According to a report frominsurance broker Marsh, the percentage of clients purchasingPollution Legal Liability (PLL) and Contractors’ PollutionLiability (CPL) policies has increased: Nearly 10 percent more PLLpolicies were sold in 2011 compared to 2009.

But in its “Marsh Insights: Benchmarking Trends—EnvironmentalPurchasing Trends” report, the Marsh & McLennan Cos. subsidiarysays purchasers of environmental-liability policies are buyinglower limits and paying less than they were just a year ago.

Average limits have, for the most part, trended downward overthe past four years, with average limits on PLL declining from$12.7 million in 2008 to $11 million in 2011. For CPL programs,limits went from $9 million in 2008 to $7.4 million in 2011.

Marsh suggests a major reason for this is that clients are nolonger purchasing multiyear policies, opting for one-year policiesinstead.

Loss experience and claims-activity data has also “evolved,” thereport says, giving insurance brokers and the insured betterinformation on limit requirements and thereby “allowing for moreappropriately structured programs.”

The report notes that deductibles have remained constant for PLLprograms at around $350,000, while CPL has dropped from a high of$304,000 in 2008 to $121,000 in 2011.