Environmental coverage is one that 10 or 15 years ago only aselect few companies bought, primarily manufacturers that hadobvious exposures. But environmental coverage has grown into a lotmore than that over the last five years, said William P. Hazelton,executive vice president, environmental and construction for ACEGroup, in a meeting with National Underwriter and PC360 atRIMS 2015.

In the U.S., environmental coverage, especially for contractors,is "a vital component" and is expanding, with increased demand ascompanies become more multinational. "It's a coverage contractorshave in the U.S. so they buy it while working abroad too," headded.

Much of the value in environmental coverage is that it's amulti-year policy, which also covers regulatory risk and damage toreputation, added J. Craig Richardson, senior vice president,environmental risk, for ACE USA. The policies often provide expertcatastrophe management services that include public relationsassistance and legal counsel as well as business interruptioncoverage.