Blog

  • Internet Pollution Liabilities

    environmental Strategist between the lines:  Facebook, Amazon, Google, Alibaba… have become the latest distribution networks creating products pollution and other environmental liability exposures for your commercial insureds.  Countries such as China who has brought us such contaminated products as dry wall, wood floors, lead laced children toys and Mardi Gras necklaces, dog food…, are now able to able to use internet based companies and side step the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

    Photo Credit: www.wordpress.com

    Coach your client’s to make sure they do not get themselves into a products pollution or other environmental exposure while trying to increase profits.  A clear majority of products have imitations being made.  In the past when it was a purse or a watch it did not cause much environmental harm.   Now we are talking about cancer causing, skin burning materials / chemicals that cause not only bodily injury but have a negative impact upon our environment.

    I bet Al Gore did not factor in environmental liabilities when he invented the internet.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/leticiamiranda/hoverboards-vapes-and-spinners-are-reshaping-economy?utm_term=.sxY2ep5dPY#.ruv3wMDBPr

  • Internet Pollution Liabilities

    environmental Strategist between the lines:  Facebook, Amazon, Google, Alibaba… have become the latest distribution networks creating products pollution and other environmental liability exposures for your commercial insureds.  Countries such as China who has brought us such contaminated products as dry wall, wood floors, lead laced children toys and Mardi Gras necklaces, dog food…, are now able to able to use internet based companies and side step the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

    Coach your client’s to make sure they do not get themselves into a products pollution or other environmental exposure while trying to increase profits.  A clear majority of products have imitations being made.  In the past when it was a purse or a watch it did not cause much environmental harm.   Now we are talking about cancer causing, skin burning materials / chemicals that cause not only bodily injury but have a negative impact upon our environment.

    I bet Al Gore did not factor in environmental liabilities when he invented the internet.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/leticiamiranda/hoverboards-vapes-and-spinners-are-reshaping-economy?utm_term=.sxY2ep5dPY#.ruv3wMDBPr

  • ERMI on Contractors

    Contractors continue to be the number one class of business Environmental Risk Managers, Inc. (ERMI) writes for our Partner Agencies. The vast majority of this is being driven by contracts requiring contractors to evidence Contractor’s Pollution Liability (CPL) insurance in order to perform their construction services.

    “Back in the day” it was not uncommon for contractors to negotiate the CPL insurance requirement out of the contracts.  Today, so many companies have experienced environmental liabilities created by the contractors they have hired that it’s common practice to require CPL coverage and not negotiate it out of the contract.  Home Depot and Walmart have spearheaded the charge since they each paid multi-million dollar fines to the EPA for liabilities created by their vendor contractors.

    Photo Credit: mytotalretail.com

    ERMI has also developed environmental Risk Assessments (eRA) for a variety of construction classes.  The eRA’s are designed to get you and your client/s on the same page about the environmental exposures impacting their operations.  We send our eRA’s in a Word format so you can cut and paste them into a marketing presentation that compliments your agencies marketing program.  Our Partner Agencies find utilizing the eRA’s is an excellent way to leverage their insurance sales because an educated insured understands the value investing in an environmental insurance product will add to their business model.

    The eRA’s come in three parts:

    1. Review of environmental exposure impacting your insured.
    2. Environmental loss examples
    3. Environmental insurance coverage’s that are appropriate for the insured to consider.

    The ultimate goal is to educate your insured so they can make the best decisions for their business. If your insured sees value and elects to further pursue environmental insurance coverage, we’re here to make your job easier by utilizing our insurance network to market your client’s submission and supply you with the best coverage options.

    Please let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales of CPL coverage.

  • ERMI on Contractors

    Contractors continue to be the number one class of business Environmental Risk Managers, Inc. (ERMI) writes for our Partner Agencies. The vast majority of this is being driven by contracts requiring contractors to evidence Contractor’s Pollution Liability (CPL) insurance in order to perform their construction services.

    “Back in the day” it was not uncommon for contractors to negotiate the CPL insurance requirement out of the contracts.  Today, so many companies have experienced environmental liabilities created by the contractors they have hired that it’s common practice to require CPL coverage and not negotiate it out of the contract.  Home Depot and Walmart have spearheaded the charge since they each paid multi-million dollar fines to the EPA for liabilities created by their vendor contractors.

