NU Online News Service, July 23, 3:34 p.m. EDT

The extent of damage and insurance industry losses from the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster is still unknown, but an industry environmental coverage expert said insurers should use the event to create new coverages rather than exclusions.

John O'Brien, president of the Environmental product line at Ironshore, during an Advisen webinar on the BP oil spill predicted that rates for "anything in the oil and gas arena" will go up from 10-to-20 percent.

He added, "I guarantee those numbers will continue to go up," adding that the product was probably priced too low to start with. He said he also believes the number of insurers and reinsurers involved in paying for the loss will rise.

Mr. O'Brien observed that the "initial reaction from the industry was a little bit slow. I did see some companies come out with exclusions, specifically on renewals for the Deepwater Horizon Spill."

But Mr. O'Brien noted, "I would advise you and any of your clients to try and negotiate those exclusions off–that's really not what the industry should be doing."

Every catastrophe, he said, has created two kinds of opportunities: an "opportunity for companies to exclude things and take away coverage," and "an opportunity for companies to look to the future to see what kind of products are out there to address these exposures."

While the exposures aren't new, he said, there is new awareness. For example, "before 9/11 nobody thought about buying terrorism coverage, Mr. O'Brien said. "And if you talked about terrorism coverage to anyone in the real estate industry, they would say, 'That's crazy.'"

He added that commercial real estate firms and apartment owners never bought environmental insurance until mold became an issue.

"I think we have a similar opportunity here," said Mr. O'Brien. "There are companies in the hospitality industry and condos and co-ops that are along the Gulf Coast and all over the country, for that matter, that typically are not purchasers of environmental insurance because they don't see the need for it."

He explained that with most pollution policies, the business interruption coverage is only triggered when an owner has to clean up a pollution condition on the property. Pollution on the beach, such as tar balls, however, would not trigger the policy, since the beach is not owned by the hotel.

This situation, he said, leaves an opportunity for the market to create a "contingent business interruption type of cover." He added, "Those are the types of things that get me excited about where we're going to move forward."

Mr. O'Brien said the focus will be on the Gulf Coast, but that "rocking horse" oil pumpers and chemical plants exist all over the country.

He concluded, "That's the one good thing that will come out of all of this."

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BP Spill Creates Coverage Opportunities, Expert Says

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