Beazley started marketing coverage designed to protect banks and other lenders from pollution risks that could harm the value of property used as collateral for commercial loans. Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said that a recently acquired broker subsidiary in Italy can now operate as a multimandate insurance agency.

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Specialist insurer Beazley rolled out site lender environmental asset protection (SLEAP) cover to protect banks and other lenders from pollution risks that could seriously impair the value of property used as collateral for commercial loans.

If there’s both a loan default and the discovery of environmental contamination on a property, the policy will cover either the estimated cleanup costs or the loan balance, whichever is lower. The policy also pays cleanup costs for environmental contamination at properties owned by the lender as the result of a foreclosure.

In addition, the coverage protects the lender against third-party claims for cleanup, bodily injury, property damage and defense costs associated with the collateral property at all stages of a commercial loan and regardless of whether the loan is in default.

Jayne Cunningham, Beazley’s environmental focus group leader, said that the new policy carefully addresses “a broad array of environmental exposures that can make lending against property perilous.”

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Sompo International Holdings Ltd. said that its wholly owned subsidiary A&A, S.r.l., acquired in March 2018, can now operate as a multimandate insurance agency. A&A has been a broker in the Italian agriculture insurance market since 1996.

As an agent of Sompo International, A&A is now able to offer a wide range of agriculture products to Italian producers. SI Insurance (Europe), SA, Sompo International’s European subsidiary, will be the primary insurance carrier.

A&A is part of AgriSompo, Sompo International’s global agriculture platform, delivering innovative and coordinated risk management products and services tailored to local needs across the agri-business market. AgriSompo’s is developing additional capabilities by leveraging Sompo’s extensive agriculture insurance expertise and global presence.

Sompo International is a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance.

Sources: Beazley, Sompo International