    ERMI has also developed environmental Risk Assessments (eRA) for a variety of construction classes.  The eRA’s are designed to get you and your client/s on the same page about the environmental exposures impacting their operations.  We send our eRA’s in a Word format so you can cut and paste them into a marketing presentation that compliments your agencies marketing program.  Our Partner Agencies find utilizing the eRA’s is an excellent way to leverage their insurance sales because an educated insured understands the value investing in an environmental insurance product will add to their business model.

    The eRA’s come in three parts:

    1. Review of environmental exposure impacting your insured.
    2. Environmental loss examples
    3. Environmental insurance coverage’s that are appropriate for the insured to consider.

    The ultimate goal is to educate your insured so they can make the best decisions for their business. If your insured sees value and elects to further pursue environmental insurance coverage, we’re here to make your job easier by utilizing our insurance network to market your client’s submission and supply you with the best coverage options.

    Please let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales of CPL coverage.

  • Leverage your M&A’s While Better Protecting your Assets with MAPP

    Merger, Acquisition & Pollution Protection (MAPP) insurance blends Representation & Warranties coverage with Pollution Insurance offering a financial assurance backstop for M&A’s. The benefits gained by making MAPP part of your M&A risk transfer strategy is why it has become part of “Best Practices”.

    The amazing MAPP Math Quiz below gives you the correct answer every time to minimize risk, maximize value and optimize resources with your M&A’s.

    MAPP Math Quiz:

    Pick a number from 1-9.
    Multiply by 3.
    Add 3.
    Multiply by 3 again.
    Now add the two digits together to find your answer.

    Now look up your number for the correct answer in the list below…

    1. Assume your employees, attorneys and accountants did their job flawlessly.

    2. No need to have any financial assurances because closing contracts contain Indemnification

    clauses, i.e. environmental indemnification, taxes, litigation.

    3. If something goes wrong with the M&A your strategy is to litigate with your own monies.

    4. Environmental site assessments offer all the protection needed

    5. Assume there are no R&W or environmental exposures with an M&A

    6. Self-insure your R&W and environmental exposures for a M&A

    7. Put your head in the sand

    8. Let a competitor counsel on the benefits of investing in MAPP and take your M&A business

    9. Team with the MAPP pioneer, Environmental Risk Managers to coach your clients on the value investing in MAPP will bring to their M&A’s

    10. Convince yourself and your client’s they will never have an M&A defaul

    11. Do nothing and when an M&A experiences a loss sue the attorneys, accountants, insuranceagents… Errors & Omission insurance

    12. Assume an M&A would rather spend 100 cents on the dollar out of their own pocket paying for R&W / environmental losses, legal fees… versus transferring their risk to an insurance carrier for fractions of a cent on the dollar.

    ERMI, your M&A strategic partner and trusted advisor for MAPP

    Brooks Bunbury @ brooks@ermi.us 231-218-1044

    Chris Bunbury @ chris@ermi.us 231-218-1041

  • Leverage your M&A’s While Better Protecting your Assets with MAPP

    Merger, Acquisition & Pollution Protection (MAPP) insurance blends Representation & Warranties coverage with Pollution Insurance offering a financial assurance backstop for M&A’s.  The benefits gained by making MAPP part of your M&A risk transfer strategy is why it has become part of “Best Practices”.

    The amazing MAPP Math Quiz below gives you the correct answer every time to minimize risk, maximize value and optimize resources with your M&A’s.

    MAPP Math Quiz:

    Pick a number from 1-9.
    Multiply by 3.
    Add 3.
    Multiply by 3 again.
    Now add the two digits together to find your answer.

    Now look up your number for the correct answer in the list below…

    1. Assume your employees, attorneys and accountants did their job flawlessly.

    2. No need to have any financial assurances because closing contracts contain Indemnification

    clauses, i.e. environmental indemnification, taxes, litigation.

    3. If something goes wrong with the M&A your strategy is to litigate with your own monies.

    4. Environmental site assessments offer all the protection needed

    5. Assume there are no R&W or environmental exposures with an M&A

    6. Self-insure your R&W and environmental exposures for a M&A

    7. Put your head in the sand

    8. Let a competitor counsel on the benefits of investing in MAPP and take your M&A business

    9. Team with the MAPP pioneer, Environmental Risk Managers to coach your clients on the value investing in MAPP will bring to their M&A’s

    10. Convince yourself and your client’s they will never have an M&A defaul

    11. Do nothing and when an M&A experiences a loss sue the attorneys, accountants, insuranceagents… Errors & Omission insurance

    12. Assume an M&A would rather spend 100 cents on the dollar out of their own pocket paying for R&W / environmental losses, legal fees… versus transferring their risk to an insurance carrier for fractions of a cent on the dollar.

