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Beacon Hill Associates, Inc. is a wholesale insurance broker and program administrator, specializing in the placement of environmental insurance and other specialty insurance coverages for agents nationwide.
Beacon Hill Blog
Archive for the ‘Environmental Insurance Advice’ Category
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
There are many reasons that an insured may discontinue a policy: retiring, selling, going out of business, coverage no longer required, etc. This is an important time to examine the policy for claims-made coverage and determine the provisions outlined for offering and obtaining Extended Reporting Period (ERP) options.
An ERP (a.k.a. “tail”) is an endorsement subject to an additional premium, purchased to extend the window for reporting a claim. This should not be mistaken as an extension of the coverage period; the occurrence must have taken place after the policy’s stated retroactive date and before the end of the policy period. Dependent on the carrier, ERPs are generally offered for a maximum period of three to five years with shorter windows available.
The prime reason for seeking this option from the carrier for your insured is to give them more protection. What if a claim is made against the insured for an incident that occurred on the last day that the policy was in effect, but is not reported until three months later? Without an ERP, once a claims-made policy or policy with claims-made coverage parts expires, the window of protection is effectively closed for the insured. Wouldn’t you want this option from your agency if it were your coverage?
For more information, contact your Beacon Hill Associates representative at 1-800-596-2156.
  
Tags: Claims, ERP, Renewals, Tools for Agents
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
by Amanda Duncan, Senior Vice President & Manager of Beacon Hill’s Underwriting Division
Have you ever read an article pertaining to environmental issues, or perhaps looked through an environmental report and noticed the same acronyms appearing over and over again? Or you are reviewing questions from your underwriter which include technical jargon you don’t encounter on a daily basis? Is your insured looking to you for help because they now need to comply with environmental regulations? Below are essential phrases and abbreviations to help better explain the colorful world of environmental topics:
ACRONYMS:
RCRA – Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
CERCLA (aka Superfund) – Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
TSD – Treatment, Storage, and Disposal facilities
SWMU – Solid Waste Management Units
TCLP – Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure
VOC – Volatile Organic Compound
PCBs – Polychlorinated Biphenyls
PRP – Potentially Responsible Party
POTW – Publicly Owned Treatment Works
BOD – Biochemical Oxygen Demand
NPDES – National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
HSWA – Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
NODs – Non Owned Disposal sites
WWTP – Wastewater Treatment Plant
NPL – National Priorities List
SARA – Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
CWA – Clean Water Act
TSCA – Toxic Substances Control Act
MCLs – Maximum Contaminant Levels
DEFINITIONS:
Hazardous Waste – Wastes (solids, sludges, liquids, and containerized gases) other than radioactive (and infectious) wastes which, by reason of their chemical activity or toxic, explosive, corrosive, or other characteristics, cause danger or likely will cause danger to health or the environment, whether alone or when coming into contact with other waste.
Large Quantity Generators – facilities which generate over 1000 kg of waste per month.
Small Quantity Generators – facilities which generate less than 1000 kg of waste per month.
Solid Waste – garbage, refuse, sludge from waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities.
Potentially Responsible Parties – present and/or past owners, operators, generators, and transporters of contaminated sites.
Treatment facility – a facility which changes the physical or chemical characteristics of a waste, or degrades or destroys waste constituents, using any of a wide variety of physical, chemical, thermal, or biological methods.
Environmental monitoring – collecting samples of the environmental media and testing for the presence of hazardous substances that may have been released into the atmosphere.
Regulatory compliance – environmental regulations enforced by government entities to manage waste.
Leachate – combination of the direct precipitation infiltration and any liquids squeezed out as a result of consolidation of landfill waste materials.
Landfill – permanent placement of waste on or below land surface.
Fracking – a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open.
Carbon footprint – the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product, or person.
Wetland mitigation – the replacement of wetland functions through the creation or restoration of wetlands.
As environmental coverages become more widely understood and companies are more aware of their environmental exposures, agents will receive more requests for environmental insurance. Having a higher comfort level with industry terms such as the ones included in our glossary above will allow you to more helpfully advise your current clients, and to also take advantage of potential opportunities to work with new classes of business.
Tags: Advice for Agents, Environmental Insurance Terms, Tools for Agents
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
Most areas of the country are being rocked by winter weather—freezing temperatures, ice, snow, and cold winds. Many businesses see an increase in work during the winter months, especially those that specialize in any kind of machinery maintenance. For many companies, cold weather means a significant increase in projects involving heating systems, plumbing, snow removal, chimney maintenance, fuel delivery, tank cleaning, etc. It’s crucial that these companies have coverage in place to protect themselves from pollution claims.
Some of the companies that see an increase of activity in winter months include:
- HVAC Contractors – Maintenance for heating units
- Plumbers – Fixing frozen pipes and busted water heaters
- Auto Repair and Vehicle Maintenance Facilities
- Heating and Oil Contractors
- Chimney Sweeps/Maintenance Contractors
- Snow Removal/Street & Road Contractors
Make sure your clients aren’t “left out in the cold” this winter; call them today to make sure they have the right coverage for their operations.
