It’s Pig Iron Underneath Water!

This submit is a part of a collection sponsored by Outdated Republic Surety.

To a few of my fellow insurance coverage professionals, the surety enterprise has all the time had an aura about it. Maybe it’s the unique language we use referring to “Obligee’s” and “Principals”. Perhaps it’s the surety underwriter’s means to rapidly unlock the secrets and techniques of a consumer’s monetary assertion and translate a web page of numbers to feedback of reward or questions of concern.

It’s true that straightforward, clearer language can break down boundaries and make writing surety enterprise extra comfy for some. In recent times I’ve seen a motion in altering software and bond kind language to seek advice from the Obligee merely because the “Proprietor” and change the phrase principal with “Contractor”. We have to eschew obfuscation. I imply, keep away from overly sophisticated phrases.

One in every of my favourite idioms used within the surety enterprise got here straight from the insurance coverage trade. We are going to typically obtain a submission the place the agent has written clearly on the prime of the submission “PIUW“. This stands for Pig Iron Underneath Water. This outdated section comes from the early days of fireside insurance coverage. Pig Iron is an intermediate product of the iron trade, also called crude iron. When Iron ingots are made (these are used to make Ductile Iron pipe, as an example) they break off molten items of the iron off the runner (often known as the sow) into water to chill. The cooling ingots kind right into a form that appears like a child pig, thus the identify pig iron. The purpose of the assertion is that Iron is taken into account comparatively inflammable (It melts at 1200 levels Celsius). Now put iron below water, and by way of a hearth danger, you’ve got in regards to the most secure danger there may be. So pig iron below water is a technique to signify a positive factor. A protected guess. It’s cash within the financial institution. It’s the absence of danger.

In fact one individual’s pig iron below water may be one other individual’s oily rags within the nook on a scorching day. Because of this we now have underwriters to make that willpower.

We consider surety needs to be accessible to everybody and we’re prepared that can assist you translate the following alternative into enterprise fortune. So you probably have a development consumer that wants a efficiency and fee bond or you probably have business surety want or query, contact us and we’ll make it easier to together with your surety wants.

This weblog was initially printed on the Outdated Republic Surety web site. It’s reproduced right here with permission.