    ERMI, your M&A strategic partner and trusted advisor for MAPP

    Brooks Bunbury @ brooks@ermi.us  231-218-1044

    Chris Bunbury @ chris@ermi.us  231-256-2122

  • Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    2016 NATURAL CATASTROPHES:  Insured losses due to natural disasters in the United States in 2016 totaled $23.8 billion, according to Munich Re, more than the $16.1 billion total for 2015. Severe thunderstorms losses, at $14 billion, accounted for about 60 percent of the 2016 insured losses. Floods and flash floods accounted for $4.3 billion in insured losses in 2016, and tropical cyclones accounted for $3.5 billion in insured losses. Winter storms and cold waves caused $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. Wildfires, heat waves and drought produced $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. (source:  Insurance Information Institute)

    As ERMI has coached in the past, Natural Disaster Seasons (NDS, i.e. Flooding, Tornados, Forest Fires, Hurricanes…) is a great time to talk pollution.  Did you know most pollution policies do not exclude Acts of God.

    During NDS, national and local media are lighting up the airways / internet highway with all the pollution problems caused by a natural disasters.  You hear about storage tanks releasing their contents as debris crashes into them during flood season.  Pollutants spread out over miles from tornados or hurricanes.  Forest Fires engulfing communities and causing explosions that release pollutants in the air and the list goes on.

    Note:  Pollution losses tend to be a severity versus frequency issue.

    The Prospects you want to strategize with on the value pollution insurance adds to their business model during NDS are those that feel they do not have a pollution exposure.  For this example, let’s use real estate owners.  For sake of avoiding an argument, agree with the real estate owners they do not have a pollution exposure, but then ask, what if a natural disaster deposits pollutants on your real estate?  As we move into spring the thoughts of melting snow carrying contaminants to nearby waterways to be deposited downstream during flood season to unsuspecting real estate owners in one simple example.

    Note:  Under federal law, the real estate owner is ultimately responsible for the environmental condition of their property.

    It may not be until years later when the real estate owner goes to sell their property and an environmental site assessment unveils an environmental problem from pollutants deposited during NDS.  Whose responsible?

    Since every business is impacted by environmental exposures, it’s now part of “Best Practices” for businesses to have a financial assurance strategy in place to address their exposure to environmental liabilities caused by Natural Disasters.

    NDS and pollution insurance go together like April showers that bring May flowers.

    As your team member for all things environmental, let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales during NDS.

  • Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    Natural Disaster Seasons Are a Great Time to Talk Pollution Insurance

    2016 NATURAL CATASTROPHES:  Insured losses due to natural disasters in the United States in 2016 totaled $23.8 billion, according to Munich Re, more than the $16.1 billion total for 2015. Severe thunderstorms losses, at $14 billion, accounted for about 60 percent of the 2016 insured losses. Floods and flash floods accounted for $4.3 billion in insured losses in 2016, and tropical cyclones accounted for $3.5 billion in insured losses. Winter storms and cold waves caused $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. Wildfires, heat waves and drought produced $1 billion in insured losses in 2016. (source:  Insurance Information Institute)

    As ERMI has coached in the past, Natural Disaster Seasons (NDS, i.e. Flooding, Tornados, Forest Fires, Hurricanes…) is a great time to talk pollution.  Did you know most pollution policies do not exclude Acts of God.

    During NDS, national and local media are lighting up the airways / internet highway with all the pollution problems caused by a natural disasters.  You hear about storage tanks releasing their contents as debris crashes into them during flood season.  Pollutants spread out over miles from tornados or hurricanes.  Forest Fires engulfing communities and causing explosions that release pollutants in the air and the list goes on.

    Photo Credit: www.variety.com

    Note:  Pollution losses tend to be a severity versus frequency issue.