Tags: Advice for Agents, Exposures
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
As concerns grow about radon exposure and dust from granite countertop installation, it is important to focus on the need for environmental coverage for this class of contractors.
In the last few years, granite has become a fashionable and trendy building material due to its natural beauty, shine, durability, and scratch/heat resistance. Granite is an igneous stone, mainly formed through volcanic material such as magma. It is primarily made of quartz, feldspar, and potassium, and is an extremely hard material that is easier to maintain than marble. Installing granite countertops in homes and offices has created a huge amount of business for granite countertop contractors—the service and installation has become a very lucrative component of the building and remodeling industry. With the prevalence of granite in homes and offices today, there has been some recent concern over the pollution exposures for people working with, and living around, this popular stone.
Measuring and cutting granite takes a great deal of precision and is almost always outsourced to contractors specializing in granite countertop installation. These professionals will take very exact measurements for the countertops and create a template, which is used to cut the stone. As you may imagine, the dust associated with cutting granite is composed of very fine particles that can be extremely hazardous if inhaled into the lungs. When exposed to even low levels of granite dust over a long period of time, there is a potential for different types of serious respiratory illnesses. In addition to countertop contractors having this exposure, many companies will let customers come to their facilities to choose their own slabs of granite for their countertops. Inviting people onto the facility presents an additional pollution liability risk for these companies, since there is usually a large amount of dust on the company premises.
Another exposure concern with granite is the potential for it to emit radon gas into the air. “Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in soils, rock, and water. It is the largest source of exposure to naturally occurring radiation…The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) concluded after an exhaustive review that radon in indoor air is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. after cigarette smoking,” as explained on the Environmental Protection Agency website. Although allegations that granite countertops may emit toxic levels of radon are still in question, many government officials suggest that homes and offices test the granite for this exposure.
Contractors providing granite products and installation need to be aware of these risks and take the necessary precautions in order to prevent these health hazards and be protected from environmental insurance claims. A pollution policy would help to reduce the potential for an out-of-pocket claim, and would work to further secure the future success and welfare of companies specializing in granite and their employees.
Tags: Contractors Pollution Liability, Environmental Exposures, Environmental Insurance, Products Pollution
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
The self storage industry has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the United States commercial real estate industry in the last 30 years. There are now over 52,000 primary self storage facilities in the country, and in 2008 the industry had total sales in excess of $20 billion.* Self storage companies all over the country are acquiring new customers as people relocate and sell their homes due to the economy. Additionally, as of 2009, more than 700,000 self storage units nationwide are rented to military personnel who are serving away from their homes.
The rapid growth has forced self storage owners and managers to protect their premises from the increased activity that these sites have experienced. One of the main ways they can do this is by having a solid pollution liability insurance policy to cover themselves against potential problems that could occur from environmental exposures.
Self storage owners and managers should consider securing a Site Specific Pollution Liability policy, which will provide coverage for supervised and unsupervised self storage facilities throughout the U.S. Coverage can include: third party liability for bodily injury and property damage claims, first party cleanup costs, and defense costs; Transportation Pollution Liability coverage for waste hauled by the insured or contracted carriers; off-site coverage for non-owned waste disposal sites; automatic Extended Reporting Period (ERP) with optional ERP of up to three years; and an optional Mold enhancement.
Claims caused by a pollution condition may not be covered via the insured’s General Liability or Property form, so it is important for these organizations to purchase more protection. Coverage can be tailored specifically for self storage facilities and their exposures, such as abandoned, potentially hazardous materials, as well as mold.
What Potential Exposures Does a Self Storage Facility Have?
- Abandoned hazardous waste
- Midnight dumping
- Mold
- Hazardous runoff during rain events.
- The accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil.
- Misuse of self storage spaces involving activities unknown to the facility owner or manager.
- And many other exposures…
Many self storage facilities are affiliated with various associations dedicated to educating members about the challenges present in this type of operation. Some of them also provide information to members of the self storage facility industry on regulations and insurance recommendations made to these professionals. Now is a great opportunity to reach out to your self storage facility clients to make sure they have the most effective coverage in place.
* National Self Storage Association Website
Tags: Advice for Agents, Premises Pollution, Self Storage, Site Pollution
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
It’s easy to identify when a contractor falls into the ‘environmental contractor’ category when he or she has a title like asbestos abatement contractor or mold remediation contractor, but what about contractors who do more general contracting work? Can we write General Liability coverage for them as well? Our underwriters have always recognized that that there is a risk to some of these more general contracting classes of business and have acknowledged that the accounts do have a Pollution exposure, but just couldn’t justify writing the GL and Pollution for them. In the past, most carriers have required at least 50% of receipts to be from environmental services in order to be considered an ‘environmental contractor.’
We are now finding that the requirements for this split have gone down significantly, and our markets are becoming more flexible in the types of accounts they will consider. Many carriers have seen the benefit of writing both the GL and Pollution for these risks and are therefore redefining these underwriting guidelines. Account types include:
- Bioremediation contractors
- Industrial cleaners
- Demolition contractors
- Crime scene cleanup/meth lab cleanup contractors
- Bio-solid applicators
- Service station contractors
- Pipeline contractors
- Fire & water restoration contractors
- Many others – please talk with a Beacon Hill representative to discuss a specific account.
