Insurance firm Zurich Financial Services this week launched a business dedicated to public–private partnerships and PFI deals.
The firm said the venture, called Zurich Public Private Solutions, was the first in the UK to focus exclusively on PPP and PFI deals. It was launched at the PPP Expo in London on Wednesday and will offer insurance and risk management to PPP and PFI consortiums.
Zurich said the company would offer a seamless approach to insuring PPPs and PFIs throughout the life of a deal.
It said there were "grey areas" between the end of the construction phase and the start of the operational phase when the contractor took responsibility for the day-to-day running of the service.
Zurich warned that when the two stages were treated separately, risks peculiar to public services might be neglected. It claimed, for example, that schools faced a higher risk of arson than private buildings.
A spokesperson said: "PPPs have to manage different types of risk throughout the life of a contract."
