Welcome to the 3rd quarter 2025 edition of "The Standard”. That means my favorite season is here - football season! Autumn is nice too but when you are a fan of the defending Super Bowl Champions, how can you not look forward to this season? (provided all of your 10/1 business is bound and booked)
In this issue, we highlight our sponsorship and participation in the IRMI Construction Risk Conference coming up in November. RT ECP has nine team members attending including Tim Prosser and Joe Reynolds, who will both be speaking. Read on for all the details on their sessions and contact information for those of us attending. This is always a great conference, and we look forward to seeing you there.
Also in this issue, we highlight our Transportation Pollution Marketing Sheet, which details the limitations of standard Commercial Auto policies and the available alternatives and options including a Transportation Pollution Liability policy. Feel free to share this with your transportation clients and reach out to us for more information.
Finally, RT ECP’s Evan Quinn provides a Risk Tip highlighting considerations around Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage in a Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) policy, an often underappreciated component, but can play an important role in a PLL program.
I hope this issue of The Standard gives you a few helpful tools as we enter this last quarter of 2025. Let’s finish the year strong together and as always, thank you for all you do to make this an incredible year!
RT ECP Team to Attend 45th IRMI Construction Risk Conference
RT Specialty is once again a proud sponsor of the IRMI Construction Risk Conference to be held November 16th to 19th in Indianapolis. This year two of our RT ECP colleagues are speaking during the event.
Tim Prosser will discuss "Assembling the Puzzle: Contractor's Professional Liability Versus General Liability" at his session on November 17th at 10:15 AM.
Joe Reynoldsexplore the "Top 3 Considerations for Contractors When Partnering with Architects and Engineers on Design-Build Projects." This "Snap Talk" will take place on November 18th at 1:30 PM.
In addition, listed below is contact information for each of our RT ECP team members attending IRMI. Please reach out to schedule a time to meet during the conference.
Do you have transportation clients who transport hazardous materials? These companies may face serious environmental exposures associated with transport. This document outlines potential limitations in standard Commercial Auto policies, which frequently exclude coverage for pollution events, and discusses specialized solutions such as Transportation Pollution Liability (TPL) policies, the CA 9948 ISO Endorsement, and the MCS-90 endorsement. These options are designed to help protect these companies in the event of a pollution incident.
Please join us in welcoming Jeremy Michel, Jennifer Jordan and Alicia Myers to the RT ECP family. We are thrilled to have them on the team and look forward to seeing them learn and develop in this next phase of their careers.
Risk Tip - Pre-Existing Conditions - Are Your Clients Covered?
By: Evan Quinn
Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) typically provides coverage for bodily injury, property damage and cleanup costs on, at, under or migrating from a covered location. A pollution condition arising prior to policy inception or the retroactive date is considered a Pre-Existing Condition, whereas a pollution condition commencing on or after policy inception or the retroactive date is a New Pollution Condition. Depending on the property type, coverage for New Pollution Conditions is generally easier and cheaper to secure since insurers can more easily assess the current site operations. Pre-Existing Conditions coverage, however, is more complex and costly due to underwriting requirements and claims severity. Most insurers require an environmental due diligence (i.e., Phase I & II Environmental Site Assessments) review prior to offering this coverage.
Risk Tip:Why should your property owners consider Pre-Existing Conditions coverage as part of their PLL policy?
It can serve as an important risk-transfer tool. Property owners may not always be aware of legacy environmental conditions (often stemming from long-standing industrial, commercial or redevelopment) only to discover them later, leaving them to incur potential cleanup or claims costs.
Regulators often require cleanup even if the pollution occurred decades earlier. This coverage can help manage the financial impact of such historical liabilities.
Neighbors, tenants, or surrounding property owners may bring lawsuits alleging damages (bodily injury, property damage, business interruption) caused by long-standing contamination. This coverage can help protect against these unexpected liabilities.
Buyers, lenders, and investors often require PLL including Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage to facilitate transactions. If the policy excludes Pre-Existing Conditions, the coverage may not satisfy their risk management or financing requirements.
Without coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions, discovery of legacy pollution can drastically reduce property value, resulting in real estate transactions being jeopardized, and leave owners without financial recourse.
Contact your RT ECP consultant to discuss specific situations for your clients.
The information contained in this material is for information purposes only. This material should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to any particular circumstances. Appropriate steps to manage any of the risks described herein will vary depending on particular circumstances. This material should be considered in addition to all other relevant information, including the advice of professional advisors, best practices suggested by health and safety organizations and the requirements of any applicable policy of insurance. RT Specialty shall not be liable for any loss alleged to relate to the provision of this material.
RT Environmental and Construction Professional, 2465 Kuser Road, Suite 202, Hamilton, NJ 08690, USA
