Mike Meszaros
VICTORIA – Builders need Course of Construction (COC) Insurance while financing their projects, and Mike Meszaros’ hands-on approach at Waypoint Insurance is coming in very handy for clients.
“I am extremely hands-on, and I know this industry inside and out,” says Meszaros, a Commercial Account Executive with Waypoint Insurance, which purchased his fast-growing FX Insurance firm a year and a half ago. “My memory is almost photographic, so I know the capacities and the rates of every insurance company in the country that offers COC.
“If someone comes to me and says they have a $28 million building, asks what the COC rates are, I can just tell them. . .Who writes in this area, who won’t write here, which firm is best for concrete, etc. I know all this stuff, it’s in my head.
“I have a contract with one underwriting company that no-one outside Waypoint can access, so this gives me a real advantage.”
Meszaros has 2,000 clients, and works with 50 of the busiest developers in the Capital Region.
He notes that because of the dramatic increases in construction costs in the past few years, insurance rates have also climbed.
“The cost of putting up a $10m building has gone up, and it may now be $15 million – the cost has gone up 50 percent,” he explains. “The cost of COC insurance has also risen dramatically, and it is my job to find ways to get those costs down. I’m often able to find rates that are 10-30 percent lower. The builder is still getting hammered, but with us it’s a lot less than it could be.”
Lenders are very demanding on details regarding the project and the companies building them, and Meszaros’ attention of detail is an asset to his clients.
“All I do is work, and I like to work,” he says, adding that he is legally blind and ‘hates golf’. “The wording for projects has to be specific COC wording, and must meet the lenders’ requirements. I work really closely with builders, and sit down with them in person and go through the entire project in person to make sure everything is covered.”
“I’m a master at getting more quotes than anybody else for the company to consider, so I tend to find better rates.”
