Until recent times, once a policy of insurance expired, there was little reason to retain a copy of that policy beyond the normal retention date. However, with the advent of the “long tail claim” alleging exposure over numerous policy years, the ability to locate direct and secondary evidence of insurance coverage has become a key to corporate survival. This ability is critical not only to the corporate defendant but also to the defendant’s existing insurance carriers. The ability to locate historic insurance coverage will spread the risk and ease the burden of defense on the existing insurance carriers.

Enviro-Tox Loss Services uses its experience within the insurance industry to help in the search for this elusive but essential coverage. ETLS knows the places to search, the people to interview and the questions to ask that can provide the pieces to unlock the puzzle of historic insurance coverage. ETLS can then work with the client, its existing insurance carriers and its historic insurance carriers to create a functional and equitable cost sharing arrangement that will provide for the defense of the client.

Example:
Enviro-Tox Loss Services was contacted by a self-insured client to review the client’s records so that the client could respond to production requests on pending litigation. During the course of the search, ETLS uncovered documents that proved that the client did not become self-insured until the 1970s. ETLS then contacted insurance carriers that insured the client prior to the 1970s and created a cost sharing agreement by which the client’s cost of defense was spread to the client and its historic insurance carriers. ETLS continues to administer this cost sharing agreement.