An Ironshore division has started offering product contamination recall coverage focused on food and beverage industry-related risks. It won’t be without competition.

The company’s Pembroke Managing Agency Ltd. will offer protection for incident response expenses connected to product withdrawal, communication and rehabilitation costs on a first and third party basis. Also, business interruption coverage for gross income loss is available for up to 12 months after the triggering incident.

Ironshore said that it is unveiling the coverage in response to increasing numbers of food and beverage-related product recalls, which are averaging 25-30 incidents per week around the world. As the company noted, human error, malicious product tampering and product extortion in the manufacturing and distribution process can be behind the recall.

To be sure, Ironshore will not be alone in the sector.

Among its competitors:

• Willis Group Holdings (now part of Willis Towers Watson) launched Recall Shield in April 2014, product contamination insurance targeted to the food and beverage industry. It’s designed with the BRC Global Standards team, exclusively for manufacturers who have attained an A or A+ grade against the CRC Global Standard for Food Safety across all of their sites. The Willis product also includes added protection for company’s through XL Group’s product contamination insurance offering, with benefits such as consulting and training workshops from crisis management specialists.

• Liberty International Underwriters is also among insurers that offer product recall and contamination policies for food and beverage companies. Earlier in April, it launched a cyber extortion endorsement for the coverage, providing insurance for cyber extortion money and consultant costs up to the policy sublimit, for acts against production and daily operations.

• American International Group and Allianz SE are also in the space. Last July, the Indian arms of both carriers anticipated they would see many more food, beverage and cosmetics makers seek coverage for recalls and other regulatory risks in the wake of lead contamination of noodles made at a Nestle SA plant in India.

For Ironshore’s new coverage, customers can obtain added coverage that addresses reimbursement of expenses for government recall demand and adverse publicity exposure.

In all, client companies can obtain coverage at pricing minimums of $10,000 per $1 million of coverage, with policy limits of up to $15 million.

Source: Ironshore/Pembroke Managing Agency Ltd.