Dear Editor,
So Nagico and the Airport are at odds about the claim. I was shocked to read that. After all, everybody knows that insurance companies are the warmest and fuzziest companies and always there when you need them and always happy to help. Just kidding about that. Quite the opposite in most cases. My stateside lawyer Vinnie the Psycho used to say, “All your insurance policy is, is a license to sue the company that wrote it.” And in my experience, he was spot on with that.
Nevertheless, here we have the Airport. They bought the best and most expensive insurance money could buy. It fully covered every possibility from Alien invasion all the way to Zombie apocalypse and everything in between. From what I read, there is no disagreement on that. The Airport paid its bills on time. Nobody disagrees with that either. So, what’s the problem? Simple. The adjusters that wrote the repair estimates for the Airport say it will cost a billion dollars to fix it, and the adjusters that Nagico used say it will only cost $36.75.
Not of course, but they really are that far apart. Why? Simple again. As example, the Airport’s guys say things like, “The entire airco system has to be torn out and a new one flown in from Mars at a cost of 30 million dollars,” and Nagico’s airco guys say, “Oh no, we can fix it with a meter of wire, two balls of twine and some duct tape at a cost of only $3.50.” So, who is right? Neither of them, obviously, and both are posturing like Neymar rolling on the ground clutching his ankle.
The answer to all this is obvious and simple and came straight out of the mouth of the managing Director of Nagico a few weeks ago when, assuming I’m quoting him correctly, he said, “We aren’t in the construction business.” Exactly! And neither is the Airport, so neither of them knows what they are talking about.
So ... since Nagico is the one writing the checks and the Airport is the one getting the building done, the answer is crystal clear. Nagico becomes the General Contractor for the project. They hire the subcontractors themselves and get the work done. The Airport hires a small team to supervise and oversee the work every minute of every day. A Professional Engineer to supervise the structure, a professional electrical inspector, a professional HVAC inspector and three supervisors that sign off on every single thing that gets fixed, as it gets fixed before the next thing gets started.
In the end, Nagico gives a five-year warranty on all work completed. The end result is that Nagico gets the work done at the lowest possible cost and the Airport gets their building back the way it was without any worries. Nagico trades money for ultimate liability. They don’t pay a dime more than they have to, but they become directly and singularly liable for the workers they hire and the quality of the work that gets done.
Court case notwithstanding, they could make that deal in two hours and get the contracts written and signed by the end of the week. And I’ll bet that the new airco wouldn’t even have to come from Mars after all.
Steven Johnson
