Environmental insurance products are a relatively new class of business, having been around for only the past 25 years. But the opportunities for agents to capitalize on this growing segment have only begun to be explored. In this class, there are two major categories:

The first category offers products for the environmental/pollution industry. Included in this industry group are risks such as contractors that remove asbestos, lead or hazardous waste; environmental consultants; landfills; waste clean-up facilities; and recycling centers. These types of entities carry commercial general liability (CGL) with specific protection for pollution, including contractors' pollution, pollution legal liability, and environmental professional liability, among others.

The second — and larger — category is what we refer to as “everybody else.” This can be, quite literally, any entity with any kind of environmental or pollution exposure. It could be any non-environmental contractor (such as a road contractor, excavation contractor, or painting contractor), a dry cleaner, a manufacturer, a real estate developer — virtually any entity with an environmental exposure. This second category is where many agents are leaving business on the table and their insureds' with a potentially uncovered exposure.