Irwin Siegel Agency expands workers comp program

ROCK HILL, N.Y.—Irwin Siegel Agency Inc. has expanded its workers compensation program to cover more sectors.

The expansion, which includes additional eligibility open to small business, social service providers including home health care, medical staffing programs, and other health care industries, will aim to offer “broad eligibility” by lowering the minimum premium from $10,000 to $2,500, the company said.

According to the Rock Hill, N.Y.-based agency, the workers compensation product includes claims services and consultative risk management resources, and can be purchased as a standalone policy or as a comprehensive package.

Chartis Inc. will underwrite the policy.

For more details, contact Chad Rowan, associate underwriter, specialty lines, at 800-622-8272 ext. 5143 or chad.rowan@siegelagency.com.

Markel introduces coverage for political campaigns

RICHMOND, Va.—Markel Risk Solutions, a unit of Richmond, Va.-based Markel Corp., has introduced a multiline, admitted insurance product for political campaigns.

CampaignPro, available in most U.S. states, aims to help manage property and liability risks faced by local, state and national political campaigns and committees, including gubernatorial and U.S. House and Senate campaigns.

According to Markel, campaigns have no exemptions from liability under statutory law. Also, ever-growing campaign revenues and donation levels add to the exposure for potential loss.

“2010 is a very active election cycle with all 435 United States House of Representatives and 36 United States Senate seats being contested. In addition, 39 states will elect governors,” the company said in a statement.

The program aims to protect a campaign's financial assets through a “coordinated approach that reduces gaps, simplifies coverage, and keeps costs down,” the company said.

For more information, contact Barrett Hubbard, managing director, at 804-527-7792 or bhubbard@markelcorp.com.

Zurich adds enhancements to D&O liability policy

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Zurich North America Commercial, a unit of Zurich Financial Services Group, has announced a series of policy enhancements for its D&O liability coverage.

Under its D&O select policy, the Schaumburg, Ill.-based insurer offers coverage to mitigate litigation costs against electronic discovery risk, which refers to discovery in litigation of information from various electronic formats such as e-mail and instant messaging chats.

“The quantity of electronically stored information has increased dramatically over the past 10 years,” said Will Fahey, senior vp of Zurich's specialty management solutions group. “Because of this drastic increase, a growing percentage of legal fees paid under D&O policies are related to e-discovery costs.”

According to Zurich, the company also will work with ACT Litigation Services Inc., a Valencia, Calif.-based provider of electronic discovery, document review and litigation management consulting, to offer services to qualified policyholders that will develop and test their electronic discovery readiness and potentially control expenses and liability, as part of the increased coverage.

For more information, contact Mr. Fahey at 212-553-5629 or will.fahey@zurichna.com.

Chartis introduces add-on for pollution liability policy

NEW YORK—Chartis Inc. has introduced an endorsement to address specific environmental risk under its existing pollution legal liability select policy, the company said in a statement.

According to Chartis, the supplemental coverage was designed by its environmental unit to address risk exposures for carbon capture and storage operations, where carbon dioxide is captured then permanently stored to prevent its release into the atmosphere.

Chartis aims to “address carbon capture and storage activities with coverage for environmental risks to natural resources, public and private property, and human health,” the company said in a statement.

New York-based Chartis Inc. is the property/casualty insurance unit of American International Group Inc.

For more information, contact Sara Eisenstat at 212-458-6275 or sara.eisenstat@chartisinsurance.com.

Pre-employ.com hosts red flag rule webinar

REDDING, Calif.—Pre-employ.com Inc., a pre-employment background screening and human resource provider, will host a free, on-demand educational webinar on mandatory compliance with the Federal Trade Commission's red flag rules.

The webinar, “Identity theft: A User's Responsibilities Under the FACT Act Red Flag Regulations,” aims to inform employers about the FTC's red flag rules, which require financial institutions and creditors to implement written prevention programs that identify, detect and respond to identity theft.

Pre-employ.com's webinar features guest speakers Pam Devata, attorney at Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. and Robert Mather, chief executive officer of Pre-employ.com.

The FTC has delayed the enforcement deadline of the rules to June 1, 2010. The law was enacted in January 2008.

For more information, visit www.pre-employ.com/RedFlagsRule.