Check out some of our recent GL/CPL environmental contractor success stories!
For more information, call us at 1-800-596-2156.
Tags: Contractors, Current Events, Environmental Insurance Advice, Pollution Insurance, Tools for Agents
Posted in Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Insurance agents may be more inclined to sell Pollution insurance in 2010 now that the 2008 EPA Lead Rule will become effective on April 22, 2010. Contractors performing work on buildings constructed before 1978 will be required to abide by the EPA Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule. The regulation creates more responsibility/awareness from the contractor in dealing with potentially hazardous areas. As a result, the contractor may incur more exposure to lead-based paint claims, which is excluded under most General Liability policies.
The RRP Rule is a federal EPA program that affects contractors, property managers, and others who disturb qualifying interior and exterior painted surfaces. Remodeling, maintenance, painting/surface preparation, window replacement, electrical, plumbing, and carpentry activities are subject to the program rules. Exceptions include emergency repair work, minor repair work that disturbs less than 6 square feet of paint per room, and housing declared lead free by a certified lead inspector. Types of properties affected by the program include pre-1978 schools, daycare centers, residential homes, and apartment buildings.*
Currently painters, electricians, GCs, carpenters, property managers, and maintenance contractors are being required to provide pre-renovation educational lead pamphlets to tenants, receive delivery confirmation, and post signs about the workplace.
Effective April 22, 2010, renovators must attend an eight-hour training course by an EPA approved training provider and the firms they work for must also be accredited. Training classes address dust and debris containment, restricting open flame burning, exhaust control for power tools and clean up procedures, record keeping, and other precautionary measures. The accreditation must be renewed every five years. Other state and local requirements may also apply and be more stringent.
Insurance Issues
The EPA is broadening renovators’ responsibilities beyond the scope of a general contractor and General Liability policy. While contractors always have a Pollution exposure, the new EPA requirements increase the risk for Pollution liability claims. The new rule requires renovators to perform lead testing, encapsulation, and cleaning activities. It also requires the contractor to educate property owners/residents about the dangers of lead and the work to be performed. (more…)
Tags: Contractors, Contractors Pollution Liability, CPL, Environmental Insurance, EPA Regulations
Posted in Articles, Environmental Insurance, Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Question: Why advise an insurance carrier of any incident or circumstance that may give rise to a claim, rather than wait until an actual claim is made?
Answer: It is important for an insured to remember that all potential incidents or circumstances that may develop into a claim should be reported to the insurer. Not only does diligent claim reporting protect the insured’s interests, it can also provide an opportunity to head off possible future litigation. Additionally, because most policies contain an exclusion for incidents or circumstances that were known by the insured, a claim made at a later date has the potential to be denied under this exclusion.
Many Claims Made policy forms require the insured to notify the carrier of any incidents, and several specifically address this issue with what is commonly known as “Circumstance Reporting” provisions. These provisions vary from carrier to carrier but generally require the insured to advise the carrier if anything has occurred. Any claim subsequently made against the insured because of the incident or circumstance would then be treated as a claim first made and reported to the insurer at the time the incident was originally reported. How carriers treat these reported circumstances varies: some lock in the incident date forever while others set a time limit for the reported incident to manifest into a full claim. Carriers may undertake an investigation of the incident immediately, if in their opinion there is a likelihood that the incident will become a full claim.
When placing Claims Made coverage for your insureds, it is important that circumstance reporting is adequately reviewed and addressed. At Beacon Hill Associates, we continue to review the forms we work with so that we can provide you with the coverage and enhancements you client needs to be adequately covered.
Tags: Claims, Environmental Insurance
Posted in Environmental Insurance, Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
by Mike Tighe
Many insurance agents understand the importance of including environmental liability insurance in their clients’ insurance programs, and many have become successful at identifying the coverages needed by the classes of business they work with most often. In order for insureds to receive the most appropriate coverage for their operations, they must work closely with their agents to analyze what is, and isn’t, included in their policies.
We have assembled a list of the top 3 terms that can cause confusion in an environmental insurance policy. We have chosen these topics because they are ones that are often misunderstood or have a more narrow definition of coverage than the insured may require.
Transportation
The vehicle exclusion in some pollution forms is absolute. In addition to excluding over the road pollution claims, your policy may leave a gap should a job site pollution incident occur involving a vehicle or the loading/unloading of one.
Restoration Costs
Your pollution policy may clean up the damage to your insured’s property. It may also leave your insured with a large hole left for the insured to restore back to being a useful piece of property.
Natural Resources
While policies include third party property damage coverage and associated clean up, your client may incur non-covered expenses for natural resource damages for land held in trust by the government. The insured may be required to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars reintroducing fish, biota, birds, animals, and other wildlife back to the area.
These are just a few examples of why it’s so important to help your clients understand their policies! If you have questions about other environmental insurance terms, feel free to contact Beacon Hill or refer to our environmental insurance glossary.
Tags: Environmental Insurance, Natural Resources, Transportation
Posted in Environmental Insurance, Environmental Insurance Advice | No Comments »
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