Edinburgh Council pays £1.1m to insure tram extension against terrorism
Edinburgh Council is to pay £1.1 million on an insurance policy protecting the tram extension against being delayed by a terrorist attack or a flood, the Edinburgh Evening News has reported.
An official notice on the public contracts website announces the award of the contract for the insurance on the Edinburgh Trams York Place to Newhaven project, covering construction all risks, delay in start-up and third-party liability.
The insurance contract was awarded to QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd in two lots - one for £605,937 to cover “construction ‘all risks’, existing structures and advanced business interruption, including terrorism”; the other for third-party liability valued at £644,000.
A coalition of Labour and SNP runs the council. The insurance policy has sparked criticism from opposition groups on the council.
Conservative group leader Iain Whyte said: “There are all sorts of questions here. I think anyone reading this will think it’s an extremely large amount for what are very unusual events.”
A council spokeswoman said: “Like any major infrastructure project, the Trams to Newhaven project has procured insurance against third party liability, as well as damage to the contract works due to what is termed an ‘insured peril’. An example of an insured peril in this instance would be a flood event which caused damage to aspects of the infrastructure under construction, leading to a delay in passenger services starting and hence a delay in income from the new section of tramline.”
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