By Megan Stephens, PartnerOne Environmental Underwriter

PartnerOne Environmental recently had a renewal where the insured, an environmental driller, was seeking additional coverage. This insured is typically called by their clients in the event of a spill; they do not clean up the spill, but rather drill around/near it to discover its impact on the soils and groundwater surrounding it.

We had written this insured’s Contractors Pollution coverage (CPL) for ten years and within the last two years we had added Professional Liability coverage to the account. The coverage package coming into this renewal included $1M/$2M Contractors Pollution Liability and Professional Liability limits based on estimated revenues of $1,300,000 for a total premium of $7,684.

This year they approached us regarding adding General Liability, Excess, and Auto coverage. They were being non-renewed by their current carrier and needed to find comparable coverage. They had advised us that the target total premium was around $55,000. Because we work with environmental carriers on non-environmental accounts we are not always able to provide coverage other than some form of Pollution Liability. Drilling operations can sometimes be tricky because they can be considered both environmental and non-environmental. After reviewing the insured’s account and operations, we agreed this was something we would be able to offer. By taking a closer look at this account, the carrier was comfortable in offering the additional coverage that the insured needed.

The renewal package was still based on estimated revenues of $1,300,000, but expanded coverage to include a $1M/$3M General Liability, Contractors Pollution Liability, and Professional Liability policy, and a separate $5M Excess policy and $1M/$1M Auto policy. The total premium for the renewal package was $41,094.

Our premium for all lines, including the CPL/Professional Liability we had previously written, was lower than the insured’s renewal premium for just their GL, Excess, and Auto coverages with their prior carrier. Additionally, by writing all lines with the same carrier, the insured minimizes the risk of coverage gaps that can occur when different coverages are written with different carriers.  This is particularly a concern with GL and CPL coverage written with different carriers.

When reviewing renewals it is important to take a look at the insured’s entire insurance program. There may be coverages that the insured currently has with another broker/carrier that would be a fit. The ability to offer many lines of coverage with one carrier is also convenient for an agent and insured it requires fewer applications and any claims are handled through one company. It also allows the agent and insured to have one contact for any questions or concerns they may have during the policy term. For this insured, by taking a closer look at their operations, we were able to save them money and obtain the coverages they were seeking with one carrier.