AAIS has developed new,
standardized builders' risk forms that provide
coverage for loss exposures related to the
"green" certification of an insured construction
project.
The forms will be released Friday, July 24, in the
Builders' Risk section of the AAIS
Inland Marine Guide, a
leading industry resource of policy forms, rating procedures, and
underwriting guidelines for the traditionally nonfiled classes. They will
also be filed in 22 states that do not exempt inland marine insurance
from form filing requirements; the proposed effective date in those
states is Dec. 1, 2009.
This latest AAIS initiative consists of two new
optional endorsements, plus related schedules and information, developed for
building projects intended to be certified
as environmentally sound and energy efficient by authorities in "green"
construction.
One of the endorsements, "Green Building Coverage,"
can be endorsed onto a standard builders' risk jobsite form to add
coverage for restoring air quality in a damaged structure, recycling
debris, recertifying a project as "green," and purchasing electricity
and water to replace what was lost due to an insured loss to renewable
energy or water conservation systems.
The other
endorsement, "Delay in Completion Coverage Part - Green Building Form"
can be used in place of a standard delay in completion form to add
coverage extensions for additional costs incurred when a construction
delay is extended by procedures and processes needed for a project to be
recertified as "green."
More
details are available in a
press release. Also,
a narrated slide show describing the new green delay in completion
form will be available on AAISdirect to users of the Inland
Marine Guide.
For
information on affiliating with AAIS for use of the Inland Marine Guide,
contact Rick Maka, director of marketing, at
rickm@AAISonline.com, or by
calling 800-564-AAIS, ext. 222.
Todd Hester, J.D., has been promoted to the position
of senior counsel for inland marine and output programs at AAIS.
Previously, Todd was director of inland marine.
In addition to his product development work, Hester
has undertaken several research projects and managed relations with
outside counsel for the AAIS inland marine team.
Robert Guevara, AAIS vice president of inland
marine, credits Hester's work in response a significant court case for a
number of significant improvements to the AAIS Builders' Risk forms.
"As a consequence of Todd’s work, AAIS’s Delay In
Completion Coverage Part (a builders’ risk form) was reviewed and highly
praised at a recent American Bar Association meeting," Guevara says,
adding that one speaker praised the form as a "new paradigm" for delay
in completion coverage.
"It is hard to overstate the boost in credibility
and exposure for AAIS that resulted from the comments at the meeting,"
says Guevara.
Hester, a
former entrepreneur, spent four years in product development with Zurich
Insurance and Encompass Insurance before coming to AAIS in June 2007. He
has a law degree from the Chicago-Kent School of Law.
Gov. Jodi Rell recently signed a bill extending, for
two years, a law that allows insurers writing personal lines in the
state to increase or decrease rates by up to 6% without seeking
regulatory approval.
The law was originally enacted in 2006 and was
scheduled to expire this year.
A
new
law in Louisiana makes owners of dogs and other animals liable for
criminal prosecution if they are recklessly negligent in confining or
restraining an animal which injures or kills another person.
The law
adds that liability insurers cannot use criminal acts exclusions to
exclude otherwise applicable coverage for injuries arising from
incidents for which an animal owner is prosecuted under the new law.
The law
does not apply to livestock, police animals, service animals, or animals
certified for use in search and rescue.
A new Wisconsin
law (see
pages 1541 through 1547) requires that
uninsured and underinsured (UM/UIM) motorists coverage be offered with
every umbrella/excess liability policy separately from an
underlying auto policy.
Prior to the enactment of this law, umbrella/excess
policies were exempted by regulation from UM/UIM requirements.
AAIS will develop materials needed to comply for all
of its umbrella programs and notify affected companies by bulletin of
their filing and approval.
An
advisory memorandum
from Monica Lindeen, Montana's commissioner of securities and
insurance, indicates that, if materials are not available to achieve a
reasonable match between replacement property and undamaged property,
the existing materials must be replaced to achieve a match.
The memo is addressed to all authorized insurers,
producers, and claims adjustors, but does not specify any enforcement
actions.
July 29th is the
deadline
for comments on the
latest draft of a proposed revision to New York's producer
disclosure regulation.
Under
the draft, producers would have to disclose whether it received
compensation from the insurer providing a contract, but would only have
to provide details about the compensation, alternative quotes, and other
details if requested by the purchaser.
Under an arrangement with the Reinsurance
Association of America (RAA), staff from AAIS member companies can
attend reinsurance education programs at RAA member rates.
The 2009
program lineup includes:
-
Re Underwriting: An Educational Forum for Underwriting
Professionals, July 30;
-
Re Claims: Reinsurance Claims Management, September 24-25; and
-
Re Finance: The ABCs of Financial Reporting & Analysis for
Property/Casualty Insurers and Reinsurers, October 7-8.
All of
these events are scheduled to be held in New York City.
For information about each program, or to register, go to
www.reinsurance.org/seminars. When registering, choose "member" as
your "registrant type" to get the tuition discount.
