Due to the complex nature of environmental exposures, the claims adjustment process can be challenging, fraught with complicated coverage determinations, cost management, public relations needs, and responses to various regulatory agencies. Environmental exposure specialists in Marsh’s Claim Practice offer different levels of advocacy in response to claims reported under all types of pollution-specific insurance policies.

Connecting you, your attorneys, and/or your engineering consultants with the insurers’ claim professionals and engineering consultants can be a critical first step in facilitating a successful claim experience. Marsh’s Claim Practice assists by providing prompt core advocacy to all clients. This valued service is included as part of your current brokerage relationship with Marsh. With this core level of advocacy, your claim will be reported promptly, and we will work with insurers to obtain a response to your claim in a timely and efficient manner.

Some claims present significant complexity and challenges that can develop into disagreements between you and your insurer. We offer an advanced level of claim advocacy, which may require an additional fee, to address the many issues that may arise.

Our network of highly specialized environmental claims advocates has years of experience handling all types of environmental claims in local, state, and federal jurisdictions. We have experience resolving claims with all major insurers and in helping clients achieve an optimal coverage determination. This capability, together with our deep business relationships with the underwriting decision makers at the major environmental insurance markets, helps our clients maximize their recoveries and return on their investment.

Why Marsh

As an industry leader in providing environmental placement and claims solutions, our team handles more than 500 claims annually and has advocated on more than 2,500 claims in the past five years. Among our 40 dedicated environmental colleagues, nearly half have received Risk & Insurance’s Power Broker award, a designation given to risk management professionals based on demonstrated excellence in solving insurance-related issues, per client testimonial.

Removing exclusion for covered claim

Client issue

A client acquired a property for development for retail and residential use. The request to add the property to the client’s environmental policy was not completed by the insurer. In the ensuing months, a pollution condition at the property was discovered. The insurer eventually added the location to the policy, but with an exclusion for this pollution condition.

Advocacy in action

Our claims advocates asserted that a policy should not be endorsed after a claim has been presented. The insurer countered that the exclusion would have applied even if the initial request to add the property to the policy had been fulfilled. The issue was elevated to the global practice leader at the insurer, and an agreement was reached to amend the policy and provide coverage for this claim. However, there were policy language drafting issues. We proposed language for the endorsement that balanced the interests of the insurer and our client, which resulted in coverage for the claim.

Successful resolution

Without agreement on coverage of this claim, the client would have suffered a multimillion-dollar loss with no insurance recovery.

Coverage afforded after initial denial

Client issue

When our client discovered asbestos particulates inside its art museum storeroom, the insurer denied the client’s claim on the grounds that the particulates were not disrupted and therefore any costs would not be for remediation. The cleanup costs were significant due to the delicate nature of the fine artwork.

Advocacy in action

Our claims advocates successfully asserted that the particulates resting on the artwork and in the surrounding area were not intended to be in that location. They additionally asserted that the only way the particulates could be on the artwork was through a disturbance in the asbestos ceiling and that government regulations require remediation. Based on these arguments, the insurer changed position and afforded coverage for the claim.

Successful resolution

The insurer ultimately reversed its position and provided coverage consistent with our analysis of the policy language. Our client was covered for a loss valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Test tube containing chemical liquid in laboratory, lab chemistry or science research and development concept.

Article

Environmental Claims Management

Advocacy

Expediency