    The Prospects you want to strategize with on the value pollution insurance adds to their business model during NDS are those that feel they do not have a pollution exposure.  For this example, let’s use real estate owners.  For sake of avoiding an argument, agree with the real estate owners they do not have a pollution exposure, but then ask, what if a natural disaster deposits pollutants on your real estate?  As we move into spring the thoughts of melting snow carrying contaminants to nearby waterways to be deposited downstream during flood season to unsuspecting real estate owners in one simple example.

    Note:  Under federal law, the real estate owner is ultimately responsible for the environmental condition of their property.

    It may not be until years later when the real estate owner goes to sell their property and an environmental site assessment unveils an environmental problem from pollutants deposited during NDS.  Whose responsible?

    Since every business is impacted by environmental exposures, it’s now part of “Best Practices” for businesses to have a financial assurance strategy in place to address their exposure to environmental liabilities caused by Natural Disasters.

    NDS and pollution insurance go together like April showers that bring May flowers.

    As your team member for all things environmental, let ERMI know how we can assist you to drive your sales during NDS.

  • Underground Storage Tank Update

    environmental Strategist®, between the lines:  For years we have been talking about problems with aging tanks.  I believe, since tank insurance is a low premium / low commission insurance product it does not get the attention it deserves from tank owners or insurance professionals.

    The link below updates what is taking place in the tank market, such as state tank funds drying up.

    For a little background, under Federal law, regulated UST’s (Underground Storage Tanks) must evidence financial assurance should there be a release from the UST system.  Besides your obvious gas stations, financial assurance impacts businesses with UST’s such as backup generators for Municipalities, Waste Water Treatment Plants, Hospitals, Colleges, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Assisted Living Facilities….  Other businesses with storage tanks can include Transportation companies, Contractors, Cement & Asphalt Manufacturers, Ski Areas, Hotel & Conference Facilities….

    The problem facing UST owners today is the age of their tanks.  Back in the 1990’s the Federal Government established financial assurance requirements but never consulted with the insurance industry to find out what the insurability of a 20 or 30 year old tank system would be.  Now we have aging UST’s in the United States and for the most part, tank owners have not budgeted to replace their systems and find themselves caught.

    Photo Credit: www.tucsonaz.gov

    If you have insureds with tanks over 20 years old you need to coach them up on replacing their tanks.  Once a tank reaches 25 years old there are just a couple of insurance carriers that will offer coverage and the premiums and deductibles go up drastically and retro dates are shortened.  For tanks over 30 years old it is a crap shoot if any insurance carrier will offer coverage.

    As your environmental team member, ERMI is ready to assist you and your insureds with their UST financial assurance needs.  Contact our tank specialist Angie Marsman @ angie@ermi.us or by phone 269-792-1070.

    http://riskandinsurance.com/tight-rules-low-funding-challenge-tank-operators/

  • Underground Storage Tank Update

    environmental Strategist®, between the lines:  For years we have been talking about problems with aging tanks.  I believe, since tank insurance is a low premium / low commission insurance product it does not get the attention it deserves from tank owners or insurance professionals.

    The link below updates what is taking place in the tank market, such as state tank funds drying up.

    For a little background, under Federal law, regulated UST’s (Underground Storage Tanks) must evidence financial assurance should there be a release from the UST system.  Besides your obvious gas stations, financial assurance impacts businesses with UST’s such as backup generators for Municipalities, Waste Water Treatment Plants, Hospitals, Colleges, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Assisted Living Facilities….  Other businesses with storage tanks can include Transportation companies, Contractors, Cement & Asphalt Manufacturers, Ski Areas, Hotel & Conference Facilities….

    The problem facing UST owners today is the age of their tanks.  Back in the 1990’s the Federal Government established financial assurance requirements but never consulted with the insurance industry to find out what the insurability of a 20 or 30 year old tank system would be.  Now we have aging UST’s in the United States and for the most part, tank owners have not budgeted to replace their systems and find themselves caught.

    If you have insureds with tanks over 20 years old you need to coach them up on replacing their tanks.  Once a tank reaches 25 years old there are just a couple of insurance carriers that will offer coverage and the premiums and deductibles go up drastically and retro dates are shortened.  For tanks over 30 years old it is a crap shoot if any insurance carrier will offer coverage.

    As your environmental team member, ERMI is ready to assist you and your insureds with their UST financial assurance needs.  Contact our tank specialist Angie Marsman @ angie@ermi.us or by phone 269-792-1070.

    http://riskandinsurance.com/tight-rules-low-funding-challenge-tank-operators/