The Americas Environmental insurance business of AXA XL has introduced the Protective Environmental Asset Coverage Enhancement (PEACE), an endorsement specifically designed to protect lenders’ financial interests against loan losses at fixed facilities caused by sudden and gradual pollution conditions.
Anthony Gentile, Sr. Product Line Leader for AXA XL’s Americas Environmental insurance business, stated that “We are reinforcing our 35-year commitment to assisting financial institutions and lenders in addressing environmental concerns with the development of our PEACE endorsement. The endorsement expands our Pollution and Remediation Legal Liability (PARLL) policy to include tailored coverage for loans and lending institutions, providing lenders with more comprehensive environmental coverage than typical standalone lenders’ coverage currently provides.”
“Just as its name suggests, our PEACE endorsement gives lenders’ peace of mind, lessening their concerns about loan decisions for facilities with potential environmental risk,” said Senior Environmental Underwriter Brett McGovern. “For instance, in the event of a default, the endorsement protects lenders’ security risks related to collateral locations from a mortgage impairment loss as a result of a pollution condition on, at, or migrating from such locations. And, even before a default, exposures related to pollution conditions are backstopped by certain other coverages in our standard PARLL policy,” Mr. McGovern added.
The PEACE endorsement also includes the following features:
- Under the PARLL policy, terms of up to ten years are available, with full policy limits and broad pollutants and pollution condition definitions.
- In the event of a loan default, coverage is provided for the lesser of the loan balance or the clean-up cost.
- Coverage for bodily harm and property damage prior to a default scenario
- Coverage for mezzanine lenders is available.
- Capability to provide coverage for a total self-insured retention amount as well as primary insurance coverage without the right to contribute
The Americas Environmental insurance business of AXA XL contributed to the development of today’s environmental insurance market. Nearly three decades later, the team is still making progress, developing new pollution insurance products, identifying new approaches to addressing business environmental risks, and delivering products and services through an integrated approach involving dedicated underwriting, risk consulting, and claims handling teams.