer, corporate offering P&C and Large Risks at AXA Insurance Gulf, said: “In the three years that AXA have been focusing on this business sector, we have established a solid reputation in the market and our business portfolio has gone from strength to strength. We shall continue to build our teams and capabilities to grow our market share further and the overall proposition to customers and brokers specializing in large risks.”

The industry needs practical solutions for everyday challenges such as estimating construction costs and project schedules, quantifying and planning risk in the construction project life.

The key drivers of AXA’s claim services in this segment are reactivity; competent help and advice on loss minimization, besides swift and fair settlement of loss.

Another fundamental requirement of underwriting today is to make available correct and specific risk assessment that is both objective and quantified.

A critical aspect of AXA’s insurance offering is Risk Engineering and Consulting services, which help clients, understand their potential exposures.

AXA partners with clients to introduce risk management concepts and loss prevention programs. Risk engineering services can either be part of the insurance offering or as an "unbundled" property loss prevention service to clients disconnected from any insurance provision.